Rogue RP-1 or Schiit Freya

Rogue gets my vote for synergy, sound and build quality. I owned RP-1 paired with ST-100. 
Upgrade the stock JJs to Gold Lions or Brimars and it’s hard to beat. As an added bonus the RP-1 has a very nice built in phono stage that worked great with MM and MC. 
 

I’m running an RP-1 (stock tubes) into a Benchmark AHB2 driving a pair of Fyne Audio 702s.  Sources are NAD 568 CD player and Apple Lossless via iPad Pro & iFi Zen Stream, both through Schiit Bifrost 2 DAC.  My result is superb open sound, with wide sound stage and excellent reproduction of the instruments and voices.  With many recordings, it is as if the performer(s) are right in the room.

I am wondering if going to balanced interconnects from the DAC to preamp and preamp to power amp would make any difference.  That would mean a new preamp, and I was considering the Freda+ for a trial.  Perhaps the Rogue Audio RP-7 or the Backert Rhumba 1.3 would be more appropriate preamp options, although they are a great deal more money.

I have had dealings with both Rogue’s and Schiit’s customer service, the former with questions and the latter with a faulty remote, and both were prompt and fully satisfactory with their responses—Schiit sent me a replacement remote within two days.

@mike4597 I owned RP-1 and liked it a lot. It’s a very capable preamp.
IMO, if you’re happy with the sound I wouldn’t bother upgrading the preamp. I would focus on the source in this system. You can squeeze more out of streaming by getting a dedicated streamer like the Lumin U1 Mini or the new U2 Mini and use Qobuz instead of Apple. Also, the Brimar CV4003 tubes can take the performance of the RP-1 to the next level. The stock JJs are ok to get you going but they don’t a candle to the Brimars. 

Audphile, many thanks for the info.  Will look for the Brimars soonest!

save your money and get a used rogue RH 5 headphone amp and line stage.  sounds much better than the rp 1 and schiit.