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Freya+ preamp users?

MisterDK

MisterDK

Addicted Member
Hey folks!

Is anyone out there using the new Schiit Freya+ preamp?
Just wondering what people think of theirs as far as sound quality. I know not many are in circulation yet, but thought I’d ask.

I’m presently using their original Saga passive pre and while it sounds clear and clean, I want a little more midrange and upper bass “thump”.

Thinking about the Freya+ to replace my Saga. Thoughts?
 
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OK then - anyone using the older Freya?
What do you think of that one? Better with some tube rolling?
 
What speakers are you using? Jason Stoddard has said that the Saga mayches better with high sensitivity speakers than the Freya, which has higher gain, iirc.
 
fredgarvin said:
What speakers are you using? Jason Stoddard has said that the Saga mayches better with high sensitivity speakers than the Freya, which has higher gain, iirc.
Click to expand...

Something to think about..but wouldn’t pairing the power amp to speakers be of bigger concern?
I suppose that the passive pre, being somewhat (slightly) more resolving with a straighter signal path, may be better with highly resolving, efficient speakers - like some old Tannoy Dual Concentrics, Lowther, or some older Klipsch.

Anyway, neither of my currently used speaker sets are what I’d consider efficient; Maggie mmgi’s and B&W 640i’s.
My power amp has no trouble driving either speaker, and probably would’d have trouble driving practically any other speaker I put downstream of it.. I believe it’ll drive down to a 1 Ohm load at 800 Watts (but haven’t tried that). It may just be internet BS but I’ve read of people arc welding using the power amp I’m listening to. ^_^

The Saga I have does sound quite resolving for the price - nice and clear with a good range. I was just feeling that the mid section and upper bass is missing a little - something. Hoping the Freya+ might be just what I want and wanted to hear owner opinion of them, and the first Freya too. Of course, I could pick a cheap original up and try it to see. Maybe I’ll just make a Schiitr run next week and hear a new one in their system.
 
MisterDK said:
Something to think about..but wouldn’t pairing the power amp to speakers be of bigger concern?
I suppose that the passive pre, being somewhat (slightly) more resolving with a straighter signal path, may be better with highly resolving, efficient speakers - like some old Tannoy Dual Concentrics, Lowther, or some older Klipsch.

Anyway, neither of my currently used speaker sets are what I’d consider efficient; Maggie mmgi’s and B&W 640i’s.
My power amp has no trouble driving either speaker, and probably would’d have trouble driving practically any other speaker I put downstream of it.. I believe it’ll drive down to a 1 Ohm load at 800 Watts (but haven’t tried that). It may just be internet BS but I’ve read of people arc welding using the power amp I’m listening to. ^_^

The Saga I have does sound quite resolving for the price - nice and clear with a good range. I was just feeling that the mid section and upper bass is missing a little - something. Hoping the Freya+ might be just what I want and wanted to hear owner opinion of them, and the first Freya too. Of course, I could pick a cheap original up and try it to see. Maybe I’ll just make a Schiitr run next week and hear a new one in their system.
Click to expand...
I haven't tried either of them. It's possible that the fet or tube buffer might bring what you want. I wonder too, what the input impedance of your amp is, if it's low it may not be an optimal match to a passive switcher.
 
fredgarvin said:
I haven't tried either of them. It's possible that the fet or tube buffer might bring what you want. I wonder too, what the input impedance of your amp is, if it's low it may not be an optimal match to a passive switcher.
Click to expand...

The match may not be optimal but it does sound very good with the Saga - I just think that an active may more fully round out the mids, making them more lush. I haven’t found an input impedance spec for my amp (Krell KSA-100) but it seems to get along quite well with the Saga. Thinking I may want some light tube bloom - which I’m not hearing with the Saga. I don’t want syrupy bloom though, if that makes sense. Just want a more full midrange and I understand that passives don’t give it to you. Of course, there are plenty of very good active preamps available - but the more transparent ones also cost. Sadly, I had to pass up a nice Klyne recently - couldn’t cough up the cash for it in time.
 
MisterDK said:
The match may not be optimal but it does sound very good with the Saga - I just think that an active may more fully round out the mids, making them more lush. I haven’t found an input impedance spec for my amp (Krell KSA-100) but it seems to get along quite well with the Saga. Thinking I may want some light tube bloom - which I’m not hearing with the Saga. I don’t want syrupy bloom though, if that makes sense. Just want a more full midrange and I understand that passives don’t give it to you. Of course, there are plenty of very good active preamps available - but the more transparent ones also cost. Sadly, I had to pass up a nice Klyne recently - couldn’t cough up the cash for it in time.
Click to expand...
I looked it up, its 47kohms, great for using a passive. Nice amp!
 
I have a Freya (not a +) and it is very responsive to tube rolling. I find the vintage GE NOS tubes (6SN7GTA and GTB) to sound excellent and better than the "upgrade" Tung Sol's that Schiit sells with it (at an added charge of $100). While I prefer my Parasound JC2 ($4K), the Freya is a very competent pre-amp and a VERY reasonable price ($799). FWIW I use fairly efficient speakers (90dB/1watt) and found the Freya to be very quiet even using the tube gain stage. The FET buffer stage also sounds very good and in some instances may be preferable to the tube stage. With the right tubes though, the tube gain stage is the way to go. It also has balanced (and unbalanced) ins and outs, which is really nice to have. The only thing I don't like about Freya is that the volume knob does not rotate while using the remote, so you have no visual as to "where" your volume is set. This is only an issue when change sources or you step away for a while and would like to know where the volume knob is set (9 o'clock, 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock ?), and it's overall a minor issue.
 
MisterDK said:
I’m presently using their original Saga passive pre and while it sounds clear and clean, I want a little more midrange and upper bass “thump”.

Thinking about the Freya+ to replace my Saga. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Rather than spending a lot on a new preamp and then going down the tube rolling rabbit hole in the hope that you might hit on a combination that works, why not try this?

https://www.schiit.com/products/loki
 
Thought I’d bump this thread by asking the “classic” Freya users this:

Have any of you compared a Freya to any of the “big dog”, tubed line preamps, like those from Audio Research or Conrad-Johnson? How does the Freya hold up as far as being close to a straight wire with gain? How about coloration?

While I’m still thinking about buying a new Freya, I’ve got my eye on pre-owned line preamps from the other guys too.
 
I'm using the Freya (-) with a McIntosh MC225, Acrosound 20-20, and Acrosound ULII monos to drive a pair of Altec Model 14's. It does respond nicely to tube rolling, and depending on the amp in use, sounds wonderful in passive, jfet, or tubed modes. With high efficiency speakers you will hear some tube noise. I would go for the newer version as it is quieter when in tube mode.

It is an incredible value for the money and holds it's own next to my McIntosh C100, and Bryston BP25 in SQ. Balanced in/outs are a huge plus.
 
I've just ordered the Freya S - a free 15 day trial, I like having a remote, and
I'll see what it does with a carver TFM-25 on the Von Schweikert VR4s ...
My other preamp (HK Citation Eleven) has dirty pots and needs work.

IMG_0268 (1).jpg
 
MisterDK said:
Hey folks!

Is anyone out there using the new Schiit Freya+ preamp?
Just wondering what people think of theirs as far as sound quality. I know not many are in circulation yet, but thought I’d ask.

I’m presently using their original Saga passive pre and while it sounds clear and clean, I want a little more midrange and upper bass “thump”.

Thinking about the Freya+ to replace my Saga. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

An older thread, but an interesting one to me, as I've recently turned into a Schiit-Head. This year, I've picked up an original Schiit Saga, a new Modi 3, a used Bifrost MB, and a used Gungnir DS. All great sounding, with good synergy with my system and speakers.

As to the OP's comment about, "I want a little more midrange and upper bass “thump", I addressed that with my Saga. Many of the Schiit pieces use very good Wima poly caps. My Saga too. Very good, but not great or the best. So, I upgraded the Saga's Wima coupling caps to Mundorf EVO Oil poly's. Not super boutique, but nice, and they easily fit in the preamp. Afterwards, the soundstage expanded in every direction. Soundstage layering greatly increased, micro detail too. I was now able to hear instrumental lines as being distinct and separate. Bass response greatly improved. With the Bifrost or Gungnir DAC's, it sounded as if I'd turned on a subwoofer, with my AR speakers. Treble response opened up as well. Not bright, just not veiled. If you have already bright sounding speakers, you might want to use a different brand of capacitor. Mundorf caps are crystal clear, and won't mask issues.

Food for thought? :)
 
MisterDK said:
Hey folks!

Is anyone out there using the new Schiit Freya+ preamp?
Just wondering what people think of theirs as far as sound quality. I know not many are in circulation yet, but thought I’d ask.

I’m presently using their original Saga passive pre and while it sounds clear and clean, I want a little more midrange and upper bass “thump”.

Thinking about the Freya+ to replace my Saga. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

For a lot less you can try the Loki EQ to correct the sound that you are looking for. Maybe that will be the ticket for you and you won't loss that transparency you have with the Saga. I have the Saga Plus and it really nice but if the source material is lacking this or that, the Saga will show it. Plus it's always good to have some tone control for things like this.
 
Hello Everyone,
I just purchased the Freya Plus, which I connected to the Mani, phono preamp. I'm also using the Rega P3 TT, the Cambridge Audio CXA81 amp, and Klipsch Hersey IVs speakers as part of my system. I added the Freya to get that bueatiful tube sound everyone is raving about. Unfortunately, I'm only getting sound from the passive channel and not from the solid state or tube stage. Can anyone give me insight on why this is happening or if I'm doing something wrong?
 
speaker_tube said:
Hello Everyone,
I just purchased the Freya Plus, which I connected to the Mani, phono preamp. I'm also using the Rega P3 TT, the Cambridge Audio CXA81 amp, and Klipsch Hersey IVs speakers as part of my system. I added the Freya to get that bueatiful tube sound everyone is raving about. Unfortunately, I'm only getting sound from the passive channel and not from the solid state or tube stage. Can anyone give me insight on why this is happening or if I'm doing something wrong?
Click to expand...

Tell us, or show us with pictures, how you have the sources connected to the Freya+ and what output(s) from the Freya you are using and what they are connected to.
 
The first image is the Mani phono preamp. On the left, it's the Rega P3 plugged in and going out to the freya, which is the second image. The last image is showing the Freya interconnects going into the Cambridge Audio CXA81 amp.
 

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