Schiit Tyr Monoblock Amplifier Reviews and Impressions

Yeah I'm probably reading it wrong, 5A makes more sense. There is an extra one in there.

 

to all you TYR owners, I am a tube guy who wants to get out of tubes(constant pain in the ass) will the TYR's fill the bill or will I be unhappy with the mids? Hard to answer unless you have both or have tested them both. Appreciate any thoughts
best,
Josh

 

I’ve gone down the road you are contemplating. I replaced my EL34 based amp with a pair of Tyrs. I alternate between using a Kara preamp for everyday, daily use, and a tubed preamp for critical listening. This give me enough of the tube “effects” in the midrange for me; On rate occasion I may swap in the EL34 amp for awhile, remember why I loved it all those years, and then go happily back to the Tyrs and the lack of tube-nervosa.

 

That helps that you are happy with the Tyr mids, I am nervious about making the investment in the Tyr's and I really want to get out of the tube game. After forty years of wonderful sound and tube nervosa, broken amps I am ready to let it go. What matters to me is the sound

 

@Josh Schor Tyr’s are a big investment. And you seem to like to cycle gear quite frequently. Maybe consider looking into Aegir 2 as a lower cost alternative? Apparently it’s quite good and has addressed the previous issues with bass control/punch/dynamics.

 

I will look into the Aegir, I have not heard any of the Schitt amps so do not have a reference.

 

Plus starting with Aegir inevitably leads to having TWO Aegirs... then later on the thirst will lead to getting a pair of Tyrs, and then in a brief moment of delusion clarity as you're about to sell the Aegirs to us you realize that you'll be able to mono bi-amp with all four...

 

Someone who knows the obsessive mind of an audiophile, I will save up for the Tyr and skip the interim steps

 

Why not just go for Pass labs then? Or First Watt? Or Accuphase? Or DartZeel? The problem with obsession is, once you achieve it, you’re still rarely satisfied. So why not start out small and see where it takes you? You can get an Aegir for $900. Tyr’s start at $3200. You also get a taste of what Schiit’s solid state amps are brining to the table before diving into the deep end.

 

If I could afford it I would definitely go for the Tyrs over the Aegir. The Tyrs will drive about any speaker you switch to in the future effectively while the Aegir will not. And if you run two Aegir in mono mode you will have trouble driving some 4 ohm speakers without tripping protection or overdriving causing strain. Notice there is no 4ohm rating for the Aegir in mono for a reason. The Tyrs do not sound like a tube amp but also do not have a sterile solid state sound. I am driving a pair of Magnepan 1.7i with my Tyrs and they do an amazing job with those inefficient speakers. I also played them for a while on a pair of Spatial M3 Sapphires (usually in 2nd tube based system) at 92 db efficiency and they also sounded excellent with those. With the Spatials it produced very powerful tight bass. Bass shook the walls on some tracks which never really happens much with open baffle. Much better bass than Ragnarok and this other 225 wpc NAD I have. Very good sound staging and separation of musical lines. High frequencies are as good as I have heard and sweet for a SS amp. My Rogue Chronos III tube amp does have an edge on female vocals being more sweet, luxurious, and present. But the Tyrs are no slouch with vocals.

 

Dont really like Pass , have played with Accuphase quite nice especially the class A 20 watt mono blocks and have only heard Dartzeel at shows(nice gear). No I am not so over board as to look to be spending many many thousands of dollars. The Tyrs I could save for, with the Aegir's would want to buy two and I do not have a balance pre so that will not work. Tyr's take SE input as well as balanced. As obsessed as I can be its tempered by the reality of my finances so I do not get in to much trouble. I appreciate the thoughts and suggestions would love to hear the Aegirs on my system as they might be just what the ticket

 

any thoughts on Aegir bass control? damping is 10 whichis very low wondering if the bass is wolly and not controled very well.
best,
Josh

 

The absolute sound review
https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/schiit-audio-tyr-monoblock-power-amplifiers/

“Not to put too fine a point on the general conclusion, these amplifiers sound super, so good that one is hard pressed to find anything wrong, at all.”

 

Yes really a rave review. I have been driving a pair of Magnepan 1.7i with Tyrs and Kara preamp (SVS SB-3000 sub). I could not be happier with how well they drive these speakers. May even be endgame level for me. I am afraid to change it because I do not want to lose anything. Works for all genres for me. I can listen to classical or Beatles and they both wow me on this system.

 

I joined SBAF and introduced myself over a year ago but this is my first post. I recognize that Tyr (as it was described on this thread) is now “last call” at Schiit, due to the introduction of Forkbeard and the imminent appearance of Tyr-F (thoughts about which pls see at the end).

Preface: For a while I’ve been looking for something to properly drive the Susvaras. I’ve been using the Burson 3XGT 2023 as the end-of-chain amp. This is very good Class A and bass texture /impact of Yggdrasil Moffat bass was never lacking, but in the end I kept feeling something was left on tbe table - usually stage and imaging. This was particularly so for Susvaras (less for other HPs).

I am adding my impressions here because (like @Christof who posted first about using Tyrs with headphones earlier in the thread) I am using the Tyrs for headphones exclusively, in particular using Susvara OG. My chain starts with Sonore OpticalRendu streaming Roon via USB (Audiosensibility Statement) into Yggdrasil+ OG. Power conditioning is provided by a Puritan 106, providing an exceptionally quiet circuit with DC offset blocking. I’ve been using every element in each chain more than 100 hours so burn in should not be a feature. I am using no EQ.


Here I am comparing 2 chains downstream

1) Yggdrasil+ ->XLR> Burson 3XGT 2023 with SP02 power modules and V7 Vivid op amps x 4 in the volume and output stages in pre-amp output mode>XLR> Tyr mono blocks—> Susvaras OG. I am using the 5A supercharger not the Fusion Core power supply for the Burson.


2) Yggdrasil+ ->SE-> Freya+ —>SE-> Tyr mono blocks—> Susvaras OG (using Zynsonix speaker to headphone adapter with -0 db attenuation for this hp and -12 dB for more sensitive phones). I compare Freya+ both in active buffer (+0dB) mode and in tube (+4 dB mode). In tube mode I am running matched GE GTA 6SN7s in the CF stage and matched Tungsol Black Mica VT-231s in the gain stage.


Songs were compared by listing to a set play list with which I am very familiar and have used to make comparisons before frequently. These include Twice (Mercan Dede version of Ludovico Einaudi’s track), Drover (Bill Callahan), Fruhlingsgefuhle (Melokind), Constructive Interference (Dominique Fils-Aime), and Easy to Remember (Stacey Kent). I did not attempt rapid A/B, which would be pretty difficult to do given the need to physically switch the Tyrs from XLR to SE mode.


So what have I gained by switching in the Tyrs?
First, with chain 1 above the improvement over the Burson alone by adding the Tyrs is noticeable. Tonality and “blackground” were already good with the Burson alone, in particular bass texture and impact. But Tyr is clearly producing a more immersive and expansive sound stage with VERY clear and distinct imaging in every dimension. Some have said that Tyr stages more wide than deep, but it is the distinctness in depth layering that I am noticing more. Every instrument and voice has its place in the stage separate from the others. Stage width is very much wider than for the Bursons alone. Depth is less than width but not by much. Voices are placed in the stage as the song has been mastered- there is no artificiality in depth in terms of pushing everything too far back, it all seems 'just right'. There is also a smooth, effortlessness across the FR that is to me especially noticeable in the mids. Dynamic range is much greater than with the Burson alone, making this a more exciting listen, relatively. In the bass region, texture /decays structures in drums are especially realistic. Detail retrieval across the spectrum is up about two notches, with small sounds especially in the treble region that were never noticeable on the Burson only. With volume muted (or turned to 0 with no music playing) I noticed no hum or audible noise AT ALL. There is of course the cooling fan that is a feature of the Burson itself, but using th 10’ stock cable and sitting > about 6’ back from the Burson this in inaudible to me. There is plenty of headroom, but even at the lowest possible volume=0 in low gain, music is audible. For the Susvaras, I can increase the volume to about 25 (of 99 steps) before it becomes too loud. Using the -12 dB side of the Zynsonix box on the Sennheiser HD620S (150 ohm impedance, 109 dB/V sensitivity) the lowest volume=1 is just about right, so there is plenty of headroom but for more sensitive headphones you may find that even using the -12 dB Zynsonix output, quiet listening is not possible (but for this chain, and for headphones like that, the Burson’s HP output is already enough)


Switching to the Freya + on Chain 1, holography and stage depth, especially placement of voices/instruments increases noticeably cp to the Burson, as well as the intimacy/mellifluence of voices (especially female voices). Detail retrieval takes a small hit cp to the Burson, and there is also unfortunately a very faint hum even when there no music playing/Freya+ is muted (about 1-2 dB), this is noticeably audible only in extremely quiet passages when music is playing. This is still present even in active buffer mode, so seems to be due to Freya+ in the chain. In terms of SQ and technical performance, Freya+ in buffer mode is somewhere between the Burson and Freya+ in tube mode- a bit less impressive detail retrieval and texture than the Burson, a bit less stage depth and holography than Freya+ in tube mode. Because Freya is using SE output, with volume at 0 on tube mode, music is not audible until about 9 am on the attenuator dial and at 12 pm it’s just about right ie about 70 dB, so there is still plenty of headroom. There is less headroom on active buffer mode, optimal volume is at 2 pm, but still just fine, I can’t listen with the attenuator over 4 pm.

In terms of the pairing with Yggdrasil OG, I worried a bit if the already substantial Moffat bass from the OG might be a bit too much with the solid low end of the Tyrs. In short: no- not a problem at all, using either chain.

For my own use, I really like the holography and intimate/sweet mids of Freya+ in tube mode; however, I will probably use the Burson more unless I am listening to female vocals or instrumental music for which I want the maximal holography.

Best of all, now the non-Forkbeard Tyr is on 'last call' at Schiit, so the price for a set is ~$2800 instead of $3200. None of the rest of my stack is Forkbeard-able, and any way I have some concerns about inserting electronics of that sort into the signal chain- I guess judgment on that will need to await impressions for Forkbeard vs not for different Schiit gear/chains. For those who want a full Forkbeard-ed stack that includes a set of Tues, you will need to wait. Using them the way I am now, the Tyrs are perfect for my use. Also, they are running very cool and having no difficulties with either pre-amp or the Susvaras in terms of protective mode. If you were waiting for the Tyrs to become a bit more affordable before making the leap, now is the time.

I realize some may say this is all very dangerous waters in which to be using a headphone. Given careful use (no changing anything but volume or mute while the headphones are plugged in, always insert/remove with mute on, volume =0, no music playing) I hope not to destroy the Susvaras. I could have followed the trend on other headphone forums to invest in an uber-expensive TOTL tube amplifier to drive the Susvaras- this is plenty good though, and I have no itch to add anything else now but time on my ears. YMMV.

 

Update
Because I anticipate some members will be concerned about the hum I was hearing out of the Freya+ connection:

Today I switched around outputs so the Freya+ chain 2 above was re-wired this way

Yggdrasil+ OG-> SE/RCA-> Freya+ -> XLR -> Tyr

making use of the capability in the Freya + to convert SE input to XLR balanced. Doing this eliminates the low hum I described for all Freya output modes except tube gain, and even in that mode with music not playing and with volume up at about noon on the attenuator the hum is now nearly inaudible- if I wasn’t listening for it because I had heard it before I wouldn’t notice it at all.

I recognize that I could have changed the circuit so that it was all balanced from Yggdrasil+ to Tyr, this would have necessitated changing all the outputs from the Yggdrasil+ to the Freya and Burson which seemed excessive to requirements to demonstrate that using the balanced input to the Tyrs from the Freya+ eliminates the hum. I have it all set up using the Yggdrasil+ XLR to the Burson and SE outs to the Freya, so I can just flip the XLR/SE switch on each Tyr to alternate between them.

I won’t re-test SQ with these changes vs the other set up- if after a while I detect something noticeably different I will report back. This update is just to address the hum I reported above.