Will an Amp change improve my system ?


My system is WiiM pro ( a great device for $149 !) and a Cambridge CXC V2 CD transport for digital input going into a Schiit Yggdrasil+ DAC going to a Schiit Freya+ preamp into a PS Audio S300 amp into Harbeth 30.2 XD speakers. I am considering replacing the S300 with one of the following: PASS XA-25, Coda S5.5, Benchmark AHB2, or tube Primaluna EVO 400, used Rogers EHF-100 or 200, used Luxman MQ 88uc. I like my current system and wonder if an amp change would improve it significantly ?

carl292

@carl292 I am going to being doing something crazy. I carried the 110lb CODA #16 amp into my small office from my Livingroom. The office has a Magnepan Mini system. The Mini sounds better than the Magnepan LRS+ but it is meant for a small room or desktop system. I normally have the Sanders Magtech on it, but I wanted to try the #16 on it and also the Sanders on my Yamaha NS5000 in the Livingroom.

To say how blown away by the #16 and Mini is an understatement. I am going to keep this pairing for a while since I spend most of my life in the office. I want to try the Wotan or Tyr on this system later.

Unfortunately, I do not like the Sanders and the NS5000. I am going to sell the Sanders. I have been talking with Schiit fans and trying to decide on whether to get the Tyr or the Wotan. Here are 2 links from Jason Stoddard that you will find helpful.

2022, Chapter 6 30 Years In Development

2024 Chapter 13 Bring Back Big

Wotan vs The Rest

“Spill it, bro,” someone says. “All I need to know is should I go Wotan or Vidar or Tyr or whatever. Which one sounds the best?”

Weeeeeeeellll, you know we really don’t get into that so much, but here’s what I can say: if you want something that is big and brutal and dynamic and fully the match of pretty much any speaker, you can’t go wrong with Wotan. It has more power than ever a pair of Tyrs. It has fans to get it through crazy loads. It has feedback switching for more compatibility with different systems, and more gain when feedback is off. It even has remote control switching of balanced and XLR inputs via Forkbeard.

But of course there’s Vidar 2F. Which is a heckuva powerful amp at a very low price, and it has the fun Forkbeard stuff now.

And Tyr, if you want the ultimate crazy mono amp with choke-input power supply. At a very good price now, as we work on finalizing the Forkbeard version.

Bottom line, there’s not really a bad choice.

But if you want one amp…one amp that can drive pretty much any pair of speakers you want to throw at it…then there’s one super-safe, super-smart choice: Wotan.

I hope you enjoy!

Jason did say that he thought the Tyr was a bit more polite than the Wotan meaning he preferred the Wotan. Most of the Schitt fans I polled like the Tyr, but they never heard the Wotan and already spent their money on the Tyr.

I do think the current Tyr will be upgradeable to the new Tyr amp upgrades.

This is what someone wrote me about the Wotan.

in my opinion, Wotan is overall Warm with plenty of detail. No odd crunchy highs. I have had the MLs with a single Aegir 1 initially, then added another so monoblocked. The Wotan sounds a lot like an uber Aegir to me. I never liked the Vidars, Aegir added that beautiful warmth that i love.

And as far as graininess goes, i can’t hear any, but obviously, ymmv.

I have 2 Aegir v1's that are going to be my long-term amps for my bright headphones. The amps sound a lot like the KRELL DUO line. Sweet and smooth. So, the person I quoted above is saying the Wotan sound sweat and smooth but even better then the Aegir.

@carl292 I was watching Stoddard’s end of year video, and he talked about the next iteration of the Tyr. They are trying to get some new features that will make the amp a lot costlier. I get the impression that getting the discounted Tyr today will leave you disappointed if they get the uber Tyr done.

Welcome to our Year End Wrap Up!

I was reading the comments on the link in posted above,

Welcome to our Year End Wrap Up!

Maybe the Wotan is not ready for release. Not sure if the guy who posted one of the comments is truthful.

The discounted Tyr is looking more attractive now.