tube rolling with Schiit Freya +

I sent the Aegir back to Schiit (at a loss of around 100 bucks for return shipping and "re-stocking") as it doesn't sound as good (to me) as my single ended Had Firebottle tube amp...the Aegir did sound very interesting and certainly lives up to its reviews as a sweet SS amp, but I think I'm spoiled by the Had amp (and very used to its sound obviously as it's been in continuous use for a couple of years), and as a great single ended tube amp it simply has a snappy feel and harmonic profile that I clearly prefer, and no SS amp I've heard replicates that tone...I still might try a Pass XA25 at some point as I'm a fan of Nelson's ideas, but at nearly 5 grand (worth it, but still) for an experiment inspired by curiosity I'll likely just keep enjoying my little tube amp for a while. 

I googled Had Firebottle tube amp, it seems quite exclusive?   Made by one of the major dudes from Cary Audio or something like that.  5 watts per channel of class A.  Quite an interesting piece for sure.


I'm guessing you're using it with the Freya, so that's a tube pre and a tube amp?  I've been dragged kicking and screaming into tube based gear!  The Saga was enough of a win for me that I was willing to consider the Freya.  

But the Schiit Vali 2 tube headphone amp really made my jaw drop, and I realized that tubes can really sound amazing.  Paired with the Modi Multibit, the Vali 2 is by far the best headphone rig for 300 you can get.(I got both as b stock, hence the lower price).

Anyway, that's why I was willing to shell out the cash for the Freya +, and it's become my end game pre.

The Had amps are somewhat "exclusive" (and based on what they are, a hand made technical masterpiece) as they simply show up on Ebay whenever he completes one, and they're all over the map...2 to 4 watt triodes, higher powered triode amps, pentode single ended, preamps, an integrated amp...whatever he feels like putting together any given day...Had was the founder and chief designer for Cary Audio until retirement and many feel he's one of the all time truly great amp designers. My amp comes from a run of Single Ended Pentode amps he was making for a while and as a HO, or "high output" version, it will produce 10 to 17 wpc depending on the chosen power tubes...it can run anything from EL34s to KT150s. He also sells 25 watt mono-blocks called "Dragon Inspire QMB-25s" through Moon audio for around 4 grand a pair...I'd love to try those things.