Schiit Asgard Mk1 headphone amp

[roob]

Schiit Asgard Mk 1 headphone amp for sale, hardly used will drive most headphones, I have used it with AKG 701 and 550's.
Not sure if I still have the box but it will be well packaged.
New price is £265 so asking £120.
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz125/muzzer_2010/P1000289.jpg (http://s820.photobucket.com/user/muzzer_2010/media/P1000289.jpg.html)
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz125/muzzer_2010/P1000290.jpg (http://s820.photobucket.com/user/muzzer_2010/media/P1000290.jpg.html)

[struth]

Good gear Schiit; I fancied one of their phono's. Yankee built through and through as far as I know.

[roob]

That's right Grant all USA designed and built, no Chinese outsourcing.

[Simon_LDT]

Hi Andy,

I'm looking for an Asgard to pair with my newly purchased HD 600's and wondering if you could supply any more info on this amp? Does it come with the power cable and manual? Does it have the relay (which I believe was added to the MK1 at some point)? How old is it/are you the original owner?

Thanks,
Simon.

[roob]

Hi Simon
I am the original owner I imported it from the States about 3 yrs ago but it has had not a lot of use. Not sure about the relay no idea what it does, It comes with the U.K. power lead and I may have the box and instructions somewhere in the loft but I will have to have a root around.
Cheers
Andy

[roob]

Simon
I have just read up on the relay issue apparently it was never an issue with the Asgard.
Found this from Schiit on one of the forums

Jason Stoddard
Sponsor: Schiit Audio

online
932 Posts. Joined 6/2010
Location: Newhall, CA USA
Regarding the above post, the driver failures were with Lyr, not Asgard--and we have never recommended Lyr for high-sensitivity headphones, and always urged extreme caution with such a high-power amp. We know of no driver failures with Asgard.

To continue with a cross-post from the other thread:

1. Lyr has a 20 second relay-switched delayed output and immediate relay mute on turn-off. It's a running change we made in production.
2. From the start, we've always urged extreme caution with Lyr, and we have never recommended it for high-sensitivity headphones.
3. Relying on any form of protection--relay delays, microprocessor-controlled DC monitoring systems, whatever--can still bite you, when and if there's a failure in the system. And all of them (to us, at least) involve sonic compromise. That's why you'll typically find many of the highest-dollar components out there running naked, so to speak.

That said, we now understand that the precautions common to ultra-high-end (where it's well-known that turning on your multi-kilobuck amp before you turn on your multi-kilobuck preamp may involve having a very bad day) simply won't fly with inexpensive gear, so we're making the changes necessary to have our stuff be as user-friendly as possible.

Asgards will now ship with the same relay mute as Lyr, when we are back in stock. We will also offer a retrofit relay mute for Asgard and Lyr, for customers who want the convenience, and install it on any current owner's amp for free. I am still conflicted on relays, since it means another contact in the signal path, relay contact degradation over time, and the possible reliability hit (there's a joke in high-end that if something's broken, it's probably a relay.) That said, I think we have identified an acceptably reliable, least-sonic-impact solution.

And--to complete the trio--Valhalla's inherently slow turn-on (tube outputs) negates the need for a relay.

Edited by Jason Stoddard - 7/20/11 at 10:40am

[Simon_LDT]

Thanks for the swift reply Andy. The relay was added due to some problems that were reported about the unit potentially damaging the drivers on headphones when the unit is turned on/off. I'm currently trying to find out info online as to when this was fitted and from what serial number onwards. It might state something in the manual if you do manage to locate it.

I'm definitely interested still but if it has the relay I'd make an offer for definite.

[roob]

Ok Simon, I have never had any of the issues mentioned with AKG 701 or 550.

[Simon_LDT]

I'll email Schiit and see if they can tell me if the serial number was fitted with the relay.

[Simon_LDT]

I've emailed Schiit so hopefully will get a reply soon. In the meantime, are there any cosmetic issues?

[roob]

A couple of tiny marks if you pm me your email I will send you pics tomorrow.

[Simon_LDT]

Heard back from Schiit and they have said they don't know an exact serial number for when the relay fitting started, other than it was around July/August 2011. They also mentioned the following:

''If it has about a 15 second delay and a click after you first turn it on, it has the relay''


I've PM'd you my email address but I'm not sure if it went through or not as it's not showing in my outbox. Let me know if I need to resend.

[Werner Berghofer]

Simon,

Heard back from Schiit and they have said they don't know an exact serial number for when the relay fitting started, other than it was around July/August 2011.
“real men” don’t need relays on headphone amplifiers ;-) Just make sure no headphone is connected before powering up the amp beast, and turn the volume down and unplug the headphone before switching off the amplifier.

I can highly recommend Schiit headphone amplifiers, I use three of them. Schiit also builds excellent DACs.

Werner.

[struth]

Heard back from Schiit and they have said they don't know an exact serial number for when the relay fitting started, other than it was around July/August 2011. They also mentioned the following:

''If it has about a 15 second delay and a click after you first turn it on, it has the relay''


I've PM'd you my email address but I'm not sure if it went through or not as it's not showing in my outbox. Let me know if I need to resend.

Simon, if you go to your settings general settings there is an option to have a copy saved in your sent folder.
cheers G

[roob]

Provisionally sold to Simon.

[roob]

Now sold.
Thanks.

[Simon_LDT]

Received this on Tuesday. Amp is in top condition, as described and is a real beast! Has really made my headphones come alive. A big thanks to Andy for a smooth transaction.

[roob]

Glad you are enjoying it Simon.:)