I began this review with the Thorens TD 124 Mk.I turntable but eventually changed to the Kuzma Stabi R. Similarly, Klipsch Forte III loudspeakers were swapped out for DeVore Fidelity O/93s, using Auditorium 23 speaker cables for both.
Listening
I brought out several vinyl chestnuts from my collection to establish the Ragnarok 2's basic sound: Ella Fitzgerald's Swings Brightly With Nelson (LP, Verve Records V6-4054); Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne & Ray Brown's Poll Winners Three! (LP, Contemporary Records M 3576); Miles Davis Quintet's Workin' (LP, Prestige PRLP 7166); and Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell's El Corazón (LP, ECM Records ECM 1-1230). All four records revealed the Rag 2's sound to be bold and punchy, with good dynamics and precise imaging. A strong presence
I love Ella's Swings Brightly With Nelson for Riddle's arrangements and buoyant big band—and of course, Ella herself, who sounds joyful throughout. Through the Rag 2, Ella's artistry—every dynamic nuance, every subtlety of timing, every inhalation and exhalation—was reproduced better than through any amplifier I've had in house. The Ragnarok 2 was so resolving, yet in such a non-analytical way, it was almost like being inside Ella's head. Her vocals sounded more human and less canned than I've ever heard.
The big band was reproduced with admirable soundstage depth but without the spaciousness provided (or allowed) by my tube amps. The explosive thwacks of drummer Warren Smith's Warren Smith & Toki (45, RCA RVL-8501) and the timpani and snare drum battles of Makoto Aruga's Digital Percussion (LP, Seven Seas K2BC-165) revealed an amplifier that doesn't soften transients. The trio interplay on Poll Winners Three!, where each musician's timing—how one musician pushes the beat as another pulls it back—was clearer than I've heard before.
El Corazón is a musical duel between a trumpet and drumming master, Cherry and Blackwell romping through bubbling New Orleans swing with exploratory avant playfulness. This recording always sounds palpable and present, but via the Rag 2, which mated beautifully with my DeVore Fidelity O/93s, I could better hear the metallic vibrancy of Blackwell's snare drum and the spitty textures of Cherry's trumpet. As with the Ella disc, the music was more immediate and brilliantly dynamic than I recall it sounding through other gear. Each instrument in the mix was crisp and vivid, with commendable tone. On Poll Winners Three!, a jazz master class if ever there is one, the Rag 2 provided a front-row–seat perspective, presenting palpable images within a deep soundstage.
Midrange frequencies are where this amplifier excels. Kessel's guitar on Poll Winners Three! sounded particularly lush and toneful. Shelly Manne's drums were textured and present—not as present and colorful as when played through my Shindo gear, but with more warmth than any other solid-state amplifier I've reviewed. The Rag 2 performed the neat trick of being crisp and warm at the same time.
While the Rag 2's midrange was consistently full and engaging, I found its bass response mixed. The Schiit's reproduction of bass weight—upright and electric bass, bass drums, timpani, deep organ notes—was less substantial than that of other solid-state (and some tube) amplifiers I've had in house. Paul Chambers's acoustic bass on Miles Davis's Workin' had less weight than I've heard. Dave Holland's upright bass on Triplicate (LP, ECM Records ECM 1373) had good palpability.
$150 DAC
The Rag 2's Fully Loaded package adds a phono stage, a USB DAC, and $300 to the price of the Just An Amp version. Assuming that half that goes to the phono stage, the Ragnarok DAC costs $150. The $1850 BorderPatrol DAC SE did not trounce it. Stacey Kent's "It's a Wonderful World" (FLAC, 16/44.1kHz, Tidal) sounded more natural and relaxed through the Rag 2 DAC, but the soundstage was deeper through the BorderPatrol. The BorderPatrol presented Sarah Vaughan's "Mean to Me" (FLAC, 16/44.1kHz, Tidal) with natural-sounding tone and good texture, the latter including an emphasis on the slight burr in her voice. The Schiit reproduced her voice with less texture; spatially, it placed her band farther back on the soundstage. If I had to choose, I think I'd take the Schiit's DAC and keep the cash.
In your head
I connected my Master & Dynamic MH40 headphones to the amp's ¼" jack. The Stacey Kent track sounded natural, lush, creamy, and spacious. Kent's girlish vocals sounded better with the cans than through any of my loudspeakers, with opulent tone and an excellent sense of air. Schiit vs Schiit
I've been scavenging JVC XRCDs of late. A friend—Robert Silverman, who frequents the Jazz Record Center (where I work Saturdays), and who is not the Robert Silverman who has recorded classical great works on the Stereophile label—gave me the bug. On Robert's advice, I purchased two XRCDs: The Montgomery Brothers' Groove Yard (JVCXR-0018-2) and Count Basie & His Orchestra's 88 Basie Street (JVCXR-0021-2). Compared to pristine vinyl, the same titles on XRCD have better definition and superior extension in both directions. They sound smooth as velvet.
I compared Ragnarok 2 to the Ragnarok using these XRCDs and the Tascam CD-200iL CD player connected with Triode Wire Labs Spirit II RCA interconnects. Only after switching out the amps four times did I start to understand what I was hearing. Instrument tone and impact were superior through the new amplifier. The orchestra's soundstage was slightly wider. Brass and reeds, placed hard left and right, sounded farther back on the soundstage. On the piano/ acoustic bass introduction of the Montgomery Brothers' "Bock to Bock (Back to Back)," there was more air around the higher piano notes. These were small differences, but the Rag 2 definitively improves on its sibling's performance.
Conclusions
In its Fully Loaded version, the Schiit Ragnarok 2 offers greater flexibility than its predecessor and includes a remote and an evidently capable DAC and phono stage. And when purchased as Just An Amp, the Rag 2 is $200 less expensive than the original Ragnarok. Where else can you get all this hi-fi goodness for that kind of money? Highly recommended.
I brought out several vinyl chestnuts from my collection to establish the Ragnarok 2's basic sound: Ella Fitzgerald's Swings Brightly With Nelson (LP, Verve Records V6-4054); Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne & Ray Brown's Poll Winners Three! (LP, Contemporary Records M 3576); Miles Davis Quintet's Workin' (LP, Prestige PRLP 7166); and Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell's El Corazón (LP, ECM Records ECM 1-1230). All four records revealed the Rag 2's sound to be bold and punchy, with good dynamics and precise imaging. A strong presence
I love Ella's Swings Brightly With Nelson for Riddle's arrangements and buoyant big band—and of course, Ella herself, who sounds joyful throughout. Through the Rag 2, Ella's artistry—every dynamic nuance, every subtlety of timing, every inhalation and exhalation—was reproduced better than through any amplifier I've had in house. The Ragnarok 2 was so resolving, yet in such a non-analytical way, it was almost like being inside Ella's head. Her vocals sounded more human and less canned than I've ever heard.
The big band was reproduced with admirable soundstage depth but without the spaciousness provided (or allowed) by my tube amps. The explosive thwacks of drummer Warren Smith's Warren Smith & Toki (45, RCA RVL-8501) and the timpani and snare drum battles of Makoto Aruga's Digital Percussion (LP, Seven Seas K2BC-165) revealed an amplifier that doesn't soften transients. The trio interplay on Poll Winners Three!, where each musician's timing—how one musician pushes the beat as another pulls it back—was clearer than I've heard before.
El Corazón is a musical duel between a trumpet and drumming master, Cherry and Blackwell romping through bubbling New Orleans swing with exploratory avant playfulness. This recording always sounds palpable and present, but via the Rag 2, which mated beautifully with my DeVore Fidelity O/93s, I could better hear the metallic vibrancy of Blackwell's snare drum and the spitty textures of Cherry's trumpet. As with the Ella disc, the music was more immediate and brilliantly dynamic than I recall it sounding through other gear. Each instrument in the mix was crisp and vivid, with commendable tone. On Poll Winners Three!, a jazz master class if ever there is one, the Rag 2 provided a front-row–seat perspective, presenting palpable images within a deep soundstage.
Midrange frequencies are where this amplifier excels. Kessel's guitar on Poll Winners Three! sounded particularly lush and toneful. Shelly Manne's drums were textured and present—not as present and colorful as when played through my Shindo gear, but with more warmth than any other solid-state amplifier I've reviewed. The Rag 2 performed the neat trick of being crisp and warm at the same time.
$150 DACThe Rag 2's Fully Loaded package adds a phono stage, a USB DAC, and $300 to the price of the Just An Amp version. Assuming that half that goes to the phono stage, the Ragnarok DAC costs $150. The $1850 BorderPatrol DAC SE did not trounce it. Stacey Kent's "It's a Wonderful World" (FLAC, 16/44.1kHz, Tidal) sounded more natural and relaxed through the Rag 2 DAC, but the soundstage was deeper through the BorderPatrol. The BorderPatrol presented Sarah Vaughan's "Mean to Me" (FLAC, 16/44.1kHz, Tidal) with natural-sounding tone and good texture, the latter including an emphasis on the slight burr in her voice. The Schiit reproduced her voice with less texture; spatially, it placed her band farther back on the soundstage. If I had to choose, I think I'd take the Schiit's DAC and keep the cash.
I connected my Master & Dynamic MH40 headphones to the amp's ¼" jack. The Stacey Kent track sounded natural, lush, creamy, and spacious. Kent's girlish vocals sounded better with the cans than through any of my loudspeakers, with opulent tone and an excellent sense of air. Schiit vs Schiit
I've been scavenging JVC XRCDs of late. A friend—Robert Silverman, who frequents the Jazz Record Center (where I work Saturdays), and who is not the Robert Silverman who has recorded classical great works on the Stereophile label—gave me the bug. On Robert's advice, I purchased two XRCDs: The Montgomery Brothers' Groove Yard (JVCXR-0018-2) and Count Basie & His Orchestra's 88 Basie Street (JVCXR-0021-2). Compared to pristine vinyl, the same titles on XRCD have better definition and superior extension in both directions. They sound smooth as velvet.
I compared Ragnarok 2 to the Ragnarok using these XRCDs and the Tascam CD-200iL CD player connected with Triode Wire Labs Spirit II RCA interconnects. Only after switching out the amps four times did I start to understand what I was hearing. Instrument tone and impact were superior through the new amplifier. The orchestra's soundstage was slightly wider. Brass and reeds, placed hard left and right, sounded farther back on the soundstage. On the piano/ acoustic bass introduction of the Montgomery Brothers' "Bock to Bock (Back to Back)," there was more air around the higher piano notes. These were small differences, but the Rag 2 definitively improves on its sibling's performance.
In its Fully Loaded version, the Schiit Ragnarok 2 offers greater flexibility than its predecessor and includes a remote and an evidently capable DAC and phono stage. And when purchased as Just An Amp, the Rag 2 is $200 less expensive than the original Ragnarok. Where else can you get all this hi-fi goodness for that kind of money? Highly recommended.
