Schiit Audio: Audio Products Made in USA

How do you improve the original Aegir? More power, lower noise floor, less heat. No-brainer, right? Well, let’s throw a wrench in the works—and add Halo™. Meet Aegir 2F.

Introducing Halo™: Sonic Breakthrough?
Halo is a mixed-mode feedback topology that incorporates your loudspeaker into the gain stage, offering the potential for motion control and better acoustic results. Some claim this improves measured performance at the driver.

Forkbeard™: Class A Indication, System Health, and Remote Standby
Aegir 2F includes Forkbeard, the only multi-product, multi-stack, unified control system. One iOS app gives you mode visibility (Class A or not), power output, amp health, remote control of Standby mode, and integrates with many other Schiit products. Don’t want Forkbeard? Drop it off your order and save $50.

Improved Continuity™: More Power, Cooler Running
Aegir 2F also offers our exclusive Continuity™ output stage, our way to eliminate transconductance droop outside of the Class A bias region. It also solves the NPN and PNP device mismatch problem, since it uses both NPN and PNP devices on both rails. Now, we’ve improved Continuity’s efficiency with some tricks we learned on Tyr, resulting in a more powerful, cooler running amp.

Refined Classic Design
Aegir 2F also delivers a low noise floor with a 100% linear power supply. Starting with a 600VA toroidal transformer, it features dual mono design with 16 Schottky rectifiers for the main rails, plus with 5 regulated voltage rails, including two discrete regulated rails for the boost supply.

Improved Standby Mode
Not using your Aegir 2F? Push the front button to reduce power consumption to 1-2W, while keeping everything ready to run. Or, select via Forkbeard. Plus, microprocessor oversight guards against over-current, over-temperature, and DC problems, providing complete fault protection.

Designed and Built in the USA
By “designed and built in the USA" this is what we mean: the vast majority of the total production cost of Aegir 2F—chassis, boards, transformers, assembly, etc—goes to US companies manufacturing in the US. Our chassis, transformers, and PCBs are made in California, and Aegir 2F comes together at our San Antonio, Texas production facility.

5-Year Warranty and Easy Return Policy
Aegir 2F is covered by a 5-year limited warranty that covers parts and labor. And if you don’t like your Aegir, you can send it back for a refund, minus 5% restocking fee, within 15 days of receiving it.

SPECS THAT MATTER

Power: one Aegir 2F is plenty for most speakers in most rooms; two may be needed for larger rooms

Noise: inaudible at the listening position

Distortion: inaudible, 10-100x lower than any speaker you're using

Heat: amp gets fairly warm, but runs cold when in Standby
Size: very compact for a 2 x 30W, Class-A-ish amp

OTHER SPECS

Power Output

Stereo, 8 Ohms: 30W RMS per channel

Stereo, 4 Ohms: 50W RMS per channel

Mono, 8 ohms: 100W RMS

Frequency Response: 20Hz-20Khz, -0.1db, 3Hz-550KHz, -3dB

THD: <0.005%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 20W RMS into 8 ohms

IMD: <0.005%, CCIR, at 20W RMS into 8 ohms

SNR: >122db, A weighted, referenced to full output

Damping Factor: >10 into 8 ohms, 20-20kHz

Gain: 12 (22dB)

Input Sensitivity: AKA Rated Output (Vrms)/Rated Gain. Or, 15.5/12. You do the math.

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

Crosstalk: >95dB, 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 Halo™ mixed-mode motion feedback and Continuity™ constant transconductance output stage

Oversight: microprocessor-controlled monitoring and management of critical operational points, with standby mode and relay shut-down for overcurrent, thermal, DC, and other faults; Forkbeard™ reporting of Class A status, power output, temperature and overcurrent, as well as remote Standby operation.

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

Power Consumption: 250W maximum

Size: 9” x 13” x 3.875”

Weight: 21 lbs

Aegir 2/2F APx555 Report

How is this different than the original Aegir?
Looks-wise? They're the same.

Oh boy it’s gonna go like this, huh?
Let us continue. Sorry we’re long-winded. We have written over a million words of blather in Schiit Happened, so we tend to go on and on—

Ah come on!

To get to the gist of your question, although Aegir 2F looks the same on the outside, it’s totally different on the inside, and in capabilities and specs. Let’s break it down, starting with the headlines first:

Higher power. Aegir 2F delivers 30W into 8 ohms and 50W into 4 ohms, significantly more than its predecessor. This makes it more flexible for a wider range of speakers.
Better integration. Aegir 2F debuts our Halo™ mixed-mode motion feedback system that has the potential to improve acoustic performance at the driver.
Quieter. Aegir 2F has a -122dB noise floor from rated output, about 10-15dB better than Aegir. This means it’s gonna be dead-silent even on very efficient speakers
Less heat. Aegir 2F actually runs cooler than the original, despite higher power. You can thank the new, refined Continuity™ output stage that borrows some tricks that we learned on Tyr.
Better standby. Aegir 2F’s standby mode consumes even less power than the previous, thanks to some tricks we learned from Vidar 2—only 1-2W.
Less mechanical noise. Aegir 2F uses a toroid transformer, like the one we use in Ragnarok 2, which results in lower mechanical noise from the chassis.
Forkbeard™. Aegir 2F adds Forkbeard, our unique integrated control system that tells you if you're running in Class A, gives you instant power output and system health like temperature and current, and allows you to put it in Standby remotely.

And how is Aegir 2 different from 2F?
Aegir 2 doesn't have Forkbeard, otherwise it's the same.

What does Forkbeard™ do?
Forkbeard does everything a remote control does, but for multiple products in multiple stacks. For a preamp, it controls volume, selects inputs, picks output modes, etc. But it also does a lot more, like show you system health—temperature and current on an amp, for example, and tube heater status on a tube preamp. It can do even more when multiple products are brought together, like Visual Volume, an easy way to tell how much headroom you have left in your system. More info is available here: schiit.com/forkbeard

And what the heck is Halo, and what do you mean by the weasel-wording “may improve acoustic performance at the driver?”

Halo debuted on Midgard, our new headphone amp that replaces Magnius. The best description of it is a “mixed mode motion feedback system that includes the driver in the feedback network, offering the potential for correcting back EMF and reducing distortion at the driver, especially around the driver’s resonance point.” It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it? It also has two problems:

It’s a controversial claim. Some designers have claimed to reduce distortion by a moderate amount in ported speaker systems. Some claim they can’t replicate these results. We ourselves got mixed results for headphones, perhaps because they are smaller and don’t have the problems of a big floppy woofer in a box, or perhaps because Halo doesn’t do much.
It doesn’t fall easily into any single category. Halo isn’t a high-impedance, current-output scheme that some people consider to be the “right” way to drive speakers, nor is it a vanishingly-low-impedance output that is typical of most speaker amps and most people consider the “right” way to drive loudspeakers.

So you just throw it out in the world and let us decide?

Yes.

And you don’t feel bad about that?

No. Isn’t that the way everything works? We make some claims, reviewers examine them, lots of words are blathered, videos are made, but in the end you decide for yourself.

Hrumph. Well, what do you think of Halo?

We think it sounds different, and better, or we wouldn’t do it.

But…why not get the data, prove it once and for all, and change the world?

Because that would take years, and no matter how much data we got, no matter how we got it, not everyone would believe it, and find fault with methodology, argue about conflicts of interest, wonder why they should believe data from a company trying to sell them something, and then we’d be in the same position years later with tons of sunk cost we’d have to recover. And it’s not our practice to pass along development cost to you, not even on stuff that’s super painful and takes years, like Unison USB.

Wow. You guys are crazy.

We’ve never claimed anything else.

Fine. Okay. Change of subject. What is Continuity™?

Continuity™ is our way to extend the benefits of Class A operation outside of the Class A bias region by eliminating transconductance droop, and to solve one of the problems that Class A doesn’t inherently solve—the mismatch between NPN and PNP output devices.

Huh? I didn’t understand all of that.

Okay, let’s break it down like this. Continuity allows us to run less bias than Class A and have the amp act like Class A even when it’s putting out more power than its Class A bias.

Okay, so it’s a sliding bias scheme.

Nope, it is a unique output stage that uses both NPN and PNP devices on both rails, and selectively turns on additional devices to compensate for transconductance droop outside of the Class A bias region.

Okay, so it’s a Sziklai output stage.

Nope, the output stage has no gain.

Okay, so give me a schematic!

We’ll do one better: we’ll give you an education. We’d recommend you read John Broskie (tubecad.com) and Bob Cordell (cordellaudio.com) on the problems of transconductance doubling (we call it transconductance droop) and the various ways around it.

But Continuity can’t possibly be better than Class A, right?

Depends on what you mean by “better.” If you have guys who manage your funds and 30 tons of A/C on every one of your 6,000 square foot vacation homes, sure, maybe Class A is better. But maybe not. But if you’re measuring with a sane yardstick—that is, price vs performance, and will my significant other kill me when they see this thing—then Continuity is definitely better.

How did you manage to pull off more power and less heat than the original Aegir?

With a refined Continuity output stage that takes some tricks from Tyr. This Aegir actually has twice the number of active outputs than the original, plus a single, optimized corrector—like Tyr. This increases efficiency and allows us to run a bit lower bias.

So it runs cool?

No. It’s still a warm amp. The heatsinks are gonna stay at 40 degrees C or more, depending on the ambient temperature of your home. Also, if you like your house hot (like, 30 degrees C and above), you may have to use an external fan to avoid thermal shutdown. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

But 30W still isn’t a lot of power, is it?

It is to people happily running 2W Rekkrs on their desktop.

Smartasses.

Consider our name.

Seriously, is 30W enough for me?

Maybe. Probably. Depends on speakers, room, how loud you like to listen, whether you’re running Aegir 2F in stereo or mono (100W into 8 ohms!) We’d say that for most people in most systems, Aegir 2F is fine in stereo. It’s definitely going to do much better than Aegir, due to its efficiency and cooler operating temperatures. But if you have serious drive needs for your speakers, you should consider Vidar or Tyr, both of which will easily outpower Aegir 2F.

Wait. How does the monoblock mode work?

It’s not a mode. It’s just the natural result of driving Aegir 2F with a balanced signal. That’s why you need a preamp with balanced outputs. And that means REAL balanced outputs, not just XLR connectors. Freya and Kara are truly balanced preamps, for example. And Lokius, Loki Max, Magnius, Midgard, Jotunheim 2, and Mjolnir 3 all have balanced outputs.

There’s a difference between XLR and balanced?

There can be. If you aren’t using one of the products above, ask the manufacturer if it has true balanced, differential outputs. If it does, you can easily run two Aegir 2Fs as monoblocks.

Hmm, with all that, this seems to good to be true at $999. What did you do to cheap out on this amp?

Nothing. Like Vidar 2F, Aegir 2F uses a dual-mono-to-the-transformer design for the main output power supply. It has our exclusive Halo™ mixed-mode current-feedback topology, coupled with our unique Continuity output stage. The power supply is completely linear, with 600VA transformer, over 150,000uF of filter capacitance, and 5 regulated power supply rails, including two discrete regulated rails for the amp gain stages. There are no capacitors in the signal path thanks to a sophisticated microprocessor oversight system, which also protects the amp and enables the low-power Standby mode.

What’s an Aegir?

Aegir, in Norse Mythology, is the Lord of the Sea. This doesn’t mean that it’s liquid-cooled, nor do we intend to add liquid cooling, nor is it a veiled attempt to inject audiophilic words like “liquid” into this conversation. And that’s it. Disclaimers are over for the day. We hope you enjoy Aegir 2!

Schiit Aegir 2 review – natural and transparent

hifizone.pl, Adam Kiryszewski/swordfish

"So, as you can see – this one particular "Shiit" may be somehow classic in its design, yet there's a still a lot of clever design choices under its hood. And, I will repeat myself for the second time here, it really can be viewed as a serious power amplifier for all those that just don't need those three-figures power ratings. Moreover – the final conclusion of the technical and design side would be just one word: solid. It's solid in its design, its hefty and it has some clever solutions that should translate into sound."

"...It is at the same time, the easiest Editor’s Choice award that I ever given to any piece of equipment."

Read Full Review ->

Cooler SCHIIT! The AEGIR 2!

Steve Guttenberg Audiophilliac