It's ok, send it over here :) and the cables too! I love the part where you go over the Amps characteristics at the beginning. I noticed that you have been doing that for the last few videos and I look forward to that part all the time. I wish I have your talent.
Thomas you definitely have your own talent. Ability to just talk about the product with a matter of fact quality that seems genuine. It’s like we are just chilling have coffee with you. Lol. Plus you have a great sounding, relaxing voice. You, new record day and zero fidelity are all on top of your game. Thanks for the work you guys do.
I've been using two Aegirs in mono block mode since the first of the year. They drive a pair of KEF Reference 1 speakers (sensitivity 85dB) with music sourced from lossless digital media through a Chord M Scaler and Chord Hugo TT 2 as a pre for the Aegirs. I'm totally in the digital domain, it's just how I prefer to listen to music. I rarely listen to an album all the way through and avoid popping up and down to flip or swap media. I grew up on albums and got over that years ago; no judgement, just not my thing. Fellow audiophile friends try to convert me but I can't hear any improvement. I've been very pleased with this combination and I agree that the sound stage is very nice, with well placed instrumentation, and great detail. Of course the KEF Reference 1 speakers contribute nicely. I rarely listen above 70dB but when I do I do see a slight decline in sound quality, of course depending on the quality of the recording. Perhaps after decades of rock my ears and brain are just complaining! Most of my music collection does not include heavy bass lines, but Marcus Miller and other jazz bass music is very tight. African drum music like Babatunde Olatunji sound amazing. As you mentioned the midrange/mid bass is luxurious and luscious, and that's where the majority of music exists. I had ordered two Aegirs but tried one in stereo first before wiring up as mono. The single amp had no problem keeping up and never clipped. But as you noted things improved significantly once I switched to mono block mode. Thanks for your review!
That's very interesting, thanks! I have Elac UB52's and they are 85dB / 6 ohm speakers and I'm considering this amp. So, you definitely noticed a nice improvement with two Aegir's vs one? What were those improvements, was it more in regard to driving ability or in sound quality or both? Can you elaborate a little? Thanks!
I am using a single Aegir with Quad S2's and a dedicated powered sub and they are wonderful. I also used them as single and mono with JBL Array 1000 with amazing results. Both are not very high sensitivity but 8 ohm loads and these amps sound powerful and beautiful sound - these are almost too good to be true.
I have the Yggdrasil DAC with the Unison USB a love it. I'm very impressed with Schiit Audio in general and the extremely fine gear they sell at amazing "everyday" prices. Same goes for the Aegir's!
a great review. crisp. succinct. no bloating. Thank you Ron! I'm going to consider the Aegir :) Like you, love the Freya+, awesome! I enjoyed tube-rolling with it :)
Ron your review is spot on from my experience. I run a single Aegir with a Saga plus. The key is matching some high efficiency speakers as you say. The Aegir / Saga+ combo really came alive when I paired them with a pair of Martin Logan Motion 10's 'and' a single sub. The Motion 10's were ML's entry level floor standaer in the 2006 time frame I think. Not a high end speaker, but man the mids and the highs shine with the ML folded ribbon tweeter. I was going to get rid of them because I never used them and they just weren't 'audiophile ' enough I thought. Man was I wrong about that. Paired with the Aegir they created a huge holographic sound stage, had plenty of dynamics, and can play very loud. The Motion 10s are 92Db efficent. Very important for the Aegir. Full disclosure, I plug the bottom port of the Motion 10s with a pair of sock (lol) to reduce bass bloat and run a sub. This really creates a very nice low end experience. I also have a beautiful pair of Klipsch Cornwalls and the Aegir sounds great with them as well. Highly recommended with the right high efficiency speakers and for me a sub too. Thanks, Ron!
I have the same combo paired with a couple of Zu Omens and a pair of SVS SB 1000s connected via their high impedance inputs. I’m 67 and believe I’ve found my (for now) my forever gear.
Another fine (entertaining) review Ron. Was considering going with one Aegir, living with that for a while, then deciding if I need to go dual mono. Now you’ve got me worrying about my sleep quality during the “single-stereo-Aegir” period! :)
I got my first tube amp yesterday and I know exactly what you're talking about when you try to describe that midband effect. I don't know what it is but I love it
Revisited this and was impressed by what you do even more. Thanks for the review Ron. Very helpful for me where I can only shop online pretty much Cheers
I’m have a single Aegir mated with Saga + pushing a pair of ZU Omens. Wonderful pairing. I can crank up the volume way higher than I’ll ever need to listen with minimal distortion and I like to hear my music loud often. I highly recommend a single amp paired with very efficient speakers like ZUs or similar.
Great review - thank you for your clarity, fantastic coverage of typical audiophile questions, and timely coverage. At the same time, I find you most entertaining and respectful. In my opinion, you becoming one of the top reviewers on youtube.
Ron, great review. I have a very similar experience with my two Aegirs. I'm pushing a pair of ELAC Adante AS61 stand mounts with them. The Adante stand mounts are not very efficient at 85 and have a nominal impedance 6 ohm load. The Aegirs didn't like running them in bridge mono mode, but they're doing much better running them in a vertical bi-amp position. I couldn't be happier from replacing my Parasound A23 for a pair Aegirs.
Hi Rdoogie71, This is running a pair of ELAC Uni-Fi FSU5 (efficient 85dB and have a nominal impedance 6 ohm load). Since Adante and UniFi with a simlar design. This is want to know does a pair of Aegirs have a possibility to drive the Adante well?
@@calebkongshing3709 The answer is TBD. One of my two Aegirs is having issues and will either be repaired or replaced. In short, I can get nearly the volume I want out of my Adante stand mounts but the one amp keeps going into protection mode. This set up for me is a home office set up. So, the room is only 12'x11' and I'm seated 7' away from each speaker. When I want to rail on it, I'm seeking low to mid 80 dBs at my ears. One of the amps is performing perfectly in the vertical bi-amp mode. The other isn't happy no matter how it's connected to the ELACs. In bridge mode, forget about it. :)
I run 1 Aegir with Klipsch Heresy 3s and SVS subs out of Freya plus and the system sounds fantastic. Also ran Dynaudio Evoke 10s off the same system sounding great too. The Dynaudios are 4 Ohms and supposed to be harder to drive... They sounded great out of the Aegir too.
Cool to see a fellow H3 owner. :) I use a 15" Rythmik servo sub, tube pre-amp, and Pioneer M-22 with my H3's. There's definitely something special about them that you can't quite get with non-horn speakers. I would love to listen to the Spatial Audio open baffles tho.
Ron the Don .. next video I want that snoop Ron thing going on .. 😂🤣😂 SnoppRon bringin’ that intellectual gangster humour to the show boyee !#!?%#!!.. thanks once again coming out the UK 🇬🇧 .. got you schiit locked homeboy .. little sponsorship done n’ dusted then an unbiased review .. Champion 🤜🏻🤛🏻 god bless America x
Thanks for this review. My M3 Saphires are coming in a couple more weeks. I’m going to run them with my existing electronics, Outlaw Audio RR2160 Receiver, for the time being and eventually upgrade . My top electronics upgrade choices are. 1. Freya+ and 2 Aegir amps 2. PrimaLuna Evo 300 or 400 tube integrated. 3. Hegel 190 You have answered my questions/concerns about the Schiitb option. Since I can listen to things before buying I rely on your and others reviews. Thanks
I am running older Spatials with Prima Luna Prologue Premium and the sound is wonderful. Missing just a bit of dynamics and slam but I don’t know if that’s due to the amp or the speakers to be honest. But vocals and midrange is liquid gold.
I just ordered a pair of these to go with my freya plus, tekton ob sigma, and 4-10 subs. I really hope the aegirs are as awesome as they are advertised.
@@williamwest9253 I'm guessing you're in USA? Here in Europe we're suffering a Schiit-less lockdown. Enjoy those amps mate and spare a thought for us Europeans. At least I have my Mjolnir 2 to keep me going.
Awesome review Ron. I've always wondered about the Aegirs and now I know that they're a good option with the right speakers, now that you've reviewed them. It would be interesting to see what you think of the Ragnarok too.
Rag 2 is a very nice amp. I wouldn’t pair it with hard to drive loudspeakers. The base become soft (compared to Vidal). In every other aspect, Rag beats the Vidar. I paired Rag with Kef R300. And although I’m happily living with the combo, if you intend to stay with 300’s long enough (a couple of years for me), I’d try other amps. Anyways, I’m keeping Gungnir MB, and probably will change Saga to Freya.
Slow down their buckaroo! Ron your reviews are top shelf. I was waiting for this review. Will you ever review Schitts Vidar? I'm sold on the Freya+ and the Bifrost. Thank you for your fantastic reviews Ron.
Schitt doesn't talk about using them as monoblocks into 4 ohms because doing so shows the amplifier a 2 ohm load. Yes, really. I can't explain the engineering to the degree it needs in order to be easily understood but essentially bridging an amp causes each output from the original stereo channels to "see" half the rated impedance of a speaker driven by it. So a bridged to mono amp (that's what it really is, not a monblock amp) driving a 4 ohm speaker will see a 2 ohm load. At least when the speaker dips to it's 4 ohm level. So any bridgeable amp with only a 4 ohm stereo rating will be limited to an 8 ohm bridged rating. If it had a two ohm stereo rating then it could have a 4 ohm bridged rating. Bridging to "mono" and a true monoblock amp are electrically very different things. A true mono amp in the same situation would see a 4 ohm speaker as a 4 ohm speaker. You are getting away with running the amps into 2 ohms because the load is so transient. But it will likely shorten the life of the amps and if Schitt knew people were doing this and they have failures then it likely wouldn't be warrantied.
just got mine paired with schiits phono preamp, freya+ and Aegir. its awsome, I could see why people think its underpowered though, its almost no loud enough, but it is, but it scrapes by, I plan on buying another down the road when I upgrade to some Tektons,
Ron another great review. Oh Schitt now i want them, waiting for the full stack review. Agree sure theirs better but there right at the top of by price point.
Running an Aegir with an SP14 Preamp, and some Zu Audio Omen DW's. Match made in heaven, most enjoyable combo I own, and one of the cheapest. As long as you pair it with 92+db speakers, you simply can not go wrong with the Aegir.
@@decoryder Thanks. I was thinking Saga+ or Freya+ for the tubes. But I may try SS pre, too. I had a Rogue tube pre and a Quad SS Class AB amp before. Was looking at the Rogue Sphinx before the Aegir.
you are absolutely right that you shouldn't get one aegir unless you have some very efficient speakers. I currently use my aegir in my bi amp setup to power the tweeters and they work great for that but i would never use them to power a full speaker. I would also recommend that you try to bi amp with these, so running them in stereo but one for woofer and one for tweeter. Audiosciencereview measured them and they don't push much more in bridged mode than in stereo per channel.
This is the only Schiit product with a power button on the front. This avoids burning your wrist and forearms reaching behind the amp for the switch like on the Vidars.
Carl, Vidar is a sweet amp for sure. I had one before my Aegir, and if I had speakers that were hard to drive, I’d still have it. So much fluid power and dynamics out of Vidar.
I think only the first 20w are technically class A in mono. I could be wrong but it sounds good though. You focus on the little stuff too much you wont enjoy the music. I would get a more powerful amp with anything lower then 88db imo unless you are in a small room even in mono. They aren't very powerful.
@@jonberg469 I fell for your cunning plan, and read the specs. Apparently it is true class A for the first 50% of wattage capacity (which varies according to application; mono, stereo, and ohms), and then the electrical engineering wu kicks in. It does not default to AB, but uses a proprietary design (continuity amp) beyond 50%. Still, as a class A device, it is going to generate a lot of heat, drawing 450w max from a 600w linear transformer. 160w class A amp would be like running a toaster oven all the time. Which is why no sane person would ever want to drive their electrostatic speakers from a class A amp. Choices and tradeoffs... These amps are a very interesting proposition.
cool review! IMO if you are running these mono if your speakers are inefficient and hard to drive you're better off going Emotiva HC-1 while if your speakers are very efficient or require little power these would be at the top of the list.
You always have great reviews. Appreciate how candid you are! Wondering if you can recommend the best $600-ish or below mono blocks that are out there (probably not typically known brands from what I'm guessing) that would work well with Martin Logan electrostats.
I’d love to hear a turntable source instead of a DAC, and ideally running the Aegirs and Freya + with a Schiit Sol turntable and Mani phono pre. Even if it’s not the Sol, I’m sure a Mani would be easy to come by, and I’ve got a feeling you’ve still got a turntable. lol. Hell, I picked up a Mani, cuz I was curious about all the hype, and for $130, why not? While it does sound really pretty good, it doesn’t better my tube based phono pre, IMO. Thanks, man!
Hell Yeah ! Ron-E-Day !! Golden Award Huh 😆 What about a 'Budget-Fi-Bandit' 'Original' Great job Ron ! Love the passion I thought you would of dropped in on the Yammy Pop The Hood Video 😥 I know you busy playing P.J. Mask 😆 Thanks for the video , I know its work ! P.s. About to post a pic of a 70s model Yammy C.A integrated 😆
Another great review Ron, Thanks. I use Schitt gear in my headphone and 2ch set-up and like it a lot. I believe Schitt audio performs above it's price point, especially the Bifrost 2. The way I have my audio gear set-up in my rack I have to reach in between stacks to turn on my Lyr 2 on, pain the A--. But when I reach back in a few hours later to turn it off, laying my arm on the top of the Lyr 2 makes me say, Schittttttttit. That's why those guys put the on-off switch on the back. Right?
www.stereophile.com/content/schiit-audio-aegir-power-amplifier-page-2 "... Like a child with a short-wave radio, what I seek from my audio system is a sense of something human-like a real person's voice from a faraway place, emerging miraculously from my speakers. Harbeth's P3ESR loudspeakers, driven by the Nelson Pass-designed class-A, zero-feedback First Watt SIT-3 amplifier ($4000), have a special talent for making voices feel like they come from genuine humans (with moist vocal cords). This combo is my current reference for authentic fidelity. But folks, at exactly one-fifth the SIT-3's price, the Schiit Aegir gave me a majority-portion, perhaps as much as 80%, of the SIT-3's detail-rich humanity. What is the argument against that? ..."
So here is what I have heard about the Aegirs in mono with a 4 ohm load. It seems with efficient speakers like the Sapphires, they are perfectly fine. However, with less efficient speakers that are power hungry like the Magnepan LRS, they can slip into thermal protection. This is unfortunate because they apparently sound fantastic while they are running the Maggies.
So I have VERY efficient speakers. Omega Super 3 HO’s. Small 4”drivers with no crossover. Just a cap to send the low frequency to the other driver. I think 600hz and below. So at 97.5db, I’m going to think that one Aegir is all that I will need. Had it narrowed down to the Aegir or Decware SE84UFO UFO but with a 3-4 month wait on the Decware, it’s going to be the Aegir.
I’m also looking at the Aegir vs. the Decware SE84, with similarly efficient 98 dB speakers. I’m fairly confident that the Decware approach will work based on other low power tube amps that I have. However, the wait time appears to be more like 7 months now, based on the build list on their website. With the Aegir, like yourself, I am only interested in a single amp configuration especially since I don’t have a balanced preamp. If you did opt to acquire an Aegir for your Omegas (I have a pair of those too) I would be interested to hear how it worked out, or not.
If the complaint about the Aegir in stereo mode is insufficient power to provide good bass, why not hand the bass off to a subwoofer with a high-pass filter, such as Emotiva's SE line? You feed the Emotiva a stereo line-level signal, and it strips out the low frequencies before passing the signal on to the amp or preamp. Most stand mount speakers, need a sub, anyway. I'm running my DAC into my sub, with the high-pass set at 80 Hz. The high pass filtered signal then goes to my amp, eliminating the need for the amp to drive the low frequencies on my Klipsch stand mounts. Issue resolved. I can easily get 80 db average sound levels out of this setup, and the bass is driven by the sub's 200 watt amp, not the Aegir's 20 watts.
This comment should be pinned. Your solution is excellent. Another thing to note is I have an smsl vmv a1 and the new tyr. You'd think an amp the size of a shoe box has less bass than 2 57lb monoblocks but funny enough the a1 leans more towards the bass. They reach their clipping point much sooner but bass level is also part of the sound signature of an amp. Both are amazing.
The roughness in the sound of the upper mids and treble in Class AB is likely caused by the switch over point when the signal passes through the zero point and the amp goes from "push" to "pull". Class A amps are not subject to this.
Ægir, Hlér, or Gymir, is a jötunn and a personification of the sea in Norse mythology. In the Old Norse record, Ægir hosts the gods in his halls and is associated with brewing ale. Ægir is attested as married to a goddess, Rán, who also personifies the sea, and together the two produced daughters who personify waves, the Nine Daughters of Ægir and Rán, and Ægir's son is Snær, personified snow.Wikipedia
Seems a much more refined take on the 'buy 2 and use in bridged mode' idea (yeah - w'ell just stick a switch here and maybe sell 2). Getting 2 as a balanced pair of mono blocks is obviously the 'ska-heet' - one amp being the 'affordable' version. Very clever - the 'sales model' is in line with audio integrity. Wonder about the advantages/gains where you have a fully balanced source...
"Interconnects" /eyeroll that are a substantial percentage of the overall cost of hardware? I can't roll my eyes hard enough. Sure if you've got a million dollar system, what do you care about $600 a foot for everything? But $300 cables to "interconnect" /eyeroll an $800 amp? Yeah my 44 year old ears with tinnitus and hundreds of concerts under my belt are DEFINITELY hearing the difference! Great review though, I'll be picking up a set of Aegirs for Christmas!
Hey man, love your tubes, but maybe it’s time for you to invest in a pair of Polk Lsim 707 (test rig) to really achieve these levels you speak of, simply from the perspective, that they’re difficult to drive to achieve optimal results; while Angus does his thing 🎶🔊
Yeah cool, well, as an ex bouncer my parties start at 120 dB which also helps my constant migraines from a TBI in ‘96 - so I reckon we’ll be mates definitely, music therapy....it works 🎶🧠🔊🔊you’re one cool intelligent customer and I might just ask a small favour of you in the future 🇦🇺✌️personally I love your shiit but the party will be in SE Asia 👍🏼🌍 come on down for a session of our music
Hey guys. Contemplating a pair of Aegirs to drive my Dynaudios that are rated as 86dB sensitivity and nominal 4 ohms. The Sapphires are rated at 92dB and nominal 4 ohms. Thoughts?
So I have the AudioVector QR1 speakers. You say that under 90dB you would not recommend. Does that apply on 4 Ohms as well? I’d like to buy one Aegir (not two because $$$). Would it work? And if not, what should I go with. Preferably from Schiit. I’m new to this and I have trouble finding a good pairing with the AudioVector QR1. Specifications QR1: FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 45 - 45 kHz GOLD LEAF UPPER LIMITM: 105 kHz TREBLE SYSTEM: Gold Leaf AMT with S-stop BASS DRIVERS: 6” Pure Piston technology BASS SYSTEM: Q-port bass reflex PRINCIPLE: 2 Way X-OVER FREQUENCIES: 3000 Hz SENSITIVITY: 86 dB/W/m POWER HANDLING: 150 W IMPEDANCE: 4 Ohms
Ron, regarding the weak bass issues you mentioned when running the aegir in stereo, did adding a sub resolve or mitigated it at all, especially when using the Klipsch rp 600m or similar speaker? Thanks for the great reviews.
I have efficient speakers (Tekton Lore OG), and use a single Aegir. It works well without subwoofer(s), but better with. I didn’t know I was missing anything until I added the subs. I think I’ll keep the stereo subs even after adding a second Aegir
Sounds like these monos are a smokin good deal when you think a Pass Labs XA25 is 50 watts into 4 ohms for $5000. Not to say they sound quite as good, but definitely more than $1600 worth of $5000. Schitt makes good value stuff, not everything is stellar, but almost everything is good enough for long term satisfaction.
Something of a hypothetical: would it be completely silly/overkill to think about two Aegirs PER SPEAKER for bi-ampable speakers like B&W 702 S2? Meaning a total of four Aegirs? I realize this is kinda silly, because for $3200 ($799x4), any normal person would be looking at two larger monoblocks or a higher (ish) end stereo amp from Benchmark, Parasound, etc. Maybe a bit too far out there of a hypothetical, but I'd be interested to hear some thoughts on why that would be silly, impractical, etc. Edit: I suppose you'd be getting into some wiring complexities due to the need to utilize balanced inputs...
New Record Day right, I’d take plus, I love tubes. Those who strongly dislike tubes can end up with Freya SS. It’s different topology to the plus, may be quite interesting on its own. Thanks for the review by the way!
Wow the Sapphires dipped into 3 ohms in the bass region which is super demanding for the amps especially when on bridge mode (they're seeing a 1.5 ohm load!). Bass region is an order of magnitude harder to drive than the mids and highs. The Aegirs probably will shut down itself during music with high DR, especially during the transient peaks.
I wonder how two of those would work with my Tekton Double Impact SEs? When i wrote to Schiit, they told me that running two Aegirs into 4ohms (which the Tekton DIs are) would send them into protection mode.
I have considered these amps just to get the refinement I am after without stressing out my wife with big $s. And this review could not have been better in helping me understand what they do and only an audition would do better. The only thing missing was a more direct comparison with the LTA Z10 which I hope will come when you review the M3S which I own. That makes you my favorite reviewer on the planet right now. Seriously Schiit Audio is making a mockery of so much of the overpriced stuff in the industry right now.
Great review! So I currently have one Aegir running stereo with 88db sensitive Dali Oberons 5. Sounds good but missing some umph. If I run 2 Aegirs in mono that will fix that problem??
I found that switching from a Saga OG (no gain) to a Freya N (12db gain) feeding a single Aegir provided that extra juice for my Lintons (reportedly 90db sensitivity, but not I'm guessing its a little less than that). Went from sounding nice but underwhelming to satisfyingly full w/ more than adequate volume. This set up still is not able to get super loud - but blasting music isn't my thing.
We need the Aegir Designer's opinion. What did he/she aims for and how is this amp design/architecture differs from other class A amps. How did they achieve their price point? The math 20W/ch vs. 80W/ ch using as mono block doesn't add up... Btw, I just got 2 Aegirs.
by running the amp in mono, it is the equivalent of transforming your signal from 8ohm to double 4ohms (for each half of the signal in balanced signal). So you got the equivalent of 40w per channel x 2 channel (on the amp) = 8ohms mono 80w. and the equivalent of 40w class A bias to AV+B from 40 to 80watts. This is why Schiit do not advise for all 4 ohms load (would mean 2x 2ohms mono)
I got confused to be honest with you and I hope you could shed a light. If you need two Aegir mono (rated 80w RMS into 8 ohms) to drive every mentioned speaker to have that dynamics and bass extension, can you use Vidar stereo which is rated 100w RMS (into 8 ohms) per channel? It seems both have similar tech specs.
Do you have an opinion on Klipsch KG 5.5 pairing with one Aegir? Klipsch Rated at 98dB. Curious if you have a discrepancy like the RP600 you mentioned here being over rated efficiency?
I used to really like my Aegirs when I had my 8" full range speakers. I upgraded to a pair of LSA Statement 10 bookshelf speakers and I could easily get the amps into protect mode which was disappointing. I returned the LSA speakers and bought a pair of Fyne Audio F501s and ran into the same issue. The LSAs are a 10ohm 83db speaker and the Fynes are a 8ohm 90db speaker which both should be an easy load to drive. I began looking into the actual tested specs on independent sites. In mono mode Stereophile tested them at 49w @1% THD and Audio Science Review got 23w @.5% THD which explains why I could get them into protect so easy. Sending this issue and finding to Schiit I got nothing in return and when I called I left a message and got nothing in return. I emailed again asking for my money back (amps were less than a year old) based on their false advertising and still got nothing back. I had a full stack of Schiit and based on this experience I sold it all.
I run digital audio from redbook to 24bit 192kHz through the following stack to my LS50s. I listen from everything to Rock, Metal, Jazz, EDM - Roon endpoint digital out - Denafrips Ares II DAC - Schitt Saga - Single Aegir They sound good. YMMV. I'm planning to add another Aegir and upgrade to Freya+
Your description seems to be 20W class A no loop feedback. When going as monoblock the output probably drops into class B near to max output, common traits of class A. I run class A amps and they usually have great bass so why these seem lacking in stereo mode is unusual. The power supply might be slightly under rated driving 2 channels. My class A amps Krell FPB700CX..
