Schiit Aegir (Continuity™ Power Amplifier)

Audio Components Amplifiers
1

Released yesterday. Curious to hear your thoughts on it.

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https://www.schiit.com/products/aegir

Power Output:

Stereo, 8 Ohms: 20W RMS per channel

Stereo, 4 Ohms: 40W RMS per channel

Mono, 8 ohms: 80W RMS

Frequency Response: 20Hz-20Khz, -0.1db, 3Hz-500KHz, -3dB

THD: <0.01%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 20W RMS into 8 ohms

IMD: <0.01%, CCIR, at 20W RMS into 8 ohms

SNR: >114db, A-weighted, referenced to full output

Damping Factor: >100 into 8 ohms, 20-20kHz

Gain: 12 (22dB)

Input Sensitivity: AKA Rated Output (Vrms)/Rated Gain. Or, 14.3/12. You do the math.

Input Impedance: 22k ohms SE, 44k ohms balanced

Crosstalk: >105dB, 20-20kHz

Inputs: L/R RCA jacks for stereo input, single XLR for mono input

Topology: Fully complementary, all-BJT, current feedback, no coupling capacitors or DC servos with Continuity™ constant transconductance output stage

Oversight: microprocessor-controlled monitoring and management of critical operational points, including DC offset, with standby mode and relay shut-down for overcurrent, thermal, and other faults

Power Supply: 600VA transformer with dual mono main rails, plus boosted, regulated supply to input, voltage gain and driver stages, plus separate, isolated and regulated rails for microprocessor management.

Power Consumption: 450W maximum

Size: 9” x 13” x 3.875”

2

Atypically for Schiit, they don’t have any pictures of the guts so it’s hard to tell what exactly their doing inside. Bummer.

As far as I can tell it’s a high bias Class A/B amp. When I talked to @DarrenMyers about what they’re getting at with Continuity amp, he thought it was likely a modification on a relatively standard correction circuit found in Class A/B amps to ensure things play nicely when switching in and out of Class A.

In my experience Schiit is not my cup of tea, though I haven’t tried their Vidar so I dunno how their amps fare. If I wasn’t already happy as a clam with my M700s I’d definitely take the Aegir for a spin.

3

I’m following what they’re doing a bit, though I don’t currently have any of their electronics (I had a Lyr 3 for a short while until I figured out that I’m really not into headphones).

What gets me about this and the Vidar is their constant 200W power draw no matter what load, and 15W even in standby. To people used to tubes that may be acceptable, but it’s just silly to me. I like my Class D amps for their efficiency – and they sound great too, IMHO. But I’d be curious if anybody has compared Class A or AB against D and found a real difference (and not just because of anti-D bias).

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4

I’ve been using Class A tube amps for over two decades. A bit ago I bought a Peachtree Audio Grand Integrated X-1 from a wonderful forum member and enjoyed listening to it for months in my second system. This is a Class D integrated amp. It sounded quite good. But I totally missed the “sound” of the Class A amps I had used in that system before, which were 2 to 5 watts compared to the 440 watts the Peachtree delivered! There just was a body to the notes and a connection to the pace and rhythm that I didn’t feel in the same way with the Peachtree. I went back to the Class A tube amps.

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Price = $799 USD. Don’t understand circuit design, but seems to be a legitimately new twist. Have always liked class A sound, just not the cost, weight, energy use, and heat generated (even in my well insulated basement room located in the great white north).

Tried Freya (balanced preamp with nice NOS tubes) and Gungnir Multi-Bit at home and sent them back. From what I could tell in every combination in my system at the time they didn’t have a house sound, made the best 10% of my ALAC ripped CD library sound better, but made the worst 30% of same library sound worse. DSJ makes it all sound better.

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6

I just received my Stellar Stack (M700’s) and it ain’t going back !! I too looked at the Schitt stuff before making the PS Audio plunge at about twice the price and twice the power output. The flexibility of the Gain Cell DAC/Preamp is invaluable and it integrated so well into my Home Theater setup (AVR’s volume bypassed for the Front L & R). I can go from serious 2 channel listening and with a push of a button, my Sony/PS Audio Home Theater is all there !

Cheers

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When I was first getting into this hobby and wanted a headphone rig, Schiit was at the top of my list. They check so many boxes - fair prices, made in the US, well regarded by the community, tubes (which were admittedly enticing to me when I was getting started).

When I finally had a chance to try their gear at an audio show, it didn’t do it for me. Detailed and lean sounding to my ears. Not bad by any stretch, just not my taste. Ended up getting a Woo WA6 instead and I was one happy camper :grin:

8

2 years ago, as I wanted to upgrade my system, I compared a few integrated amplifiers.
First:

  • HEGEL H360
  • KRELL Vanguard
  • ESOTERIC F-03A
  • MARANTZ PM-10
  • Octave 80SE

From those, I liked the Esoteric most. It might not be that Class A is better, just that I preferred the Esoteric sound, but I did prefer as it was both more smooth and clearer. The Marantz was the worse, the sound was veiled and honestly had nothing going for it (but is also the cheapest). The Hegel was good, maybe more dynamic than the Esoteric, but less liquid or smooth sound, making it feel somehow aggressive. The Octave was great, maybe on par with the F-03A with a little more details, but maybe too bright, but definitely not worth the price difference.for me.

Anyway, this was my opinion and I did not conclude anything about amplifiers type, just about those specific ones.

For the record, I did a few more comparisons with separates from Esoteric, Pass, Luxman and Aurorasound as well as more integrated, Esoteric F-01 and Pass Int-60. There as well a preferred the Class A and actually bought the Pass separates (XA30.8 and XP12) drawing 400W even without any music.

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9

As a techie I love the designs of class D amps, particularly direct digital ones. They are just so clever! Despite this I have a sneaking fondness for the sound of a class A amp. It is a very subjective evaluation, but I find they have a cleaner sound. It is a shame that they are so inefficient because unless you have a happy combination of small room, efficient speakers and low listening level you do need extra watts to prevent the distortion of transients. Class G or over-biased Class AB are the best compromise for me.

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Schiit Aegir

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They just uploaded a picture of the internals to the website.

Looks eerily similar to the vidar internals.

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Would be interest to hear if anyone can spot differences.

11

There are some pretty easy-to-spot differences when you look at the medium caps in the center of the boards: four and two in the Aegir, two close together and two further apart, with some smaller ones between them, in the Vidar. There are also differences where the cables from the power supply connect.

It doesn’t surprise me that they look similar, they’re probably both built around the needs of the power supply and those ginormous caps. The big switching devices are all screwed into the heatsinks along the sides and you can’t see what kinds they are and how they’re wired differently (since that’s on the PCB). But that’s where the main differences are.

The more visible things like the micro-controller, programming port, relays, etc., make sense to keep in the same spots if you can to reduce the work in laying out the PCB.

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Has anyone heard this amp?

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Reviving as I’m interested in this.

Read Stereophile’s review and it was amazingly positive. Also watched a video of Jason Stoddard and Mike Moffat from a year ago and I love these guys.

anyway, anyone have experience with the Aegir amp? (Or amps, if run as monoblocks?)

14

No experience but have done a ton of research on it and all of it is good. I’ve seen it compared favorably to the First Watt stuff and in general have not come across a bad review. My plan is to get one along with a S300/M700 and rotate them.

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15

I was going to get a pair as backups to my BHK 300’s. One possible deal breaker is that they don’t have remote triggers which I like.

The sonic reviews are pretty good.

16

I’m interested as well, curious how they compare to BHK250. If schiit was to build a $7500 amp I can’t imagine how good it must be… PS Audio should learn a thing or two from schiit on pricing especially now that they are going direct. Anyone with experience with the Aegir and BHK amp please share your thoughts

17

I’m really intrigued by the Aegir amps as monoblocks. I have the Stellar S300 but I want to go to monoblocks. The M700 is at the top of the list, but at 3K without a trade or $2100 if I trade my S300 versus $1600 for two Aegirs and I can sell my S300 to recoup at least half of that the Aegir looks amazingly good. My speakers are very efficient at 95 dbw so I don’t have any concerns about the Aegirs ability to drive them. I love my PS stuff but at half the price and both being Stereophile Class A rated makes it tough to justify double the price for the M700. I know the quality of PS Audio whereas I’ve never owned anything from Schiit. I’m not quite ready to make the switch but man, that cost equation puts me in a quandary.

18

I gave a friend a Schiit Modi 3 and Sys for a gift. Neither of us can believe the sound of that $99 DAC. It’s not in PS Audio league but unreal for the price.

19

Schiit got 15 days, 5% trial period, I would try stereo first before committing to the mono pair. 5% of $800 is $40 + shipping, so you will be out ~$80, not that bad to try something out for 15 days. Not PS Audio cost free trial, but then again they are also half the cost.

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From the reviews I’ve seen people seem to prefer the stereo sound over mono. With 95db speakers you shouldn’t need more than one…well, I don’t know how loud you listen. I’d do what falling_leaves said. Just get one. You can always add another if you want more power.