Having now lived with Aegir for several weeks, I have a couple of additional observations. One is that Aegir's greatest strengths is its ability to convey dynamics both macro and micro. This ability is critical when it comes to "realism" associated with the attack envelope of voices and instruments. To say that music "comes alive" with Aegir may be an understatement. So much so that some recordings almost sound like different recordings compared to listening to the same through other amplifiers. One such recording is Monty Alexander's "Goin Yard" from Telarc. The close mic'd and HARD hit piano along with hand drums (congo's?) on the opening cut (The Serpent) sound like a close mic'd hard hit piano and hand drums (imagine that). Using two other amplifiers (both with audiophile cult followings) the distinctive attack (like you hear if you're actually there) was rounded off with these other amplifiers (sweet and pleasant, but not accurate). Interestingly Aegir does this (reproduces the hard and sometimes nasty attack) without sounding "harsh" or "etched". Another example of digging deep into the micro dynamics is in Chris Isaak's vocals on "Blue Spanish sky" where he transitions from throat voice to mask as he goes up in pitch. With the Aegir you can literally hear the tongue switch positions as the air moves into the mask (nasal cavities) and pushes the pitch higher and changes the timbre of the voice to the desired effect. Again, on the "other" amps this microdynamic detail is mostly lost.
Aegir may or may not be your cup of tea, because it doesn't always sound like and "audiophiles" amp, but it does always (to my ears) sound realistic and accurate. The only place where macro dynamics may be less than stellar is when you push the volume to where Aegir is taxed to provide the power (its' only 20 watts). At that point you can get some softening of the bass "impact". Even so, I've yet to hear Aegir clip - even under some pretty tough pushing. I've just ordered another one to try Aegir as mono blocks :-)
Another thing that I ran into at a friends house was the fact that Aegir is very senstive to DC. The amp simply would not stay out of protection mode for very long in his system? He's had some problem with noise in his A/C supply suspects that there may be some DC in his lines. I contacted Schiit to find out what they thought, and they said that likely there is DC in his A/C supply as Aegir is VERY sensitive to DC and will shut down if any DC is detected. They were also suspicious of the Cardas Clear Beyond power cable we were using at his house, but i don't think that power cable could cause a problem?
Anyway, I'm really enjoying Aegir and look forward to reporting on Aeigir x2.
|