Schiit Freya+ vs. high end (e.g., Mcintosh) ?

Schiit seems like a good deal. I considered it and thought about the 15 day trial -- and then both a shipping fee and 5% restocking fee if I returned it. In other words, about $100 to try it out. Not bad. Still, from what folks here have said, it can take some time for tubes to burn in. Would 15 days be enough time to really know how it sounds with your stuff? For the same money, even less, you could get a used Van Alstine from his site with a 30 day trial. That would probably be my choice. avahifi dot com/collections/ava-used-equipment/products/transcendence-8-sl-preamp-with-remote-control-and-ht-bypass

Personal taste matters a great deal.

No matter how expensive one piece of gear is, it does not mean it's better for all listeners in all systems.

What good is it to have a 300 lb, $20k amplifier if you don't actually like the sound of it more than a 10 lb, $2,000 amp?  Is the $20k amp really "better" for you, or does it just have a better brand and more expensive parts?

Best,
E

"Still, from what folks here have said, it can take some time for tubes to burn in. Would 15 days be enough time to really know how it sounds with your stuff?"

Actually it would not be enough, especially if you want to roll tubes and see what this little preamp can really do.  It cannot be judged with the stock JJ tubes.

On the the other hand, there are very few Freya+ units on the used market and you can sell it quickly and with very little loss.  I know; I did.  

Freya+ sound decent with stock JJ tubes.

It does not sound etched before break but slightly veiled compared with Nos tubes.

You can get nice Nos 6sn7 tubes made in 1950's at 50% for pair.


I like the remote of Freya+ with click noise while some people got bothered by click noise.

Using quad 6sn7 tubes, Freya has lot of room for tube rolling.

So far I had been happy with Sylvania vt231 in gain stage and Rcs gray bottle in buffer stage.

But I will also try out other combinations.

Having burned in the stock JJs on my Freya+, I have ordered quad Tung-Sols with all options: balanced triodes, low microphonics, high gain, matched. My first rolling experiment on this pre with 6SN7s. Bass on JJs can be tubby (some listeners like this sound; on most material I want more definition) and female vocals can lack clarity.

@shkong, if I go next to a pair of NOS RCAs, should they go in buffer stage rather than gain stage? (This assumes Tung-Sol or JJ in gain stage).

Same question for @wolf_garcia; if I get only a pair of NOS GEs to begin, try them in buffer stage?