Hi, As you know I am looking at the Jot vs the Lyr, what gains are you finding moving from the Magni 2U to the Jot with your HD650's?
Are you using balanced or SE and did you consider the Lyr?
Thanks in advance!
The gains were.. surprising, frankly. Everything is so much snappier, clearer, more detailed. Would I be able to tell the difference blind, volume matched? A resounding "yes".
I know that audiophools like like claim that every change (even ones with only an imaginary effect) is "night and day", so that does devalue the currency a bit. However, it's a really noticeable kick up the arse for the HD650. Small sounds way down in the mix are not just audible, but have detail and attack. It's a really nice combo. I was having slight buyer's remorse for jumping on the Jotenheim so fast, but the results shut me up.
I didn't consider the Lyr, even though it has a great reputation. I was interested in the Jotenheim because I have been after a balanced SS amp- but wasn't thrilled with my options. Maybe some day I shall get a tube amp as a luxury second amp, but I really wanted a reliable SS amp that didn't need babying. Having to regard bits of my amp as consumables, and the endless circle jerk "tube rolling" threads repel me a bit- that's my peculiarity, with which I am completely comfortable.
The thing is, a lot of the amps which are famously good matches with the HD650 are tube amps (is it a current thing?), so it was a quandry. However, the Jotenheim is such a no-brainer good match at a decent price that it seemed rude not to.
In answer to your other questions, I am using a Modi Multibit (or sometimes a Chord Mojo) SE into the Jotenheim, and then the HD650 balanced out of it. I have a second standard HD650 cable reterminated to XLR, which I was able to compare to the standard HD650 cable. The SE out of the Jotenheim is really very good, so they're close, but I did hear some very slight detail improvement with the balanced cable. It was mostly in the attack of sounds, subtle but pleasing.
The best example, which I keep using, is Bowie's "Word On A Wing".. On the (surprisingly nice for the price/size) Magni 2U in the HD650, the xylophones low in the mix are fairly hard to hear. On the Jotenheim with the SE out, they're much more audible and have a pleasant musical sound. On the Jotenheim with the balanced out, they are clear and musical, but you can also hear the percussive attack at the start of the note. It's that sort of micro-detail that is sometimes called "plankton" on Another Site Which Shall Not Be Mentioned.
I'm sure the Lyr will sound badass too- if that's how your tastes run. I was drawn to the Jotenheim partly because I wanted to see what running my headphones balanced would sound like. It has additional advantages- I have a pair of Adam Audio A5, that I can throw on the back balanced, too. I'm rejigging things a bit, and this is a nice option to have.
If you want the reliability (hopefully! it's a bit early) and flexibility of the SS balanced Jotenheim, you won't regret it as a pairing for your HD650, for sure. It's stupidly good. However, if you secretly want to be a little tubey sometimes, the Lyr will probably make you happy. You probably can't make a bad decision in this situation. Maybe it's time for you to make a pro/con list of each to compare what they bring to your specific use cases?
I hope that helps a bit. I feel like I am retreading a lot of what I said in my quick review of the Jotenheim:
http://www.head-fi.org/products/schiit-audio-jotunheim/reviews/16839
There may be some other useful tidbits there, possibly, though I think I have just repeated the useful points