So today I played all kinds of various albums through the Stjarna, coupled with the previous days listening this is my impression without all the audiophile lingo like "Air" and all that other crap :
Classical musics sound quality depended completely on the the recording. Most of what I played sounded the same as it does when using the Skoll phono amp, a couple were wondrous: the movie sound tracks to Amadeus (Mozart) and Immortal Beloved (Beethoven). Baroque/Chamber music when recorded with several microphones was very good, with only one or two mics it was nothing special. Large Symphonies were the same, the more mics the better the sound.
70's and folk music: Gordon Lightfoot, America, Seals & Crofts, Van Morrison, Carol King, James Taylor, early Springsteen, early Eagles, Bog Seger, Neil Young, CSN, etc all were great, acoustic guitars come through sweet and full. Brought back so many fond memories of my youth.
80's music: Tears for Fears, Joe Jackson, Howard Jones, Til Tuesday, Simply Red, The Cars, Genesis, Sade etc. all sounded spectacular, especially with keyboard harmonies in the background with guitars up front and an occasional sax... just excellent.
90's Alternative: Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Candle Box, Collective Soul, Stone Temple Pilots, etc. Sound was meh, not enough instruments to make it interesting (still good, but nothing special).
The best sounding music in my collection are also my two all time favorites: Steely Dan and Pink Floyd... so many different things going on in Steely Dan tunes, and the guitar and keyboard melodies in Floyd just sound so vivid, the sustain on Gilmore's notes is insane.
Conclusion: make sure your albums are CLEAN, play music with harmony /melody. Heavy guitar-drums with no other instruments are just bland (AC/DC was decent though) - sorry headbangers, the Stjarna is not for you, and maybe not for those who mainly listen to classical - stick to the $399 Skoll and you'll be more than happy.
BOTTOM LINE: (1). Is the Stjarna worth four times the cost of the Skoll? ($399 vs $1699) (2). Is it four times better sounding?
(1). Depends on your wallet - I retired well and my house and cars are all payed off, so a $1700 toy doesn't affect the budget and IMO it is a keeper.
(2.) No... maybe 10-15% better on SOME music, on some types (heavy metal /classical) you won't hear a difference. It is just a bit sweeter sounding than my Pro-Ject Tube Box DS2 (which I love), but that is just something intangible and subjective. It would probably make a more noticeable difference in SQ if you have it hooked up to an all solid state preamp, not a tube preamp like the Freya+. Maybe tomorrow I will put the Freya+ into passive mode bypassing the tubes to see how the Stjarna does on its own.
