Schiit Freya + Class A in Stereophile

@hiendmmoe +1

Some form of clarification from Stereophile would be useful. I have frequently listened (and many times owned) cheap Class A and expensive Class A stuff… no comparison… but in general, if there is a Class A at $200, $1000, $5000, and $10,000, and $22,000 they are spot on worth their price at each price point. It is an attractive delusion that you can buy a $200 component that sounds as good as a $5000… but in reality it doesn’t happen. A company getting started can sell a product with exceptional sound quality… but this is not something that happens often or for long… great sounding equipment requires competent designs and costly components.

bsme85

03-15-2022 at 08:44pm

"Most, but not all, people who post here don’t listen to music. They listen to equipment instead."

Never were truer words spoken!

I’m one of those with OCD, which is driven to seek excellent sound quality and all that means, which mostly focuses on the equipment. Though, it also focuses on the type and quality of the song and how it was recorded and engineered - but - not so much on the lyrics and music. In other words, I prize how real the sound is, and how much of the artifacts of the performance are present - can I hear all the details of the performance, as the recording engineers might.

Though, I do appreciate and prefer certain types of musical genres (e.g. classical, jazz, blues, country, etc. - all things acoustic - in which those details are more apparent in the live performances - say in a jazz club, or hall, etc.

So... yes... you are so right about the typical "audiophile."

I've ben impressed with my Freya+.  Upgraded the tubes of course to a nice matched quad of Tung-Sol.

I do not care for the volume/gain though.  Both in that I have to turn it way up to nearly the 1 or 2 o-clock position to get to decent volume levels, and I do not like the clickity click noise it makes when adjusting it.  Seems to have a lag to it as well when using the remote.

As good & thorough & informative as many Stereophile reviews & ratings can be, they have their shortcomings. John Atkinson seems to be heavily steered towards solid state electronics because they almost always test better or at least closer to their specs. For sure specs have some value but great sound is really the only true test. There are many relatively inexpensive solid state amps (class A/B & especially class D) that test better than many excellent sounding tube amps but in 5 seconds w/ virtually any kind of music, it would be clear which sounds vastly superior. Are we truly supposed to believe that the Benchmark Preamp that he said tested better than any other preamp he's ever tried actually sounds better than the really expensive, high solid state & tubed units they also recommend?  I doubt it.  I also think any equipment review should include tube & solid state ancillary equipment because as we know, synergy between things can create vastly different results in any direction  there's often no predicting how things will turn out. . 

I also think Stereophile should mention in an equipment what other other competing products are in a similar price range & worth comparing to. They rarely do this & I think many would that valuable. I just hope that those company's who advertise in their magazine don't get preference for favorable reviews. For example, Basis Turntables have long been amongst the very best you can get for build & sound quality but they never list any of them at any of their price ranges in their recommended lists? The Absolute Sound has thought very highly of them since they first came around in the 80"s. I did notice a full page ad in Stereophile for Basis so let's see if that changes.......

The Freya is good as a passive preamp but mediocre in its tube mode. Definitely doesn’t compete with top-tier tube pres.