Schiit Rekkr is one-of-a-kind power amplifier that is made by the an American company that is recognized not only because of its name, but more by its innate tendency to go against some currents in the audio industry. This is actually the third time that we see Schiit at our premises, since we reviewed both the bigger (than the Rekkr) Gjallarhorn power amp and a Modi Multibit 2 digital to analogue converter. Each of these units turned out to be really great. And by saying this I mean not only looking through the prism of the price-to-performance ratio, but also because they proved one, very important thing. That you actually can make affordable, yet well-made audio hardware that sports truly clever and at the same time serious engineering that directly translates into sonic performance. And, what’s also important – make it in the USA. Not to mention that the range that Schiit offers has also some unicorns, like the Loki Max, something that no other known “audiophile” company dares to make. I mention this because Rekkr can also be viewed as another highly unusual product, yet from all those that we’ve reviewed to date – I would say that this one is probably the most interesting. And will possibly turn most heads, be most surprising to many.
Look at it that way: this is probably the smallest power (call it an audiophile if you like) amplifier in the world that is a fully “linear” Class AB design. So, no PWM, no switching, no Class-D here. Sitting at your desk – it will probably take up the less space than your DAC, headphone amplifier and such stuff. Its footprint is actually twice the size of my flash card reader. The thing here is that it’s conceived and made for one (main – more on that later) purpose in mind. This purpose is powering a passive desktop speakers. This is where I believe that it really needs a more in-depth explanation that would also show the bigger picture here.
So here it comes. Many people will be perfectly happy with their active, usually Class-D powered desktop speakers that at the same time usually employ cheap 2 USD bulk price tweeters and have enclosures made from the material that doesn’t even resemble MDF. Obviously, I don’t mean that there aren’t any seriously good active speakers (we even reviewed one lately here). But my point here is that many well-informed enthusiasts will not only want to go passive with their desktop monitors, but their amplification of choice will rather be any variation of a smaller-power class A/AB design than the Class-D with the wattage ratings they will likely never use. And the Rekkr is purposefully made for them. The “downside” – it’s only 2W per channel at 8 Ohms and 3WPC when the load impedance is four ohms. Or you can actually bridge it – and then have that one watt more totalling four. In other words, 2W stereo or you could use two Rekkrs that will give you two times four watts on eight ohms impedance. Sounds a bit crazy, but on the other hand – you can even go dual mono these small amps. Let me rephrase it: you can have a fully dual-mono desktop passive setup using each of the amps powering each of the speakers. Moreover, it’s not only usage scenario that that you can conceive. I even ask Jason Stoddard why did he actually made those amps and, in his response, he also indicates that the possible usage scenarios are actually wider than the amps’ wattage might suggest:
“Basically I wanted something that could power good desktop speakers without hiss or hum. That’s oversimplifying, of course…it started with running speakers on a Magni (survived for a while), then building low-voltage, high-current versions of Magni, to deciding to make a speaker version of it. I use them all over the place–desktops at both houses, desktops at both offices, even with high-efficiency speakers as replacements for soundbars in utility video systems.”
So, here we have a very small, low-power-yet-high-quality power amp that costs 149 USD. Which is actually half of the price of the Gjallarhorn reviewed before. And on one hand might it seem expensive in the terms of wattage-per-dollar. Yet on the other hand, the power was never the main goal here. And the Rekkr is also something that many (including this reviewer) have been waiting for. Because, let’s be honest: how much wattage do you need when you run a desktop speaker? Even those that are rated at 88 dB/1W at 1 metre? Especially when, with desktop speakers, you’re usually much closer in distance?