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Schiit not that Good?

Schiit was at AXPONA again this year. They were showing a Salk music server streaming into a Gungnir Multibit (?) feeding a Freya and two Vidars. Speakers were the Salk Song 3As.

 

So what happened?


Esoteric was just next door. This allowed attendees to move immediately from one room to another. Esoteric was showing a full stack of thier latest separates plus a VPI Avenger for analog. Speakers were a pair of Cantons I didn’t get the model of.

 

The Schiit room, while not bad, was completely destroyed by the Esoteric room. Esoteric played one SACD that unfurled a massive soundstage that I could sense even not being in the best seat. The sound of the Esoteric system, both via SACD and vinyl was dynamic, resolving, extremely musical, collected, vibrant, both large and delicately structured. It was a system that got all the minor details right. Such a good setup. The Schiit setup, while unoffensive, clean, and musical in its own right, simply couldn’t face the Esoteric in inner detail, soundstage, reality and low-level dynamics.

 

Why did the Schiit system fail so hard vs the Esoteric? Part of the reason might have been the junk cabling used by Schiit. Peaking behind the system I was Blue Jeans speaker cables and mess of power bricks, basic cabling, etc. I don’t know how much of the Schiit’s performance was compromised by inferior cabling, but I’m curious how close it would have come to the Esoteric had Schiit paid some basic attention to that area.


madavid0
gdhal's avatar
gdhal
1,641 posts
 
wolf_garcia - They established the "jam band" concept so there's that, and were a zero downbeat cruise feel…some great musicianship though, and the 2 studio albums "Workingman's Dead" and "American Beauty" were fabulous.
+1

I'll add that their live recorded music music is among the best IF NOT THE BEST quality from an overall resulting sound perspective. The vast majority of their shows are available in multiple mix type soundboards, front of board audience tapes by tapers who were allowed and encouraged to bring the best-of-the-best recording gear , syndicated radio shows where the music was professionally mixed and remastered ie. Grateful Dead hour hello shout out to David Gans / sonic solutions, and on and on....  DEAD-ication to sound quality and excellence... a band beyond description ......
tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
Gdhal so true, maybe their greatest legacy aside from Rock’s first and foremost "jam band" is allowing themselves to be recorded during their concerts. Agreed, Workingsman Dead and American Beauty are definitely the place to start to those unfamiliar with this band. Love the passion btw and expected a little backlash. I’m just a mere fan rather than a bonafide "dead head".
judgmentday
22 posts
 
Now going back the subject has any one here listened to the Schiit Freya Preamp vs. any other major Tube preamp like the Audio Research, Conrad Johnson, Audible Illusions, Cary Audio, etc. Preamps?
steakster
1,923 posts
 
Read this article about the Dead’s introduction to good sound - and parallel universes.

"At the time, live sound at rock concerts was extremely primitive. Musicians plugged their instruments into amplifiers connected to single-channel speakers. There were no onstage monitors, so musicians couldn’t hear one another. Owsley wanted the Dead not only to be clearly heard but also in stereo, a concept so far ahead of its time that it would be ten years before such systems were installed in movie theaters. Thanks to Owsley, the Dead were soon playing through four immense Altec Voice of the Theatre A7 speakers powered by four McIntosh 240 stereo tube amplifiers as delicate as they were huge."

gdhal's avatar
gdhal
1,641 posts
 
Thank you tubegroover and steakster. 🎵

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