Got my “last call” $999 Schiit Ragnarok 2 hooked up to some Emotiva Airmotiv T1+ tower speakers. Speakers are factory rated at 88 dB (2.83V/1m) and 4 ohm impedance. Ragnarok 2 drives them effortlessly. I watched Spider-Man 2002 (Tobey Maguire) and it was a great experience. So far I only have a Schiit Modi 3+ on it but will likely move in a Bifrost 2 OG when I get around to it perhaps next month.
I have no listening impressions with headphones yet. Why not? Because, when I plug in my headphones there is no way to turn off sound from my powered sub woofers playing! I just was not able to listen to my headphones with the entire house shaking. I will have to set up an RCA switch on the pre amp outputs to cut off the sub woofers in order to remedy this since there is no way I would walk around to each sub woofer and kneel down feeling behind them to turn them off every time, nor would I even want to do this one time let alone every time. I have piles of work on my plate at the moment. So, no headphone pairing with the Ragnarok 2 for a long while until I get around to rearranging the entire hookup to my liking.
Okay, I stayed up late and played around with Schiit Ragnarok 2 and Schiit Bifrost 2 OG DAC. I also brought down the HeadAmp GS-X Mini to make direct a/b comparisons between the headphone amplification sections.
Schiit Ragnarok 2 vs HeadAmp GS-X Mini balanced headphone outputs to HiFiMan HE6SE v2
Both pair well with HiFiMan HE6SE v2. The Ragnarok 2 demonstrated increased spatial cues and fully rounded organic reverberations that lead to a broader perceived stage and sense of clarity.
HeadAmp GS-X Mini increased treble focus but not sharp. Narrower perceived stage. While the GS-X Mini is no slouch, so far I prefer the smoothness of the Ragnarok 2 over the highly intense energized GS-X Mini
Gain switch on Ragnarok
I think that I hear an improvement using the mid gain setting of the Ragnarok 2 over the low or high gain settings. I thought that I might be hearing more pronounced instrument and vocal textures in mid gain mode. I shall have to listen more.
Sennheiser HD 600 pairing
I had an itch to pair a good dynamic driver headphone with each of these amplifiers. So I grabbed my Sennheiser HD 600. Pairing the HD 600 with each of these amplifiers yielded wonderful performance. My preference for one amplifier over the other narrowed with Sennheiser HD 600. However, due to much of the same reasoning stated earlier with the HiFiMan HE6SE v2, I continue to maintain a slight preference for Ragnarok 2.
In order to listen to single ended headphone output, I grabbed my Fostex T50RP-Mk3 and plugged them to each amplifier. I definitely heard an improvement switching my T50RP into the Ragnarok 2 with it’s warmer fuller deep tones.
Nope, they are covered in glass because they’ve been snacking on little glass men. I’m sure that @hottyson started out with a dozen little men. Keep your eye on those chickens.
