I think a number of people on this thread have imagined a chip on my shoulder that really isn't there. I would have thought that when I admitted that I didn't have enough direct experience of their products to make a judgment (i.e., two headphone amps at the lower end of their price range) I would have defused that. The purpose of the question is this: There are brands such as to pick some at random, Focal, B&W, Hegel, Luxman, Martin Logan, that you would seek out because you've heard them in someone else's system, or in a showroom, or even just from reputation, and your frame of mind would be "am I ever going to be able to afford one of these", and you endeavor to get to a point where you can. The question was whether Schiit was a brand you would be sought out for its own sake. I've seen Schiit equipment well-reviewed and held to be better than other competitive brands, so this is not impossible. It could very well be that a piece of equipment specifically engineered to meet a certain price point would be superior to a piece of equipment from a prestigious brand watered down to make an entry level product. I think it would be fair to say that the majority of the people who buy Schiit do it without ever hearing it beforehand. What generally draws people is that they can offer something credible at such a low price. In the case of the Asgard, which was $200 at the time, I was buying something for a not-critical use to me and felt I could get away with paying that little, much like I'd buy washcloths at Target because how good does a washcloth have to be? I am reasonably satisfied with my purchase, for which I actually have no point of comparison with other brands.
Does Anyone Buy Schiit for the Sake of Schiit?
Most of us I think when buying something where workmanship and materials are less critical than price will go to a discount store like Walmart of Target (I think we've all heard they about calling it Tar-zhay because it's classier than Walmart) or Costco - the sort of stores where what you buy is not the best but it's always good for what you pay for it. I'm wondering, is Schiit the audio equivalent of Target? That is, does anyone buy it because the Schiit gear is particularly good, or merely that it's good for the price? The only Schiit product that I've ever bought is the Asgard as a headphone amp, since I don't use headphones that often, and I wasn't going to put a lot of money into it. Actually, I tried the Vali 2+ at first, and that seemed rather inadequate, so I sent it back and got the Asgard instead. It seems good enough, though I don't have much to compare it to, but it seems to struggle a bit in getting to higher volume levels.
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- 83 posts total
- 83 posts total