Hi @timlub
I’m certainly not trying to keep you from cleaning house! :-)
Don’t have a lot of pre-amp experience. Had auditioned a used CJ pre a while ago vs the Opera Reference 50 pre I owned. The CJ (sorry, don’t recall model) ran (2? 4?) - 6922s and had a stepped attenuator. Clicked when you operated the volume control. The CJ did some things better than the Ref 50 (maybe more heft to the overall sound with a little more lower mid range fullness) but whereas some things sounded better some things sounded worse. And I don’t mean because they were poorly recorded and the CJ was highlighting this. The CJ could give some recordings a bit of a hard edge to the sound. It really surprised me that some of music I had enjoyed (not all) could sound sort of "ugly" with the CJ. I may be the only person on the planet to think that, but I ended up keeping the Ref 50 and returning the CJ. Someone in another A’gon thread commented the difference was possibly due to the fact the Ref 50 ran a tube (EZ80) rectifier and the CJ did not. I am NOT bashing Conrad Johnson, just saying to my ear I didn’t care for it.
This all being my long-winded way (apparently) of getting to the Freya. I wanted to get a solid state backup for the Ref 50. It’s been a great piece. Hasn’t given a lick of trouble in the 10 years I’ve owned it but I was sort of migrating away from all tubes (Ref 50 uses 2-6H30s & 1 EZ80). The Freya had many attractive features (balanced design and 3 operating modes - 1 tubes; 2 solid state + plenty of input/output flexibility. Right out of the box I was taken with its more refined sound. Best way I can describe it...more "delicate" than the Ref 50 but that might give a false-impression of "light weight". More "detailed" than the Ref 50 but that might give a false-impression of "harsh". Refined as in nuanced and musical is how it seems to me. I am using balanced ICs into the Taranis amp. Listen mainly in JFET-buffered mode. Only use tubes for their greater gain when playing vinyl. Have taken the tubes out lately though I’ve heard a claim these 6SN7s can last 5000-10,000 hours. BUT if they’re installed, they are burning even if you are running in pure passive or JFET-mode and that just bothers me. Anyway, I’m very happy with the Freya. It has replaced the Ref.50. That is now in backup mode pending possibly putting it up for sale. The Freya has a few "quirks" and some of the first 6SN7s Schiit sent with it were noisy...but they quickly supplied replacements for those.
Hope this is useful info and that you can find time to audition a Freya. Good luck with your preamp search.
I’m certainly not trying to keep you from cleaning house! :-)
Don’t have a lot of pre-amp experience. Had auditioned a used CJ pre a while ago vs the Opera Reference 50 pre I owned. The CJ (sorry, don’t recall model) ran (2? 4?) - 6922s and had a stepped attenuator. Clicked when you operated the volume control. The CJ did some things better than the Ref 50 (maybe more heft to the overall sound with a little more lower mid range fullness) but whereas some things sounded better some things sounded worse. And I don’t mean because they were poorly recorded and the CJ was highlighting this. The CJ could give some recordings a bit of a hard edge to the sound. It really surprised me that some of music I had enjoyed (not all) could sound sort of "ugly" with the CJ. I may be the only person on the planet to think that, but I ended up keeping the Ref 50 and returning the CJ. Someone in another A’gon thread commented the difference was possibly due to the fact the Ref 50 ran a tube (EZ80) rectifier and the CJ did not. I am NOT bashing Conrad Johnson, just saying to my ear I didn’t care for it.
This all being my long-winded way (apparently) of getting to the Freya. I wanted to get a solid state backup for the Ref 50. It’s been a great piece. Hasn’t given a lick of trouble in the 10 years I’ve owned it but I was sort of migrating away from all tubes (Ref 50 uses 2-6H30s & 1 EZ80). The Freya had many attractive features (balanced design and 3 operating modes - 1 tubes; 2 solid state + plenty of input/output flexibility. Right out of the box I was taken with its more refined sound. Best way I can describe it...more "delicate" than the Ref 50 but that might give a false-impression of "light weight". More "detailed" than the Ref 50 but that might give a false-impression of "harsh". Refined as in nuanced and musical is how it seems to me. I am using balanced ICs into the Taranis amp. Listen mainly in JFET-buffered mode. Only use tubes for their greater gain when playing vinyl. Have taken the tubes out lately though I’ve heard a claim these 6SN7s can last 5000-10,000 hours. BUT if they’re installed, they are burning even if you are running in pure passive or JFET-mode and that just bothers me. Anyway, I’m very happy with the Freya. It has replaced the Ref.50. That is now in backup mode pending possibly putting it up for sale. The Freya has a few "quirks" and some of the first 6SN7s Schiit sent with it were noisy...but they quickly supplied replacements for those.
Hope this is useful info and that you can find time to audition a Freya. Good luck with your preamp search.