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Shiit Loki....


SWL

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I don't do many reviews but this little four band equalizer/tone control unit has really gotten my attention.

 

I first tried it out in a secondary system. Untreated room (basement, concrete, ductwork etc.) and gave it some action for a couple of weekends. It was doing the trick so I brought it up into the main system with some solid state. It passed the test so the next thing was to try it with some tube amplification......

 

.......originally this wasn't part of the plan. I mean my tubes sound so good they shouldn't need any additional tweaking, right? Well that's exactly what I did and here I am telling you guys how good/better it sounds.

 

Now I have to mention that I'm still EQing in the digital domain. A DEQ 2496 is dialed in to my particular room but the addition of the Loki has.....to my surprise....taken things to another level.

 

It has pretty much been a 'set and forget' situation. I don't feel the need to tweak any further. It's right where I want it.

 

Next step will be to remove the DEQ from the system and try it with the Loki by itself.......but I really don't see that happening because right now all is perfect in the world. However, I know how I am and eventually I'll have to see how the Loki does on it's own.

 

All the positive reviews I read were very accurate in my experience. This is the first analog EQ/tone control I've ever used that didn't affect the sound in a negative way (noise, etc.)

 

The only thing I wasn't fond of was the bright white power light on the front of the unit. It stuck out like a sore thumb next to the rest of my gear. I took care of it by putting a small piece of blue painter's tape over it. Now, that bright white light has a soft blue glow. Works for me.

 

The unit seems solidly built with a nice smooth finish. Knobs and RCA jacks are solid with a solid feel to them.

 

For $150 bucks it was definitely worth it.

 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

 

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Forgot to mention.....the unit is very small. Smaller than a Paradigm X-30. I'm not with it right now to give measurements but they're on the site. Big results in a small package. [emoji4]

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When I put this new system together I had been running my old SAE system w/Infinity Ref Standard speakers.  I wanted LS back in the 70's but I couldn't refuse the deal I got on the stuff.

 

Torn about the phono stage I decided to try the Schiit Mani for $150.  Fingered it out and BOOM what a suprise!  All the reviews were spot on and how can you NOT buy one at that price.  I mean there's always Ebay.

 

Recently I've been toying with the idea of pulling that big SAE Parametric EQ outta the rack and playin around a bit just for giggles n Schiit's.  The Loki is what started all that so have been thunkin.  All in one lil box w/a bright blue light?  Imma thinkin I might just give it a shot now.  Who knows!

 

Thanks for the post!

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When I put this new system together I had been running my old SAE system w/Infinity Ref Standard speakers.  I wanted LS back in the 70's but I couldn't refuse the deal I got on the stuff.
 
Torn about the phono stage I decided to try the Schiit Mani for $150.  Fingered it out and BOOM what a suprise!  All the reviews were spot on and how can you NOT buy one at that price.  I mean there's always Ebay.
 
Recently I've been toying with the idea of pulling that big SAE Parametric EQ outta the rack and playin around a bit just for giggles n Schiit's.  The Loki is what started all that so have been thunkin.  All in one lil box w/a bright blue light?  Imma thinkin I might just give it a shot now.  Who knows!
 
Thanks for the post!
Go for it Dave and let us know what you think.

I use it just to cut the mids slightly. Makes all the difference to my ears.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

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I did a triple blind test and had a party with all 3000 people in my neighborhood and every single one of them said for 150 bucks it's worth it.

 

$150.00 in this hobby ain't Shiit.

 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

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I love the Loki. So quiet and gives tons more control than you would think!  I’ve always been an eq guy, and need it in my bad room. Like said above a lot easier than rebuilding speakers, and you can use on any speakers you put inline. I can’t understand how anyone can say they prefer the Loki not being used, to having the Loki inline tuned to how your ears think it sounds best if they are totally honest with themselves!  Check out the vid on head fi and it explains a lot about how it covers the whole frequency range from 20 to 20000  Like stated above you can set it and forget it most of the time like they say on the ronco adds.

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On 6/26/2019 at 9:59 AM, SWL said:

 

I don't do many reviews but this little four band equalizer/tone control unit has really gotten my attention.

 

I first tried it out in a secondary system. Untreated room (basement, concrete, ductwork etc.) and gave it some action for a couple of weekends. It was doing the trick so I brought it up into the main system with some solid state. It passed the test so the next thing was to try it with some tube amplification......

 

.......originally this wasn't part of the plan. I mean my tubes sound so good they shouldn't need any additional tweaking, right? Well that's exactly what I did and here I am telling you guys how good/better it sounds.

 

Now I have to mention that I'm still EQing in the digital domain. A DEQ 2496 is dialed in to my particular room but the addition of the Loki has.....to my surprise....taken things to another level.

 

It has pretty much been a 'set and forget' situation. I don't feel the need to tweak any further. It's right where I want it.

 

Next step will be to remove the DEQ from the system and try it with the Loki by itself.......but I really don't see that happening because right now all is perfect in the world. However, I know how I am and eventually I'll have to see how the Loki does on it's own.

 

All the positive reviews I read were very accurate in my experience. This is the first analog EQ/tone control I've ever used that didn't affect the sound in a negative way (noise, etc.)

 

The only thing I wasn't fond of was the bright white power light on the front of the unit. It stuck out like a sore thumb next to the rest of my gear. I took care of it by putting a small piece of blue painter's tape over it. Now, that bright white light has a soft blue glow. Works for me.

 

The unit seems solidly built with a nice smooth finish. Knobs and RCA jacks are solid with a solid feel to them.

 

For $150 bucks it was definitely worth it.

 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

I guess im a schiit head because I looked back and have talked about the loki 18 times. I sound like a broken record . I guess this is the forum to sound like one!

On 6/26/2019 at 9:59 AM, SWL said:

 

 

 

 

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I've been using a Loki for quite a while in my main 2 channel setup.  My rogue cronus magnum2 has a lot of power,  and sounds great with most music , but no tone controls. Sometimes classic rock needs a tweak,  and the Loki is the answer.  Rega apollo > Loki > rogue > forte 3s.  Sweet.  

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Got home today and flicked on the tunes. Kinda disappointed because the highs were a little hot and raspy sounding. Bypassed the Loki and it almost sounded better.....

......then I remembered the other day I put different NOS 5670 tube in my DAC. So on the Loki I cut the treble a fuzz and BAM I'm back in business, baby. [emoji106]

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I have the Loki, but I no longer use it. It seemed fun at first, but after some time I could never find a setting that I liked better than bypassed in general. I do think it's the best tone control you can buy, and an incredible bargain at 150 bucks. Just didn't seem to make things sound better to me, and I tended to want to always be tweaking it for different songs. I admire the company. Good products.

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2 hours ago, rjp said:

Just didn't seem to make things sound better to me, and I tended to want to always be tweaking it for different songs.

 

Unless one needs to and can accommodate some room errors across the board, tweaking it for different songs (more properly different albums, God knows how much they've always varied) is pretty much the reason for it's existence, no?

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Got home today and flicked on the tunes. Kinda disappointed because the highs were a little hot and raspy sounding. Bypassed the Loki and it almost sounded better.....

......then I remembered the other day I put different NOS 5670 tube in my DAC. So on the Loki I cut the treble a fuzz and BAM I'm back in business, baby. [emoji106]

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


I put the original 5670 tube back in my DAC just now and it confirmed that the new tube had more treble. After X amount of hours it'll probably sound just like the other one (they're the same exact tube) but it's nice to know that after a tube change a slight tweak on the Loki can smooth things out.

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On 7/6/2019 at 6:39 PM, SWL said:

I put the original 5670 tube back in my DAC just now and it confirmed that the new tube had more treble. After X amount of hours it'll probably sound just like the other one (they're the same exact tube) but it's nice to know that after a tube change a slight tweak on the Loki can smooth things out.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 

 

When I first started coming here I just got my klipsch speakers and I loved them until I noticed it they made my head hurt. When I said something about it on the forum it went to do you have ear problems to gear not working well with them and a few almost sounded mad lol. I think klipsch are great speakers but in some rooms with some equipment they are little hot around 4000 hz and in my crappy room I need to drop it about 2 db on the high end also. With some songs I can go to flat and it sound fine but most of the time in my room they need just a fuzz less. This does not take away from the speakers at all in my opinion and after getting the loki for control I can't imagine speakers sounding better for what I have invested. I see alot of speaker mods done on here but I would almost bet 80 percent of the problems could easily be fixed with alittle eq. I can see replacing things on really old speakers. I love the dynamics of the speakers and would rather have to tame alittle brightness then them being dull and lifeless.

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This was my experience as well with my Heresy 3's. After a while I felt they were a bit harsh on some material. I purchased the Loki as a possible remedy but for me it didn't work. I found I still heard the same harshness even when treble and some mids were cut, it was just at a lower level if that makes sense. My conclusion was that what I was hearing was a characteristic of the speakers, not simply an abundance of power at certain frequencies, i.e., spikes or hot spots. The Loki did help mask this by decreasing the volume at those frequencies, but the problem didn't go away, and then it lost some of what I love about the sound too. The dynamic crispness and realness gets cut at the same time. Thats a huge part of what I like about the speakers, and I didn't want to let that go, so I tended to stop using the Loki for that reason. I still love the H3's, I just have accepted that they will be great at some stuff and not great on other stuff, and I try to only play stuff they sound great with.

 

Btw, I also found that the "tissue mod" works very well, maybe even better than the Loki. It seems impossible to believe, but if you are hearing harshness try a single Kleneex tissue hanging in front of the mid horn (maybe tweets as well). Huge difference instantly, and with less impact on dynamics. I still like the H3's best with no alterations, but this is something so easy to try and you may like it. Just one tissue, and a tiny piece of tape is all you need.

 

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