Schiit Mjolnir 3 Impressions

When I tried it with my Gungnir Multibit OG, I felt the combo loss a lot of detail compared to my Linn Akurate DS.
Both MJ3 and Gungnir Multibit were "cold" at that point so I'll need to try it after the weekend.

Moving the amp to redo my cabinet, I found the hottest part to be the bottom panel. When I touched the heat sink vent, it was hot - the bottom was hotter. This was after leaving it on for 2-3 days.

Yeah, as I said above really don't touch the bottom.

Would it be a bad idea to put cork or other insulator underneath the MJ3? I don't want it to melt the paint off the shelf it's on.

 

Totally off topic kinda, and I'm firmly in Team Dynamics (represent), but with all the talk about amps to power hungry planars, could it have anything to do with available current rather than watts?

I'm a Sennheiser fanboi but I'm just curious if this has been addressed.

 

Inquiring minds would like to know...seems nobody really talks about current

 

I = P / Z^2 where P and Z means power and impedance respectively.
Because Z is exogenous in most discourses, current, voltage, and power are all fully determined if any of the three is known. In other words, talking about only one would suffice.

PS. Let's just recall I=V/R and P=I*V.

 

Man I understand that you feel it's equal but I don't word so good (to paraphrase Homer) so I'm not sure it's that easy. Think back to current-forward amps and why they think their shit is so hot.

Feel free to shoot so many holes in my inquiry. I'm a dude who uses my ears and thumbs my nose at measurements and most of the science behind audio, and I think you're the opposite (and we generally have opposite impressions of gear).

Feel free to call me a dunce but at least tell me why you're right in a convincing way.

 

I doubt this forum will like Bliss. It’s neutral and analytical (but in a good way), a bit like OOR (more midcentric) and to a lesser extent my own Kevin Gilmore designs GS-X MK2 and CFA-3 (trade off some neutrality for dynamics and punch).

 

Sorry, I can't and I won't. That's beyond my capabilities. Maybe someone else can do... but anyway that will derail the thread a lot. Let's just go back to MJ3 impressions rather than boring EE101.

Spoiler: PS

I was typing two-fold explanation (why the I-V behavior headphone load is considered ohmic with AC extension + why amplifier output power can be viewed as the multiplication of output voltage and output current for resistive loads and how it would be extended to reactive loads with introducing power factor) ... but it won't convince you much.

 

@Erroneous , power is a derivative number of voltage and current. So as long as the planar load is within the designed power capability of the amp and the headphone is reasonably sensitive enough, then it is suffice to say that the amp won’t become current limited for a planar headphone.

That said, what I am curious about is, if there might be some inexplicable advantage, when there is excess current headroom than what is actually needed for the headphone. For instance, 2 amps A and B of similar quality, similar tone and similar sonic traits, but A being capable of higher power output than B. But B has more than enough power for a headphone X. Now would A, with its greater excess power headroom still have an advantage over B? I know it stops becoming apples-apples the moment we change the power output spec, which implies changes to the amp design etc. But it’s a thought exercise.

Perhaps this is a topic for another thread.

 

I'm hoping this is a typo

(Nothing to contribute but this is pretty interesting discourse. I do think it's been covered before how certain designs are better optimised for current hungry devices, can't find it or recall thread off the top of my head, but sometimes these things bear repeating).

 

Schiit is more transparent than most that the power is dropping, and often fast, from the advertised max power. At the same time, thanks for confirming that the Feliks Envy has what it takes on paper to power Susvara (and perhaps there are some variables that further that synergy and capability, just as with Mjolnir 3). So technically Feliks aren’t misleading too much even if they are taking advantage of audiophiles power-inferiority complexes who aren’t able to interpret the Envy’s fine print "Output powered measured at MID impedance setting at load of 16Ω is 5W with THD ⩽1%”. A lot of tube amps, probably most, can’t really drive Susvara very well and that is an interesting way to go with what some consider the best headphone of the last 7 years or so. Mjolnir 3 sounds like a great way to go also for this headphone, definitely hoping they have a second run.

 

i believe your hunch is right, we only have to look at the LAuX w planars (6.33W into 32ohms, current unknown to me but probably stupid high as well). Guessing the MJ3 has high current headroom for high efficiency orthos, too.

Only got to try it w LCD-2 (Classic, I think?) and it was absolutely tremendous w that hp, audio memory is short, but i think i may have liked it more than LCD-X (unmodded, 2021) w the LAuX...

 

I defer but I get confused because technically the HE6se is less sensitive than the HE6 - at least according to ASR measurements.

1370mv required for 94dBSPL vs 1250mv for HE6. Maybe the HE6 and HE6se are both off the limits for tube amps. In any case, finding tube synergy with the Susvara is a credible aim, as acknowledged. I really am on the fence about this mjolnir 3 as it could be just the ticket for a solid-state amp to complement a good tube amp

 

Well, my post above seems to have touched off the last several posts.

Please let me say that I'm not dogmatic about any of this, including if and how much certain HPs benefit from a certain amount of WPC. I only said that a certain amount of power *might* be part of the reason why particular amps seem to work well--for me--with the Susvara. I also mentioned output impedance and other factors. And that I'll try any HP with any amp, b/c you never know.

As for looking for "synergy in concordance with your preferences," well, sure. That's pretty much all I listen for, and I'd argue that's kinda the ethos of this whole site? Perhaps I should've said that the likes of the Envy and the Bliss seem to have been designed with the Susvara in mind, rather than them being "specialist" Sus amps. I've not heard the Bliss. I did spend a solid couple of hours with the Envy, and it impressed with a bunch of HPs. I'd love to own the Feliks, but it's out of my budget.

I've not enjoyed my LCD-2F out of my Studio Jr (with all sorts of 300B tubes) nor the LGX. On the other hand, I really like the LCD-2F through the BHA-1. My LCD-4 sound amazing through the Ferrum stack, and the Susvara is very pleasing also. I'll be curious bordering on excited to try all of the above on the amps listed in my previous post. (And maybe others might be interested also?) In other words, you never know, and we all hear differently. Hardly a controversial take, but I need to remind myself of this often, b/c I know I'm susceptible to internet hype.

Specs and engineering know-how--as well as reading others' impressions--can guide me to amp I think I might like. But I've learned, the hard way, that all that matters is whether my ears enjoy it.

This is the MJ3 thread, so I'll bow out here, and merely say that I wish Schitt the best with this amp. I've bought some Schiit units based on rave reviews here and found that they weren't for me. And other Schiit pieces are still very much valued parts of my collection/system. As before, I look forward to more and varied reports on the MJ3.

 

Say I want to put MJ3 on Yggdrasil/Gungnir/Kara. Buy a Loki Max just to absorb heat? Or it's just all bad things? I may not have Asperger's but I am compelled to stack Schiit.

 

Unless you're going to use it physically as a heat sink, that sounds like more heat not less heat...

 

You probably need something like the AC Infinity hifi cooler?