Schiit Vidar Impression Thread - UPDATED WITH REVIEW (CHECK FIRST POST)

Discussion in 'Power Amps' started by Rotijon, Jul 17, 2017.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Assume you used SE input into Vidar stereo and Balanced into Vidar mono? Both inputs not connected at the same time right?
     
  2. winders

    winders boomer

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    SE interconnects were unplugged at the preamp (and not shorted).
     
  3. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    And you used the mono configuration speaker outs too right? You use both "left" and "right" + in mono mode. Left and right + runs differential in mono. Ground is no longer used.
     
  4. winders

    winders boomer

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    The left speaker was completely disconnected while the right speaker positive banana plug was plugged into the top right binding post and the right speaker negative banana plug was plugged into the top left binding post.
     
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Weird. Mono should be 6db more gain.
     
  6. winders

    winders boomer

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    I redid the experiment......there was 5.5db more sound in monoblock mode this time. But, I did nothing different. Well, a different song was playing.

    I measured speaker noise with no music playing as well. Ambient noise measured 38db. The iPhone microphone was about 4 inches from the loudest driver cone.

    In stereo mode I got these numbers: Passive and JFET - 45.6db; Tube - 49.6db

    In mono block mode, I got these numbers: Passive and JFET - 42.8db; Tube - 58.5db

    This tells me to not do experiments late at night....
     
  7. Paul Jaye

    Paul Jaye New

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    I ordered my amp on Monday in 230v and it is on backorder.?
     
  8. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    Only for speakers ya say huh?...
    I think that is partially true but some of the flaws I am hearing may be dismissable for the right person. Also wondering if the Freya which was hooked up to whatever unit people heard was causing Hiss.

    Subject to change. only really less than an hour out of the box.
    • It's not touching my main amp but I have heard worse that is for sure.
    • I like the saga best with the tube activated.
    • NO HISS with the HD650 or my T50 but a low hum that is actually tolerable to my ears, especially when I play EDM. As soon as music starts playing it is practically non existent even with the volume all the way down(music still comes through). I have put up with worse even though it is not optimal.
    • Not hearing the bright sound people are talking about, in fact I hear a neutral treble.
    • The sound has body...not that thin sounding crap like the HE-9. Much more body than the HE-9 in timbre but more grainy as well and not as clear (could be the Saga) or nearly as spacious. Still prefer this though.
    • Good bass grip
    Need to eliminate some variables right now though...More listening has me really liking this.
     
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2017
  9. murray

    murray Friend

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    Jason has explained previously that they do separate production batches for 110v and 230v models. One reason is to avoid catastrophies. Obviously they want to serve the domestic market first.
     
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The brightness comments might have been in relation to use with headphones that already had a tendency toward brightness, i.e. stock HE-6 or SUSVARA or the prototype from the November meet from last year. @brencho's Code-X was spot on, albeit with hiss. I can't say exactly say what the Vidar was driven by though. I thought the Vidar was pretty neutral, maybe with some body, when I listened to the Schiit TT at the Shiitr, taking into account the sound of the Nagaoka MP-110 cart and TT. type Hard to calibrate everything exactly, but I'm pretty sure of it.
     
  11. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    I should be trying @gbeast Vidar next weekend with Gungnir Multibit/Freya and HE-6. I'll let you know how it goes.
     
  12. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    Someone on head-fi reported the same thing:
    https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/s...bable-start-up.701900/page-1504#post-13615830 (is it okay to post head-fi links here?)

    It's possible that Freya produces higher SE output than balanced, or Vidar's SE input is more sensitive than balanced, or both.
     
  13. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    If you read a few posts on, @winders eventually redid everything and got approximately 6db greater output from Mono configuration as expected. Original off results probably had to do the side effects of the inter-dimensional portal gun he was testing.

    It's OK to post links to HF, as long as the content is relevant, funny, or interesting. My penis isn't small.
     
  14. winders

    winders boomer

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    I redid my test and found that the volume was louder by almost the predicted 6db. I did the test exactly the same way both times. I think I need to find someone local with a Vidar so I can test this more completely. Anyone in the San Jose area have a Vidar? I will go to your place or you can come to mine!
     
  15. Turdski

    Turdski New

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    Eff why eye: Nick from Schiit lemme know that Vidar's quiescent power consumption is 60W.
     
  16. winders

    winders boomer

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    Okay, I just did the test a third time. I setup my single Vidar amp as a monoblock. I connected it to Freya using an XLR interconnect and plugged the positive speaker banana plug into the top right binding post and the plugged the negative speaker banana plug into the top left binding post. Nothing else was plugged into the Vidar amp.

    I found a constant volume 432Hz tone on YouTube and played it. I measured the sound level with an iPhone app of 88.4db. I hooked everything back up into stereo mode and measured the sound level again. This time it was 82.7db. That is 5.7db less. Just what is expected.
     
  17. murray

    murray Friend

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    Previously you posted differing results depending on whether the preamp was in JFET/passive or tube mode.
    In tube mode the monoblock was louder. In JFET/passive mode the stereo was louder.
    Which mode was the preamp in for this last test?
     
  18. winders

    winders boomer

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    All the tests comparing sound levels should have been in tube gain mode. The last two tests for sure...as I was fully awake and paying attention!
     
  19. Dr. Higgs

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    I'm still trying to get my brain wrapped around the Vidar with my Phil 3's, but so far it doesn't seem like a huge upgrade from my Ragnarok aside from cleaner transients. Seems pretty neutral to my ears, and I'm not picking up on any perceived rolloff that some people have mentioned.

    Seems to run pretty cool at my typical volume level (cooler than my Freya at least, probably comparable to my Ragnarok). I haven't done any listening for more than a couple hours at a time so far, but haven't heard a huge difference due to warm up.
     
  20. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    Are you leaving it on when not listening? Just curious.
     

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