Frequency Response: 20Hz-20Khz, +/-0.5db (worst case, high gain, 32 ohms, impedance multiplier off)

 

THD: < 0.5%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 1V RMS, low gain, 300 ohms

IMD: < 0.4%, CCIF at 1V RMS low gain, 300 ohms

SNR: > 100db, unweighted, referenced to 1V RMS, low gain; >90dB, unweighted, referenced to 1V RMS, high gain

 

Crosstalk: < -60dB, 20Hz-20KHz

Output Impedance:  18 ohms (hi gain), 7 ohms (low gain), 8/3.5 ohms with impedance multiplier hi/low gain

 

Input Impedance: 100K ohms

 

Gain: 6.5 (16.3dB) or 1.5 (3.5dB), via front switch

 

 

We don’t. Same as lots of other companies don’t justify the existence of their $1.5 million supercars with single-digit gas mileage, 168-core computers that need 20A AC sockets to run, $450,000 watches, $10,000 espresso machines, or anything else that’s completely bonkers.

 

No, we don’t do sales pitches. You either want it or not. Simple as that.

 

Again, no. You either want it or you don’t. You understand it or you don’t. There’s no judgement here—I mean, we say pretty much every time we’re asked that you don’t need anything more than a Magni as a headphone amp, and we’re 100% serious about that. 

 

Nope, not really. 

 

Again, ah, no.

 

Nope, it gets really hot and we wouldn’t use it with IEMs.

Some people like tubes. Some people like lots of tubes. Some people want the most tubes we ever put into a product, plus the complete insanity of an OTL and OCL tube amp—as in, your headphones are connected directly to the cathodes (and anodes) of the 8 output tubes, with absolutely nothing in-between.

 

OTL, or output transformerless, is an approach to tube amps that eliminates the usual output coupling transformer. This sounds neat in theory, but to make it work, you need some very unusual tubes—tubes that can do relatively high current. “Relatively,” because even the stoutest tubes are laughable in the context of, say, MOSFETs. Folkvangr gets higher output into low impedances by simply using a whole lot (8) of these relatively high-current tubes. But Folkvangr goes a step farther and also eliminates the output coupling capacitor that is usually used in an OTL amp, so your headphones are literally connected to the tubes. 

 

Yes. Which is why, even though we have 8 separate DC servos to stabilize the output pairs, and even though we have DC sensing and protection, we don’t recommend you use this amp with sensitive IEMs. 

 

First because it was interesting. What would an OTL/OCL tube amp sound like? I mean, it’s not like there are a ton of them out there. So we built one to see how it went. And it turned out we really, really liked the way it sounded. And so we decided to build it. Fun fact: we didn’t measure it until near the end of the development, so that wouldn’t influence the sound. So if you’re looking for a measurement amp, this ain’t it. 

 

The impedance multiplier is a way to make the headphone load look like 8X its actual impedance, so if you’re using, say, a 32 ohm headphone, it looks more like 256 ohms to the amp. It’s a lot like a transformer, but instead of a hunk of iron, it’s a simple electronic circuit using an integrated buffer. 

 

Yes, ho ho.

 

Then leave the Impedance Multiplier turned off. Turning it off takes it completely out of the circuit. When it’s off, there’s nothing IC-like between you and the tubes. Fun fact: even when it’s on, there’s technically nothing between you and the tubes, since the output of the impedance multiplier is taken in parallel, and the reference is the tube output, so the distortion profile is exactly the same.

 

Because this isn’t a balanced amp, and we don’t add connectors to fake you out. 

 

Because it magnifies the tubes’ inherent weaknesses—current output and output impedance. Balanced amps have to deliver twice the current into the same load, which ain’t a great idea with tubes. Also, balanced amps have double the output impedance. So, as a balanced amp it would be an inferior amp.

 

Well, the death of the tube may be a bit overblown. As of the time of this writing, the 6N1P and 6N6P used in Folkvangr are still readily available, and we have large stocks of each. We expect that you’ll be able to find these tubes for a long, long time.

 

The two input tubes, yes. The 8 output tubes, nope. 

 

No, not at all. 7.2A of heater current, plus 120mA across 200V doesn’t dissipate any power, thanks to our special zero-point Tesseract Cooling Technology.

Yes, of course we are. It runs plenty hot. This is fine. It’s designed to run this hot for a long, long time.

 

In Norse mythology, Folkvangr is kinda like, well, a “better” Valhalla. As in, you needed to be personally chosen by Freya to enjoy that afterlife, whereas Valhalla just required you to die in battle. Since we’re simple, we chose Folkvangr as the name for this much bigger, crazier tube amp.