Schiit Aegir Power Amp Impressions

I bought x2 Aegir myself with the expectation that one would go out on the loaner. Upon hearing them as monoblocks, I got too attached to them, so I decided to screw you guys out the loaner. This was my money after all, not SBAF funds.

The good news is that Schiit will offer a unit as a loaner.

 

Nothing wrong with amp / source first approach. But you better know what you are doing.

Given the affordability of the Aegir, I know lots of people are going to buy them and run them on B&W speakers from Best Buy, and then bitch they only sound a little bit better (or worse depending upon synergies) than their $200 receiver (using an ESS Sabre 9018 DAC as the source).

There is a big problem with HiFi speakers not being any different from HiFi amps. Everything new below $2000 sucks. And then there are the $5000 audiophile speakers that suck.

 

Look, I know there are big AHB2 fans here, but the AHB2 is one of the worst amps I've ever heard. Technically capable, super clean, even keeled highs, nice transients, I will give it that. But I'd rather not listen to music on it. Absolutely zero microdynamics, no nuance, no emotional involvement. It's antiseptic and soulless. It's rendering sounds artificial. I hate it. I actually held back big time on how much I hated it here: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/benchmark-ahb2-impressions-vs-vidar.5131/

I've also been advised that I used the AHB2 incorrectly because I didn't use the balanced inputs. You know, the all sorts of bullshit reasons on how I must have used it improperly. That is until I produced a photo of me using the amp with balanced inputs. Amps like the AHB2 should cost $350, not $3500. Benchmark can take the "feed-forward" marketing nonsense and shove it up their ass. (I've read the patent, it makes my eyes roll. The concept of feed-forward should not be patent-able, but that's the US Patent Office for you. It's government retards with collective 105 IQ, otherwise they'd be doing something better, like actually working in the real world finding solutions.) There's not only feed-forward, but also a good amount of feed-back that gives its 0.0000001% THD numbers. The other argument is that the AHB2 is pro audio stuff and therefore its proclivities are to pro sound. Except I've never seen a single sound post house use Benchmark gear. And I've probably been to 60% of the sound post facilities in the El Lay area including just one today. I'll take a class AB (avoid class H, in the H in AHB) Crown, QSC, or Crest anyday. Or cheap class AB Emotiva, despite it being far inferior in technicalities, at least I get a little soul.

In terms of pure technicalities, the AHB2 has better grip and is crisper and less rounded than x1 Aegir. Detail is about the same. Aegir kills it in terms of microdynamics, textures, and gradations of small volume levels. AHB2 also sounds cleaner and clearer, but there is an artificial sense to this, like something is missing. x2 Aegir monoblocks kill AHB2 in every technical aspect. The AHB2 will appear to sound like it has more grip, but it's not real because part of the effect is from the lean lows. If the AHB2 has lean bass, then perhaps the Aegir has a bit too much bass (mid bass and below - I don't hear the Aegir as a particularly warm up, especially in x2 monoblock). Also the AHB2 soundstage is flat. Aegir x1 soundstage is pretty good, exceeds expectations for a solid-state amp. x2 monoblock is quite a bit better in soundstage where I don't feel I am being shorted much of the DHT experience I am accustomed to.

Keep in mind that a portion of the x2 monoblock performance might be attributed to the slightly superior balanced outputs of the Gungnir. Hard to say at this point without isolating the variables.

However, if you like the AHB2 kind of sound or like numbers, then by far, the AHB2 is a runaway winner and something I would super highly recommend for you. For reference, the opposite of the AHB2 is like the Pass XA stuff. The Aegir presentation is somewhere 2/4 or 3/4 toward the Pass XA gear. So really, it depends on the sound that you want. A lot will depend on the speakers. Small cones with muddy distorted bass with mediocre quality mids and highs may benefit from an antiseptic sounding amp so clean that even the musical nuances are wiped away.

 

They are transformers

 

Hegel H2's drawback is that highs are too jumpy. This was fine with the paper pulp small Fostex, but I don't think it would work well with what I have now. The timbre is quite a bit better on Aegir. The H2 does impart its own sound more, like it's more obvious that its the H2.

The Aegir x2 is less colored than the Aegir x1, but Aegir seems to transmit the timbre, the overtones, in a more get out of the way fashion. This was noticeable on stuff like Rage Against the Machine with Tom Morello's guitar work and the effects that he uses. I dislike using the term natural or real, but this is what happens when I hear bass guitar on recordings. I happen to use the JBL 4698s as a bass cabinet too for my fretless. The attacks, the plucks, the timbre, the wobby pitch of the lower strings, the string harmonics. They just sound right when recordings are played back. That is the experience as a listener is the same as the experience as a player. Hard to explain and kind of weird, considering that I plug the guitar into a mixer which then feeds a tube amp.

One other thing is that the Aegir can get heavy and down and dirty. I know I've mentioned nuance and delicate, but the Nirvana (Albini master) and Rage Against the Machine recordings sound downright heavy. That's a good thing. It's a more realistic sound which I'm sure the mastering engineer intended. I would contrast this with my many prior mentions using of e-stats with Rage Against the Machine. The e-stats have their own unique presentation, fast, focused, separated fast-stop-and-go presentation. It's neat, but I'm pretty sure Rage Against the Machine is not supposed to sound this way. I like how the Aegir x2 can get the JBLs to change its presentation depending upon the recording.

 

I'm triple liking any post where Steve Albini is referenced.
long live Big Black rolling m80s into the crowd to start an encore.
sadly, only once saw them play live.

 

all hail those who entered Kitty Empire.
was inside once myself during a recording day.