Schiit Tyr Monoblock Amplifier Reviews and Impressions

I recently purchased a set of Tyrs for my 2 channel set-up and figured I would share a few thoughts and reinforce some of what has already been said on here.

Overall the Tyrs do provide a different flavor, but in the same family as the other Schiit amps. I don't think it is a hifi miracle but more of a great tool to find the synergy that works for your setup.

I was able to hear them on a couple set ups and compare against a few amps directly which was great. These comparisons helped remind of my preference for tone, sound stage and bass presentation.


Setups:

1) Pi2AES -> Yggdrasil OG -> Freya + N stock tubes -> CDi1000/Tyr -> Spatial M3 TurboS Hologram

2) Pi2AES -> Yggdrasil OG -> Freya + some RCA NOS output tubes -> Aegir x2/Tyr -> Spatial M3 Sapphire

Setup 1, I compared the CDi1000 to the Tyr. This matched exactly what purr1n described, more square wave style accuracy compare to the Tyr. The CDi1000 was very ‘clean’ and powerful sounding, with strong bass presentation(500 watt into 4ohm!!). A bit more of a wall of sound imaging vs the Tyr. The Tyr sounded equally effortless, but had more elegance to its tone/texture, easier to listen to but slightly reduced bass impact (in my room a good thing, the bass was almost too much). Tyr resolution was better than CDi1000. In the end I clearly preferred the Tyrs in my set up… but also did not want to send them back.. har har…


Setup 2 was at a friends house where we took an evening to compare multiple amps with same source material. His set up with the Spatial M3’s was incredibly revealing. Each amp’s sound and character was ‘obvious’. His normal set up is with mono Aegirs which sounds incredible!

Aegir vs Tyr, in this set up the Aegirs create great imaging/sound stage and tone. Honestly everything sounds very right with Aegir monos.

When we hooked up the Tyrs I immediately noticed increased bass impact and control. I think this is where the extra power really stood out with a difficult 4ohm load. The richness of tone was reduced slightly, less ‘bloomyness’ (I honestly love the Aegr tone). Tyr seem to trade a smidge of the class A sound for accuracy/clarity. Sound stage was a few rows back feeling with same excellent imaging compared to the Aegir.

Overall I am glad I bought the Tyrs! But it really comes down to preference and system synergy.

What tipped the scales for me was curiosity, unlimited power for future flexibility and the hope for a good balance of strong bass with the midrange magic Aegir brings. I think I got that with the Tyrs.

edit= bad spellur

 

Comparing "horsepower" and, maybe more importantly in this case, "torque", with other amps... why does the Tyr list filter cap spec at 160,000uf filter capacitance when it has 8 of these per each mono?
Cc: @schiit

 

Caps in parallel add like resistors in series. So the filter capacitance is 8*22000 uF, or 176000 uF. Schiit is actually lowballing the spec a little bit by rounding 22000 uF down to 20000 uF. I'm not a marketing guy, but 160,000 uF sounds better and cleaner than 176,000 uF in the product description. In my opinion, this is one of those "who cares?" kind of things. Tyr is all about the choke input anyway. But with the filter capacitance spec, Schiit is telling you they didn't cheap out there just because the amp has a huge choke.

 

Is your friend's setup with M4 or M3 Sapphires? Great review btw.

 

Thanks!

They are M3 Sapphires, the big boys with 15 drivers.

Just noticed I fat fingered and said ‘M4’ later… corrected now.

Other notes on Tyr:
- They are barley warm to the touch even when I was putting hours on them all day. Casual listening levels
- No transformer hum that I can notice which was mentioned earlier in the thread.
- Even with their weight pretty easy to move around with some gloves on.

 

Technical question here, I hope someone can help.

I have two preamps, one single ended, one balanced, that I would like to compare driving a pair of Tyrs.

Can I safely connect both the SE and balanced inputs of the Tyr to the two preamps and rely on the select switch on the back of the Tyr to isolate one from the other?

If not, is it sufficient to keep one of the preamps turned off?

EDIT: never mind, I found the answer buried in the Tyr faq. Sorry for the noise, back to lurking (and comparing preamps)

 

Please share what you find.

 

Ok, sure. I found the place in the Tyr FAQ on their website where it said, way towards the end, that you could connect both the SE and balanced inputs at the same time, and switch them on the back.

So, I am trying that. I have an SE-only preamp, a Conrad Johnson Premier17LS2, connected to the SE inputs, and my new Freya+ driving the balanced inputs; Both are driven by an Iggy LIM, connected appropriately to each pre.

Just started comparing. The Tyr clearly illuminates the difference between the two. The CJ has delicacy and beauty; the Freya+ in tube mode brings drive and excitement, while the JFET buffer seems the most clear and minimally messed with. I have a cure for my audio nervosa! . (For now)

I need more, longer listening sessions, but so far I really prefer the Freya if I am rocking out, while the CJ grabs me on solo vocalists and acoustic stuff. Don’t get me wrong, it all sounds awesome regardless of my choice. I Just enjoy having one.

(Oh yeah, the Tyr themselves just stunned me. The grabbed onto my speakers and took gentle, firm control.)

 

IT would be great to have stereo amp based on Tyr capable deliver 150W 8ohm priced around 2000 .
For EUsbafers it would be better chance to taste Continuity Nexus Tech..
nice dream hmmmm

 

Given that that power output is close to the mono Tyr, a stereo version would be almost the same size of 2 Tyrs (depending on PSU - single or dual mono) and cost about the same. Just buy the Tyr

 

yes, I am aware that the Power ranking is similar, but maybe it would be possible to use one larger transformer and one larger choke and share them for stereo. it would be great to have an amp with the same technology as the tyr in stereo form and reasonably lower power for reasonably lower price. after my audio components were delivered broken , IT is better chance to get one working amp than two.

Like i said, it is just a dream

 

yes, it is probably not possible to squeeze a much larger transformers and 2/3 of transistors and caps into the same chassis, but I would be curious how much power Mr. Stoddart could achieve with such limitations. in an ideal world i would own a tyr, but currently the TYR is not as available or affordable in the EU as it is in the US. IT is a shame i do not own more sensitive speakers, otherwise i would try an aegir :⁠-⁠)

 

Everything being equal (chassis size, PSU, heatsinking, etc.) exactly half. So stereo amp doing 50 watts at 8 Ohms and 100 watts at 4 Ohms.

 

Hi All,

First post here, but looking to acquire two Tyrs + Freya+ for a KEF LS50 Meta setup. Keep the impressions coming!

 

I would put at least spacers between the components for ventilation. Jason has mentioned it, and it's in the Tyr manual.