Will an Amp change improve my system ?

I have owned the following:

• CODA #8 (own CODA #16 now)
• Schitt Freya+
• Schitt Yggi+ OG and Yggi+ LIM (own these 2 now)
• Benchmark AHB2
• Schitt Mjolnir v3

I tried the Freya+ with the CODA #8 and did not like the amount of warmth I had. I liked the AHB2 and Freya+ the best with all the amps I used with the Freya+. I was not a big fan of the Freya+ and find that the Claas A Schitt Mjolnir v3 is better than the Freya+. Though it does not have a remote.

You have a lot of warm gear piling on top of each other. I know people like that type of setup, but I find a nudge towards neutrality when having a lot of warm gear really works for me. That is why the Benchmark AHB2 is what I would use if you keep the Freya+.

The Yggi+ LIM is my warm DAC. I need it for my bright headphones, where the Yggi+ OG is too revealing.

The AHB2 can be obtained from Benchmark for a 30-day home trial. If you want to spend a lot more the SimAudio 761 amp is what I consider the next version of the AHB2.

Another option is keeping all of the existing gear and try the Benchmark LA4 replacing the Freya+. It will be a totally different sound. A home demo is another option for the LA4.

BTW - I am trying to sell my Sanders Magtech (500 | 900 @ 8 | 4) that I use with Magnepan Minis because I need a different standby setup than the Sanders uses (it is automatic). It is an excellent amp. I am thinking of the new Schitt Wutan which can be put to standby manually. The Sanders would work nicely like the AHB2 to balance out a warm setup. It is warmer than the AHB2,

@carl292 Sorry for your loss. I have not heard of Judge Joe Lodge though I did once get dismissed for jury selection in SB. I think the judge was a bit amused at how that happened with my interaction with the prosecuting lawyer.

My wife may have heard about him since she worked as a nanny when she first came to the US with a prominent family involved in the legal system. She was at the Michael Jackson trial but almost got kicked out of the court because of her disapproval facial expressions during the trial.

@carl292 I have been looking at the Schitt Wotan mentioned above and have been discussing the amp with owners over at Head-if. They are a lot of Schitt fans there, so I take that bias into consideration. From what was said I am going to order the Wotan amp and compare it with the CODA #16 I have. If the 2 amps are in the same sonic ballpark, I am going to sell the #16 to get a headphone and keep the Wotan.

The Wotan uses fans but that is not a concern for me these days after my good experience with the KRELL DUO 175XD which also used fans. Though I do not know it ever turned on.

@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.