Schiit Audio reveals gorgeous six-watt Lyr headphone amplifier

[Grahame]

via: Schiit Audio reveals gorgeous six-watt Lyr headphone amplifier, dares you to touch 11 -- Engadget

Product details: [url=http://schiit.com/products/lyr/]Lyr

[Dreadhead]

saw this earlier but figured it was old news around these parts. That is one pretty amp.

[revolink24]

Oh no. Time for another Engadget product troll fest in comments.

They should really stop reporting on high end audio gear.

[atothex]

Too... many... puns... gah

[digger945]

Stoolgarden. Schroeder. The company formerly known as Shiite.

Second amp in a series would be deuce.

[909]

[url=http://schiit.com/products/lyr/]Lyr

[Salt Peanuts]

[url=http://schiit.com/products/lyr/]Lyr

[n_maher]

Gorgeous? No, not in my book. I might approach elegant if it wasn't named after do-do but I'm not sure I'd even rate it as sexy.

I am curious to learn how they made it, "Tube rollable to permit use of hundreds of different tube types", that just doesn't seem possible unless the tube isn't doing, well, shit.

[Trav]

Saw this....wants this....

[guzziguy]

I am curious to learn how they made it, "Tube rollable to permit use of hundreds of different tube types", that just doesn't seem possible unless the tube isn't doing, well, shit.

It must come with tube adapters.

[Knuckledragger]

they used mikhail's auto-biasing.

Then it really is Schiit.

[tyrion]

I picked up the Valhalla from Gene at TamJam and it's a nice little amp with the LCD-2 and hopefully, the HF2's that should arrive today or tomorrow. I wonder how this new one will work with the HE-6.

[monsieurguzel]

So whats the concensus on the other 2 amps they released? There was a whole lot of hype a while back and now people aren't really talking much about them? I wonder if this one will be any good. On the bright side, I really do like hybrid tube amps, so it is a lot more tempting than the other 2 Schiit amps.

[revolink24]

I'm not too sure on the general consensus here, but I think that's partially because of the fact that nearly everyone here already has much more expensive gear. That said, I know Ethan/Yikes uses (or at least used) his HE5LEs out of an Asgard regularly and enjoyed them, as he brought it and his much more expensive exemplar modded Shanling to the NY meet.

[Knuckledragger]

Devil's advocate here, is Schiit's name any worse than Crack? I find the names of just about the entirety of the Crack lineup to be eyeroll inducing.

[Salt Peanuts]

^ I'd say yes, since "Crack" is a product name, as opposed to "Schitt" which is a company name.

[holland]

"Tube rollable to permit use of hundreds of different tube types", that just doesn't seem possible unless the tube isn't doing, well, shit.

It's actually tube choices, so it just means hundreds of brands of 6DJ8/6922/ECC88 tubes. 6N1P would work, but not be optimal, in my interpretation.

Lyr's hybrid design uses JJ ECC88 tubes for voltage gain. The tubes are exchangeable ("rollable") for any 6DJ8, 6922, or ECC88 type, up to and including 6N1Ps, which allows owners to fine-tune the sonic characteristics of the amplifier, with literally hundreds of different tube choices, from NOS American to new-build Russian and Chinese tubes.

Their amps are fugly, but functional. I like the output stage, according to the description, in this amp. The only downside is that it seems there is less class A bias, as they indicate it runs cooler than their Valhalla.

[morphsci]

The Valhalla sounded nice with the LCD-2 at TamJam. It also had a nice Fit-and-Finish. As far as the company name, it's only audio so I like that they don't take it deathly serious. Plus the products pretty much speak for themselves. Solid and a relatively good value.

[Knuckledragger]

Sorry, I should have said "Bottlehead." The products are Crack, S.E.X., Speedball (upgrade), Seduction, Stereomour (WAT.), Extended Foreplay, Eros, and Cleveland Steamer.

[Salt Peanuts]

"I have an amp from Bottlehead" sounds a lot better than "I have an amp from Schitt," IMO. Then again, "I got an Extended Foreplay from Bottlehead" isn't that great, either.

This reminds me of Wisconsin Tourism Federation - yes, they recently changed their name, iirc.

[Asr]

Rhetorical: does it really matter what a company calls itself or its products when it delivers solid products at good prices? While maintaining a solid reputation and a sense of humor? I for one am glad to see a business like Schiit succeeding and I hope the Lyr takes off. Jason Stoddard was a really cool guy when I met him at RMAF (the woman in the pic is also with Schiit):

[guzziguy]

The Valhalla sounded nice with the LCD-2 at TamJam. It also had a nice Fit-and-Finish. As far as the company name, it's only audio so I like that they don't take it deathly serious. Plus the products pretty much speak for themselves. Solid and a relatively good value.

I second Jim's comments about the build and sound quality of the Valhalla. Schiit does seem to make nice products at bargain prices.

However, I think the name will hurt them. It is nice that they don't take themselves too seriously, but one must wonder if they take themselves seriously enough. Puns are funny once, but quickly become old. I hope that they reduce the amount of "punnage" in the future.

See?

Sorry, I should have said "Bottlehead." The products are Crack, S.E.X., Speedball (upgrade), Seduction, Stereomour (WAT.), Extended Foreplay, Eros, and Cleveland Steamer.

The name "Bottlehead" comes from the owner, who is affectionately nicknamed Doc Bottlehead. This comes from his love of tubes. The "sex" theme of his names came from his first product, the "Simple (I think) Experimenter's Kit". This morphed into S.E.X. Then he made a preamp kit. What comes before sex? Foreplay! Ergo it was so named and the sex them was born.

I don't mind the sex theme at all. Sex is a nice thing and goes well with music. Shit is not such a nice thing and doesn't go well with anything audio. Also, I'm not so happy with the latest "drug" theme that Bottlehead is using for the headphone products, but it's still better than Shit. Lastly, Bottlehead seems to keep the amount of puns in check.

[IceClass]

Because these are the same people who decided to name their company Schitt.

I think I may have just soiled myself laughing.

[fishski13]

call me superficial, but i couldn't buy a product named Shit. i wouldn't buy something from Asshat Audio or Feces-Fi either.

[skullguise]

yes. i'd be less likely to buy an audio product called Fuck Nut Shit Mother Cunt Smack than i would a product called Stanza.

Didn't George Carlin design a component under that company name?

As far as Schiit goes, I also have the Asgard, but haven't turned it on in many a month. Am likely going to sell it. Good, perhaps VERY good.....but not quite great. At the price, though, a real winner I'd say.