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Adcom GFP-710 to Schiit Freya - upgrade?

looking for some thoughts...

It’s been a while since I’ve done anything with my system. I’ve been running a Mac Mini streaming AIFF via Kimber USB into Bel Canto
Dac-3, running the DAC into Pass Labs X250.5 via balanced BlueJeans XLRs. Speakers are Dynaudio S5.4
I recently added a Rega P2 table and that forced me to break out the Adcom GFP-710 that I had laying around in order to be able to switch between sources. Adcom has a built in phono pre, but I bought Schiit Mani as well. I kind of like it a lot. 
I feel that the Adcom may be the weakest link in the chain, and am looking at possibly upgrading a pre. 
Seeking thoughts on Schiit Freya, or any other preamp used or new around $1k that would offer an upgrade in resolution, soundstaging, imaging, etc. 
Balanced or single ended, tubes or solid state, with or without a built in phono pre.

Has anyone compared the Freya to any of the Adcom or comparable preamps, what can you share? What other preamps should I put on a list?
128x128audphile1
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
The GFP-710 (along with every other standard Adcom preamp) uses op amps for tone controls (bass/treble) as well as the audio output stages.  I used to have a GFP-565 a long time ago.  It was okay and nice, but nothing special.

The GFP-750 is a completely different beast.  It was designed by Nelson Pass and uses all fully discrete analog circuits (no bass/treble tone controls).  I would suspect that it's significantly better than Freya with stock tubes, but we are also talking about colored/textured tube sonics vs. solid state.   Now Freya with upgraded tubes could be a different story (such as PSVANE or some true NOS Amperex, depending on your desired taste).
loomisjohnson
1,941 posts
 
fwiw, i used a gfp710 for years before "upgrading" to rotel and subsequently to arcam--i always regretted selling the adcom, which had much less coloration and was detailed without being fatiguing. haven't heard the schiit.
mcreyn
293 posts
 
Totally straight faced.  The veiling I heard was in every mode, passive, jfet and tube.  I want to try another Freya as I think there was something wrong with the one I had.  
wolf_garcia
6,695 posts
 
If my Freya was presenting anything other than a crisp and accurate tonal spectrum (I can and have compared it to my extremely overbuilt Kavent/Vincent dual mono balanced preamp which is still around...as a backup or something) I'd have sent it back immediately after some sort of break-in period...I recently bought headphones I really like (Grado SR325e...aluminum...who knew?), and when hooked up to the main system (a Schiit Magni 3 does the headphone labor with the Freya signal) you can really see what's what in terms of micro resolution and coherency from another angle. If you didn't get great sound from the Freya I agree it likely wasn't working properly.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
@mcreyn - it could very well be that the GFP-750 is adding some "magic" to the sound of the source that the Freya cannot possibly do "stock", even with passive mode. I have seen other preamps have this affect as well - the source DAC/CD can sound somewhat flat/dry/veiled, but when going through an awsome preamp, it can sound radically different. That’s why I suggested the idea of Freya with upgraded tubes.
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