Magni 3 released

On the topic of value: you hit the nail on the head. Even though Yggdrasil was clearly a bit better than Modi Multibit in quite a few areas, and I love the Pavane even more, part of me kinda wished I had stopped at the Modi Multibit and instead gone for a crazy amp like Studio, Stellaris, etc. DAC can always get upgraded later.

Also, so long as you are looking in this price range, don't discount the new Metrum midrange Onyx (DAC only) or Jade (digital preamp). I do think though you need to first figure out whether you want to go OS or NOS (I would anyway argue Schiit multibits are the next best choice for NOS fans without actually being NOS).

Some random ideas for a great stack:

• Keep Modi Multibit + buy Aficionado
• Onyx + Rag / your favourite amp
• Jade + Pioneer M-22

Sorry for ambling further off topic, let me try to bring it back:

Modi Multibit plus Magni 3 is good synergy? Even with Atticus (or other warmish cans)? Warm + warm + warm = awesome?

 

I've never heard a NOS DAC (I guess the Modi Multibit, Gungnir Multibit, and Bifrost Multibit are the closest I've gotten,) but Zach is sending me a Metrum Amethyst with the Auteur and Eikon so I can both hear it and review the Auteur on an end-game-ish DAC. I'll have to ask him if he's getting an Onyx in, though that would end up raising my budget past four grand (since...I think the only balanced tube amps are all more than three grand.) I hesitate to buy the Gungnir Multibit since A) I didn't like it too much when I heard it, but some people have pointed out that it was probably the amp I didn't like so much, and B) I'm not entirely convinced that I would get the most out of the Gungnir Multibit just running it through the SE outputs. The Amethyst seems like a nice compromise, albeit with some tradeoffs. I'm overthinking this quite a bit, but St. Louis is pretty dry as far as audio goes (besides JDS Labs) so I have to find other ways to try these things out, haha.

Anyway, back on topic: The Modi Multibit, despite being warm and dark, actually gets a bit enhanced by the Magni 3. The Magni 3 is only slightly warm (though...I think it's actually just neutral and the Magni 2u was lean,) and it's higher end (which is well extended instead of forced) balances out the Modi Multibit's darkness. I'm slightly wondering if that was the point in the tuning Schiit did, or a happy accident.

If anything, I'm more impressed you only have to spend ~$350 to get quite a bit out of the HD800 when the "starting point" for most people was the Valhalla 2 or Vali 2.

 

I just ordered a Magni 3 to use at the office with my Bifrost Multibit Gen5 USB and Focal Elear. Hopefully this will work out.

I do not doubt that it is sufficient, but is the stock power supply a reliable and well performing unit? The wall-wart style Schiit stuff always seems to run a strange voltage and AC. Are there any options for better power supplies?

 

Not without completely defeating the purpose of a budget amp. And even then, it's doubtful.

You have an awesome setup. Stop obsessing, sit back, and enjoy.

 

Taking the Modi Multibit as an example: the wall wart is just a transformer from 110 / 240V AC to ~16V AC. The rest of the linear PSU is inside the case. The positive and negative halves of the waveform are chopped and smoothed with a couple of diodes and electrolytic caps. So you have +16V and -16V DC, with ripples. After this come voltage regulators to get +12V and -12V and the other stuff digital section needs (I forget but I think it was +3.3V and also +5V or +6V), without ripples. All the heat comes from the regulators. The difference between 16V ("strange voltage") and 12V gives the regulator enough room to do a good job of getting rid of the ripples. I think they will also work fine with 14V. The spare wall warts seem to be 14V.

Moral of the story: just because it looks cheap and crappy, does not mean it is. Cheap, yes. Crappy, no.

Footnote: I am not Jason and may have this all wrong.

 

I'll be happy to design up an 80% nickel-core 80VA transformer in a fancy box with nice cables and Apple-like packaging. Shouldn't cost more than about $199 or so retail, to really enhance that $99 amplifier. (Not really.)

Alternately, we could go for complete AC regeneration, using an AK4490 DAC to give us 24-bit perfect 60Hz sine waves, with Class A balanced AC output via a braided lambswool-insulated cable sustainably sourced from Irish monks who only chant at C=256Hz. That should be less than $999, and be a huge step up, where you can not only see the musicians performing in the room with you, but literally walk around them and have drinks with them! (Again, not really.)

Skyline has the best advice.

 

PM sent.

 

There are numerous things that could be done which may result in a pursuit of unattainable goals and extraordinary expense. There are also concerns that may be addressed by reasonable means. I apologize if it may have been unclear or misdirected, but I was looking for something that follows the "reasonable means" category. If this is the stock power supply then this is certainly an acceptable solution.

 

There’s always our Floor Wart, which is convenient if you have multiple devices.

 

Please tell me that your future turntable uses this to control an AC motor and that you plan to use it for accurate RPM control.

 

Fair enough. I recognize that it's a step-down transformer to an internal DC power section, but would we really not call the wall-wart a power supply, too? We don't need to get into an argument of semantics, but out of instinct I call it a power supply because it's a ubiquitous term. I think at this point we can move on.

 

Oh god, what have you started?

 

Hold on, let me get an umbrella for this incoming schiit-storm.

 

Now looking forward to such insanity as:

"I personally find that balanced AC from the Jotunheim, run at precisely 14.5VAC (as measured on my Fluke 8842A) and 125Hz to have the most detailed highs and most impact in the low-end."

(In case you are wondering, this is a joke. Please do not do this.)

 

Thanks to this thread I’ve decided to try and reverse engineer some of Tesla’s proposed designs for wireless power, specifically for the purpose of powering the Magni 3.

 

I need a Vidar to power my Magni now