Schiit Audio has begun shipping their Ragnarok 2 headphone and speaker amplifier. Completely re-designed with a new topology and modular features, by sharing heatsink components from the Vidar, it is also cheaper than the original.
The new Nexus design, as Schiit Audio are calling it, allows the Ragnarok to convert signals between single-ended and balanced “without summers, buffers, or any other tricks” that are typically required by an amp.
Much desired by customers, the Ragnarok has a remote control for the 128-step relay attenuator that guarantees perfect channel matching. Output can now also be switched between the headphone and speaker outputs.
Input options include 2 balanced and one single-ended input by default, but also included are 2 card slots which can be filled with extra RCA inputs, an MM phono stage or multibit DAC card. The Ragnarok can, at least for now, only be purchased without an add-on cards for $1499, or “fully loaded” with a MM phono card and Multibit DAC module for $1799.
With up to 60W of output for 8 Ohm speakers (and 100W at 4 Ohms) the Ragnarok 2 can also deliver 24W RMS to headphones at 32 Ohms. Even headphones up to 600 Ohms get a massive overkill 1.5W, making the amp powerful enough to drive all headphones on the market.
For those wanting to use the amp with more sensitive headphones or IEMs, it has gain settings of 1, 8 and 25.
