2. amps-preamps
  3. 175778-2383

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.  

128x128ejlif
output555
120 posts
 

isaacc7: A tube preamp without duplicative/reduntant gain, which it seems the Freya+ isn't. I have no interest in the SS state.

ghdprentice
7,124 posts
 

@invalid 

 

+1

lanx0003
865 posts
 

@invalid When Stereophile decides to mix the different price categories, sound quality is literally the only major determinant factor. I don’t know exactly the reason why they award Class A to Schiit Freya+ before the review is up, but the review on Topping Pre90 is up already. You could take probably 30+ minutes’ patience to appreciate how the reviewer stacks up the $17,500 Pass XP32 with $599 Topping Pre90 (both rated class A). I think having such a budgetary class A gear is a win-win situation for the audiophiles who does not have $17,000 disposable money and only cares about the SQ. The end game will be like this: The rich gets expensive Pass, the poor gets economic Topping and both of them enjoy preamp of similar SQ. No discrimination based on the socioeconomic status in the happy music listening wonderland.

russ69's avatar
russ69
3,521 posts
 

A tube preamp without duplicative/reduntant gain...

A preamp is not redundant gain. It is processing the signal and presenting it to the amplifier in a manner that could work better than a signal directly from a source that may or may not match what the amp is looking for. 

russ69's avatar
russ69
3,521 posts
 

The end game will be like this: The rich gets expensive Pass, the poor gets economic Topping and both of them enjoy preamp of similar SQ. No discrimination based on the socioeconomic status in the happy music listening wonderland.

Stereophile says: "Best attainable sound for a component of its kind"...there is the rub, they don't just say best sound period. Your thought is noble but it's still good to be the King and have a large budget for audio. 

More to discover