Remember the Cello Audio Palette? $6500 in 1992.
Schiit Audio Loki Max experience
I just finished listening to the soundtrack to “Star Wars - The Empire Strike Back” remastered soundtrack on CD. As warned by several Amazon reviewers of this disc, it really is on the bright side. In remastering the original analog tapes to hi res digital, a wealth of detail is revealed but the original LP release’s warmish balance is replaced with a plethora of heretofore obscured musically interesting details along with a brightness in the presence and treble that find you reaching to lower the volume. Too bad. Or not necessarily, as having the Schiit Audio Loki Max equalizer in the system allowed me to compensate for uneven frequency response by augmenting the 20 Hz control by 6 clicks, the 120 Hz control by 3 clicks the 400 Hz control by 3 clicks, reducing the 2 kHz by 2 clicks, the 6 kHz dial by 3 clicks and augmenting the 16 kHz dial by 6 clicks ( for air). The result of all this was a recording that was dynamic, revealing but balanced allowing me to revel in the resulting music. There is a button on the aluminum remote that allows you to make adjustments as you listen and bypass the Loki Max in real time to listen for any degradation of signal. I couldn’t hear any negative effects whatsoever!
Schiit Audio is apologetic about the price $1500.00. This is the second most expensive piece of audio gear in their line. Having two other ridiculously inexpensive eq’s for more modest systems, they finally decided to discover what they could do for more “pricey” kits.
This is a marvelous component. If you are a minimalist who rejects the very notion of eq. then skip and I will continue to revel in how it compensates for imperfect recordings.
The Loki Max can be eliminated from the signal path by a remote button. If I play a frequency response balanced recording then I just depress the eq bypass button and enjoy the tunes.
Try using this thing to tame the original Boston album (remastered) to discover that there is some bass and the presence region can be tamed to allow you to bask in the musical beauty.
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As an owner of a Lokius, I'm very curious re: any difference in SQ between it and the Max. They cover the same frequency bands. Schiit talks about better quality parts in the Max, but I've yet to read a comparison on the basis of sound, rather than convenience. Why did you spring for the Max, specifically? |
I wanted those quality parts so as not to lose any transparency, introduce glare or grit and the remote is awesome. To be able to make adjustments from the listening chair in real time and to be able to bypass its effects for comparison to the original signal was irresistible. The 31 step relay potentiometers are cool as you can hear a distinct “click” for each step of adjustment. Even very good recordings are enhanced by the finely graded steps of frequency adjustment. I don’t know how Schiit makes enough money looking at the prices for much of their gear! |
@hifiman5 Hello Hifiman5. I was scrolling through equalizers and came across Schitt loci. Then came across the Max. That really got my attention. Especially because of the remote. Then came across your review of it and really was very impressed.My system consists of Audio Research Ref 750s mono amps. Audio Research Ref 6 se pre. B&W Matrix 800s speakers. Rega ISIS CDP. And Krell B&W BAF. ( Bass alignment filters) 2 - balanced. My system really brings out the best and worst of recordings. Also a lot of my CDs I am having a lot of high frequencies which can be very irritating many times. I was wondering if this would be good to use in my system especially to calm the high frequency’s especially in the tweeters. I’m very interested in this and love the fact that it comes with a remote so I can do all the tweaking from my chair without having to get up and down. Also how does it connect? Thanks. Looking forward to hearing from you. |
@tattooedtrackman You have a very nice system! TheLoki Max is a remarkable component. My appreciation of it continues to grow. For example, last night I was listening to Dave Brubeck’s “Back Home” CD of a live concert performance. It is very well recorded by Concord, but by elevating the 40 Hz band by a few clicks and the 120 Hz by a click or two, the electric bass was augmented just enough to bring it into balance with the rest of the band. If you find your system to be generally generous in the highs, shelving the 6 kHz dial a few clicks will tame that brightness, bringing it into better balance with the rest of the frequency spectrum. If a recording is a bit too “in your face”, the 2kHz “presence” control will help with that. The presence of the bypass control on the remote tells me that Schiit Audio has confidence in the transparency of the Loki Max as by the push of a knob you can compare the signal with and without it in the circuit. My system consists of a Marantz Sa-KI Ruby SACD player into a highly modified cj PV-12L line stage, into the Loki Max into my SMc Gold Special McCormack DNA-1 power amp. I also have a VPI table with Dynavector cartridge into a Luxman phono amp. Hope this info is helpful. |
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