Picked up a gently used pair of Beyerdynamic DT990 600 ohm Premium Edition headphones from another forum recently. Properly engineered 'phones and well-made too, and oh-so super comfy like a well sat-in Gomma Gomma lounge suite.
The sound, I expected (without reading up too much before the purchase), was a very live, your-are-there type signature like my sadly long-gone Grado SR60i's, hopefully with more slam, better extension at the frequency extremes, coherence and transparency. I was right about the slam, extension, coherence and transparency but did I get the midrange all wrong! Instead of the mid-range emphasis that makes the SR60's so involving, the DT990's has accentuated bass and treble, with a sucked out mid-range. Mid-range de-emphasis of sorts, if there is such a thing.
Combined with the very accurate and revealing Phonitor amp the result was not satisfying ... gentle EQing improved matters somewhat, but what I really needed was a valve amp! That should see the midrange right. Now I deeply regretted passing up just over a week ago on itsgraig?s Little Dot Mk III for crashappy to enjoy.
At the same time Craig also advertised the ex-gavinbirss Schiit Lyr valve hybrid headamp. When Gavin advertised this piece mid-2015 I was tempted (but still very conscious of keeping tabs on my head-fi spend back then ... no such inhibitions any more). So I started toying with the idea of buying the Lyr ? just to learn that ta24 had already bought it! Well, Thomas? shopping spree did not end with the Lyr and a neat pair of HD600?s, he also picked up kamikazi?s Violectric V100 amp while in the Cape this week. Leave something for the rest of us, OK!?! :baseball:
So this afternoon I visit Thomas to play with the new toys. And man, they are nice pieces all three of them. Fortunately he shows some buyer?s remorse after a week of reckless sending, and I convince him to on-sell his piece of Schiit!! And what lovely Schiit this is ? thanks Gavin, Craig and Thomas for looking after this amp for me! :2thumbs: :2thumbs: :2thumbs:
Bringing the Lyr home I started listening with the stock GE 6BQ7A tubes, and felt most underwhelmed. But with both the Electo Harmonix 6922 and Brimar 6BQ7A it really sang and delivered the magic I expected.
The Lyr is a real powerhouse of a valve amp (OK, valve hybrid) with 6W on tap. But as a friend of mine says, with great power comes great responsibility. And the Lyr assumes the responsibility of delivering satisfying music without popping your eardrums with great composure.
It is a sort of gentle giant, while it has essentially limitless dynamic headroom, it has a very clean if ever so slightly rosy delivery with beautifully portrayed detail and timber. The soundstage is nice and wide and stretches wall-to-wall, if not particularly deep. Bass is deep and nicely textured and the mids smooth and engaging. At the upper frequency extreme no detectable truncation, with a great measure of detail (if not as high-resolution as say the SPL Phonitor) while steering clear of any glare or harshness. Micro and macro dynamics are dealt with in a delicate but punchy, effortlessness manner. And then all those extra horses resting under the bonnet for when you want to reproduce something on a truly majestic scale or just to play LOUD! And yes, it does partner very well with the Beyer DT990 as I expected.
After a good couple of hours of listening I now believe the Shiit Lyr must be one of the most underrated head-amps of recent years. Overall it delivers a supremely satisfying, top drawer performance on all types of music, ranging from early Dire Straits to the Dallas Wind Symphony, Springsteen to Stacey Kent. If Schiit pitched that at $800 rather than $400-odd, maybe more people would take it seriously. It is certainly a good couple of steps up on the highly-regarded Little Dot Mk III (the only other tube head-amp I have heard to date). Looking forward to comparing it against the likes the Bottlehead Crack, Woo Audio and other tube amps.
Happy with my new toys I am! :groovy:
The sound, I expected (without reading up too much before the purchase), was a very live, your-are-there type signature like my sadly long-gone Grado SR60i's, hopefully with more slam, better extension at the frequency extremes, coherence and transparency. I was right about the slam, extension, coherence and transparency but did I get the midrange all wrong! Instead of the mid-range emphasis that makes the SR60's so involving, the DT990's has accentuated bass and treble, with a sucked out mid-range. Mid-range de-emphasis of sorts, if there is such a thing.
Combined with the very accurate and revealing Phonitor amp the result was not satisfying ... gentle EQing improved matters somewhat, but what I really needed was a valve amp! That should see the midrange right. Now I deeply regretted passing up just over a week ago on itsgraig?s Little Dot Mk III for crashappy to enjoy.
At the same time Craig also advertised the ex-gavinbirss Schiit Lyr valve hybrid headamp. When Gavin advertised this piece mid-2015 I was tempted (but still very conscious of keeping tabs on my head-fi spend back then ... no such inhibitions any more). So I started toying with the idea of buying the Lyr ? just to learn that ta24 had already bought it! Well, Thomas? shopping spree did not end with the Lyr and a neat pair of HD600?s, he also picked up kamikazi?s Violectric V100 amp while in the Cape this week. Leave something for the rest of us, OK!?! :baseball:
So this afternoon I visit Thomas to play with the new toys. And man, they are nice pieces all three of them. Fortunately he shows some buyer?s remorse after a week of reckless sending, and I convince him to on-sell his piece of Schiit!! And what lovely Schiit this is ? thanks Gavin, Craig and Thomas for looking after this amp for me! :2thumbs: :2thumbs: :2thumbs:
Bringing the Lyr home I started listening with the stock GE 6BQ7A tubes, and felt most underwhelmed. But with both the Electo Harmonix 6922 and Brimar 6BQ7A it really sang and delivered the magic I expected.
The Lyr is a real powerhouse of a valve amp (OK, valve hybrid) with 6W on tap. But as a friend of mine says, with great power comes great responsibility. And the Lyr assumes the responsibility of delivering satisfying music without popping your eardrums with great composure.
It is a sort of gentle giant, while it has essentially limitless dynamic headroom, it has a very clean if ever so slightly rosy delivery with beautifully portrayed detail and timber. The soundstage is nice and wide and stretches wall-to-wall, if not particularly deep. Bass is deep and nicely textured and the mids smooth and engaging. At the upper frequency extreme no detectable truncation, with a great measure of detail (if not as high-resolution as say the SPL Phonitor) while steering clear of any glare or harshness. Micro and macro dynamics are dealt with in a delicate but punchy, effortlessness manner. And then all those extra horses resting under the bonnet for when you want to reproduce something on a truly majestic scale or just to play LOUD! And yes, it does partner very well with the Beyer DT990 as I expected.
After a good couple of hours of listening I now believe the Shiit Lyr must be one of the most underrated head-amps of recent years. Overall it delivers a supremely satisfying, top drawer performance on all types of music, ranging from early Dire Straits to the Dallas Wind Symphony, Springsteen to Stacey Kent. If Schiit pitched that at $800 rather than $400-odd, maybe more people would take it seriously. It is certainly a good couple of steps up on the highly-regarded Little Dot Mk III (the only other tube head-amp I have heard to date). Looking forward to comparing it against the likes the Bottlehead Crack, Woo Audio and other tube amps.
Happy with my new toys I am! :groovy:
