Schiit Freya + Class A in Stereophile
I know there are a lot of audiophiles who don't think sterophile knows what they are talking about but I think its' pretty impressive that a 1000 preamp is put in the same category as 50K and up. I can't really believe that the Freya + is that good. I have one and do think it's pretty amazing for all that you get and you can really make it even better with some better tubes. I am constantly blown away at the sound of the Freya + into the Decware Zen triode amp. 2K for the combo and just about the best sound I have ever had in my home. Great news for less well heeled audiophiles.
I've been looking at the Freya+ to pair with my Audio-GD Master 19 but have hesitated because the Freya+ is not passive in the tube stage. Running an amp into an amp seems likes a huge compromise in sound, and running the Freya+ in passive SS mode negates the tube benefits. Any Freya+ owners care to share their thoughts? |
Others may wish to comment on the first part of that sentence, but in the meantime I suggest you look elsewhere for a passive tube pre-amp. I don't know of any myself, and perhaps there is a reason for that. |
@invalid You seem to imply the class A defined by Stereophile does not mean the highest quality. If so, please advise what does it really mean. I am all ears. |
@output555 When you say passive tube stage do you mean a stage without gain? Those are called buffers and are really helpful if you need to drive long interconnects. The "solid state" function of the Freya+ is in fact a buffer and adds no gain. The "passive" mode does not have the buffer stage. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I don't really consider it a real passive stage since there is still active circuitry involved. Maybe I'm a purist but I want my passive stages to be nothing but passive components like resisters or transformers. If you search for tube buffers you will find a variety of products out there but you're right, the Frey+ is not one of them. |
