Schiit's First Phono Preamp - The $129 "Mani"

Schiit recently announced at T.H.E. Show Newport, a $129 phono preamp for MM and MC cartridges, with selections for gain and loading. It also features a fully passive RIAA network and a linear ultra low noise power supply.

Anybody see/hear this thing in action? Initial thoughts/impressions?

At least for entry level setups, this appears to be a slam dunk if it performs well.

 

I stopped by the Schiit table at THE Show and all they had was the DAC's and the headphone amps, that I could see anyway.

 

it was shown somewhere then:

 

It's a great time for budget(ish) audio, that's for sure.

 

Ok, That would have been behind where the employees were standing. The tables facing the area where the main displays were are about 10 feet to the left of this picture. Wonder why they didn't push this out in front?

 

Not releasing till August, so it may not be "done", for a live display.

 

they were definitely running it at the show. they had the turntable running through it the entire show, they just weren't really talking it up all that much, they were mostly concentrating on the new Valhalla 2 and Lyr 2, as well as the wonderful-sounding Ragnarok. and they had the turntable playing through the latter.

 

Because Mike Moffat brought his records from home. Honestly, there were a number of guys who asked about it who also needed to be shown how to queue up a record. Keeping that deck behind the booth was a very good idea.

It was feeding an input on their Ragnarok setup, though, so demos were pretty easy to come by.

 

Didn't even notice! Those rows of computer - amp - headphones, over and over, got me tired fast. So I moved on.

 

I blerted out "where is the headphone amp with the submini tube?" The first guy behind the display table looked at me like .

 

Now you're just sounding like a cranky old guy!

 

I lived 35 years without a cell phone or a home computer.

 

Thanks for mentioning this. I've been holding off on ordering a Valhalla, but now that the Valhalla 2 is in stock on the website, I might have to pull the trigger.

EDIT: Just did.

 

What is a Ragrock guys?

 

It's much more versatile than the old version. And it's worth mentioning that the new Lyr 2 is stocked with NOS GE tubes rather than new jj's like the previous version

 

Ragnarock is the statement amplifier from Schiit. $1699.00 shipping this month. It runs speakers and headphones, and works as a preamp for powered speakers. It sounds VERY good.

 

Wow thanks. I didn't know...
Well it's obvious I didn't know but now I do I guess.

 

Ragnarök, where the name of the amp comes from, is the end of the world as we know it. From ancient Northern mythology. It includes the death of Tor, Oden, Freja and a lot of others.

 

Didn't that already happen?

 

When?

 

In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures (including the gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdallr, andLoki), the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water. Afterward, the world will resurface anew and fertile, the surviving and returning gods will meet, and the world will be repopulated by two human survivors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnarök

 

At some point it must have...

 

I have owned Schiit and I thought it was good. I sold my Schiit to finance more Apple and Rega (And Sansui)...

Someday I will own more Schiit...

 

Very cool - this manufacturer is working a lot of magic at jolly decent prices. All power to them.

 

It´s more likely that it will happen. These things are of course easy to predict, even in mythology, as it is bound to happen.