|
Amp/Preamp Asylum Looking for a new Amp or Preamp? If you're after tubes, post over here. |
For Sale Ads |
Use this form to submit comments directly to the Asylum moderators for this forum. We're particularly interested in truly outstanding posts that might be added to our FAQs.You may also use this form to provide feedback or to call attention to messages that may be in violation of our content rules.
Original Message
First impression of the Schiit Freya
Posted by scruffy_ on January 9, 2017 at 10:23:57:
Old Preamp: Older Django passive TVC Preamp from DIY Hifi Supply
Amp: W4S ST 500
Speakers: Magnepan 1.6s with a heavily modified crossover
DAC: Schiit Gungnir Multibit
Interconnects: Neotech NEI-3004 Balanced Deep Cryo
Speaker Cable: Solid Silver Homebuilt
Power Conditioner: PS Audio UPC-200 (does not improve sound)
Music: Classical with lots of choral music
Player: foobar
Listening position: Nearfield
Volume: The softer side of moderateGoing from a stock (non-multibit) Schiit Bifrost to the multibit Gungnir made a big difference in sound, having more detail and clarity. This doubled my listening pleasure!
Now for the Freya: The volume control makes a clicking or buzzing sound in the preamp, not in the speakers, but this is really no big deal. What is a bigger deal is that the passive and active JFET buffer outputs cannot be used with balanced interconnects (edit: this is not true. All three modes can be used with balanced cables). Moreover, the tubs are active (lit up) in all the output modes.
I could not make comparisons between the three output modes because when I removed single-ended interconnects from Wired 4 Sound amp, the RCA cap broke off. This is the second time this has happened, and I believe this is a problem with these amps, although the manufacturer claims otherwise.
In listening to classical music, the Freya was impressive in that the tube output had a sweetness, a greatly reduced digital sound, and improved vocals that increased my listening pleasure by about 20-30%!!! I also listened to a few non-classical tracts. Led Zeppelin's "Achilles Last Stand" was a bit of a disappointment, but it was a very early recording that was never re-mastered. I also listened to Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" and loved the detail. I was never privileged enough to use high-end stuff, but I would be willing to bet that the Freya performance is excellent in comparison to its cost!!!