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Schiit Freya +

Ross6860 said:
Just heard back from Schiit. They offered another unit and I'm taking them up on it.

A little gun shy, so we will see.
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Nothing to loose any everything to gain!

I ended up cancelling my order for now. As much as I’m intrigued, I doubt if it would upstage my Modwright LS 36.5 DM. Although I bet it comes surprisingly close and the selectable passive could prove useful. I decided to spend the coin instead on a new miniDSP SHD to play with.
 
I am really liking my Saga+ that I've had for a few months, but I had to get a replacement when the first one they sent didn't work right. The stepped volume control resistors were out of order or missing, so the steps were random on the volume control. Certainly some QC issues, or they get jarred in shipping.
 
stoutblock said:
Nothing to loose any everything to gain!

I ended up cancelling my order for now. As much as I’m intrigued, I doubt if it would upstage my Modwright LS 36.5 DM. Although I bet it comes surprisingly close and the selectable passive could prove useful. I decided to spend the coin instead on a new miniDSP SHD to play with.
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As nice as the passive sounds, the Schiit Sys is $50. I wonder? No remote, so not in this system.

Modwright was also on my radar. Most of the used ones a saw had no remote. A deal breaker for me.

I'm cautiously optimistic. It was a little interesting they didn't balk and immediately offered an exchange. Maybe they are pushing production and QC a little hard to meet demand and know units are slipping out with issues. A two-month+ back order log is pretty decent and sounds like it is getting longer.

bberkom said:
I am really liking my Saga+ that I've had for a few months, but I had to get a replacement when the first one they sent didn't work right. The stepped volume control resistors were out of order or missing, so the steps were random on the volume control. Certainly some QC issues, or they get jarred in shipping.
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No double boxing, and the box could have been another 1/2" taller. No visible signs of damage, though.

Glad to hear the replacement was good to go. Are you using the stock tubes?
 
I'm passing on their gear (sadly)

Too many reports across the internet , not just here , of their lack of QC/Reliability
 
Sometimes when nothing goes wrong, you never hear about it, across the internet. I just did a count, and I've owned 24 Schiit Audio components. 24. I've had one that developed an issue, and I returned it for repair under warranty and it came back good as new. I've bought probably 15 of them as b stock. Most of them I couldn't even tell what the B stock grading was for.

One of my cables developed a problem, and I blamed it on my Saga at the time, because I had once inserted the tube wrong and smelled smoke(I was right there in front of the saga and never saw any smoke, just a little smell). I turned it off right away. Anyway, after I later started experiencing an off center sounstage and blamed it on the Saga and sent it in. They told me they could find nothing wrong with it, but at my request replaced the entire board, no cost. Later I found the cable. Nothing ever developed with that Saga.

The one defect was the Freya + volume developed a rubbing spot and would stop turning by remote. They fixed it under warranty and it's been flawless otherwise. My experience has been that they are a great company with really good QC and customer service. But. I don't send angry emails. Ever. It doesn't do any good. Instead, always send polite emails, and give them a chance to live up to their goals.
 
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Ross6860 said:
As nice as the passive sounds, the Schiit Sys is $50. I wonder? No remote, so not in this system.

Modwright was also on my radar. Most of the used ones a saw had no remote. A deal breaker for me.
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The Sys is not differential balanced with XLR connectors and does not have relay volume and source controls like the Freya+. The Freya+ coverts SE (RCA) to differential balanced (XLR) in SS and tube mode. These functions alone are what intrigues me with the Freya+.
 
Frank Sol said:
I'm passing on their gear (sadly)

Too many reports across the internet , not just here , of their lack of QC/Reliability
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Some of their products are well worth the risk. Good thing they have exceptional customer service. Never heard a complaint of them not backing up there gear?
 
I would like to delve into the world of Schiit ie buy a Freya but the tube section seems to cause the most headaches and being a SS guy I would like to do without....though obviously costly...after living with Bryston and Benchmark stuff you choose not to want to risk $ on things that may need repair/sent back.
 
stoutblock said:
Some of their products are well worth the risk. Good thing they have exceptional customer service. Never heard a complaint of them not backing up there gear?
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Replacement unit shipped as soon as Schiit was able to see my return shipment checked in at FedEx.

They also immediately sent a new quad of tubes when I said I was having problems with the first unit.

So far, CS is spot on.

wallacefl said:
I would like to delve into the world of Schiit ie buy a Freya but the tube section seems to cause the most headaches and being a SS guy I would like to do without....though obviously costly...after living with Bryston and Benchmark stuff you choose not to want to risk $ on things that may need repair/sent back.
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Well, Bryston and Benchmark are well above Schiit in pecking order, and price. If price was not a consideration I would have picked up another Parasound JC2 for SS, or a Cary SLP-98 for tubes.

Kind of a high bar for a bedroom system with crap acoustics and budget speakers.

I'm not defending Schiit, but there's not a lot to compete at under $1000, new.

I looked at Arcam integrated amps, but they include things like DACs that I don't want.
 
Ross6860 said:
Still no luck with the tube stage...

I was incorrect about any heat issues using the SS buffer. It's fine. No excess heat.

I've had mostly the SS buffer running since Friday. I'm pretty happy with it. I did listen to the passive buffer for maybe 30 minutes, and it was also very nice. Not that I've had dozens of pre-amps to compare with, but it's more quiet than any I've tried short of the Parasound JC2. The remote is all I need, volume, mute, input select, and "stage".

The attenuator relays are loud, a well-known "feature". I'll get used to it.

I find I'm deep into the volume control. Still more left to go, but this is a zero-gain unit (passive and SS buffer), so I guess I'm not surprised.

I did install a known good pair of Sylvania short "chrome top" 6SN7 in the voltage gain position. I turned the tubes on and it was quiet. I played it for maybe 5 minutes and thought I had it solved and went back to the SS buffer since I wasn't going to be in the room for several hours.

Settled in for bed and figured I would listen to the tubes for a while. Turned them back on (zero volume, full attenuation) and before I could even listen to anything I got a huge POP out of the speakers. I mean really loud. Followed by a second slightly lower-volume POP before I could hit the mute and turn the pre-amp off.

I was looking at the speaker when it POPPED and I'll say I have never seen the woofer cone move like that before. Kind if gun shy now. I may hook up some less expensive speakers and try it again. Will definitely be on the horn with Schiit on Monday. Hopefully it's just a tube issue.

So much for their fancy "Whisper-Silent Tube Stage". Like always, don't leave your tube gear unattended.

May have a keeper after all if they can get the tube issue sorted out.

More to come...
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DUDE - the SAME exact thing happened to me last week!!!! New freya+ - I had to hop onto a work called so i paused the CD player... ten minutes later out of my right speaker came an explosion. An insanely loud pop. Schiit let me exchange the unit for a new one but Im hesitant to even hook the new one up now since my speakers are new and fairly pricey. Glad I read this and not sure what Im going to do.
 
The second Freya+ is even worse than the first one.:mad::mad:

Absolutely no output from the tube stage except HUMMMMMMMMMMM. Well, for maybe 20-30 seconds.

Then I was greeted with crackle, crackle, PFFFFFT and a decent amount of smoke, yes SMOKE.

I guess I'm done.

We'll see how much Schiit hits me for a "re-stocking fee". Yes, it's in their 15-day return policy.

Anyone want to recommend a decent pre-amp for under $1000? Must be dead quiet and have a remote volume control.
 
Frank Sol said:
Sorry... wasn't meant to be
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Any time a "deal" of any kind fell through, that's the right attitude. It's just not meant to be for some reason. We may not understand at the time, but for me at least, things usually worked out fine, if not for the better, after something I wanted fell through. That includes jobs...

At least it makes me appreciate my APT Holman even more. It always works and sounds good mated to anything I've tried it with.

Maybe I'll put the APT back in my main system and move the JC2 to the bedroom. Use the money saved from not buying a new pre-amp, and buy a better power amp to use with the JC2. I was planning on buying a new power amp to go with the Freya anyhow. Now maybe I can get a better one. ;)
 
Pure shitt, no excuse for that BS.

If only the older preamps had XLR balanced connections I don’t think you can beat a Nakamichi CA-7a or Yamaha C-2x. Plus you get a phono stage and tape loops. Lately their prices are not competitive with the new stuff anymore.

Not sure if you have to have tubes but the new two piece Topping has a good reputation so far. Probably the best value out there if you need lots of XLR connections like I do.

https://www.tpdz.net/productinfo/551297.html

Their matching D-90 DAC is so good it almost makes sense to buy the whole stack?
 
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I've got a Freya+ mated to an Ygddrasil and a Purifi ET400a amplifier. DEAD silent with no issues. I use the tube gain setting and XLR to the amp. The Freya+ is my fourth Schiit component (the others being the Yggdrasil, Bifrost, and Loki) and I have never had a problem with any of them. Maybe I'm just lucky... sorry to hear you are having so many troubles.
 
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