Passive preamp

Run your M3 directly into your amp and use its preamp which is awesome btw and may beat the schiit out of your freya s.

let us know!

depends on how many sources one wants to use in the system -- in the old days we needed phono stages, and then also listened to cd players, tape decks or radio tuners, which have line level outputs, so a switching preamp was a necessity

today things can be very different as a single digital streamer front end (dac output) allows a user to choose from many sources like internet radio, cd transport, tidal and so on

the truism is always that best pre is no pre, passive or active

an active pre aids the sound if there is a mismatch between the source output and the amp input, that is, the source output is too weak or has too narrow a range to drive the amp to desired volume levels

i had a bricasti m1 with remote volume control... the bricasti m1/m3 have robust, great sounding analog output stages -- if that is the sole source, i would say it is best to go without a linestage at all

OP, What do your ears tell you ? BTW, this topic has been discussed, ad nauseam. As some say, it can work, and as others say, it does not. As audphile 1 stated above, everything matters, and as he suggested, you can eliminate your Frida ( sorry, I had to ), and the use of an additional interconnect, going direct from your M3. People are very opinionated here, including myself, but I use my ears to determine what is enjoyable, and preferable, to me. My best, MrD.

If your system is passive friendly (and you can search here to see what that means) a passive line stage is your best bet. There is no need to throw away gain when it’s not needed, I’ve had some very good active preamps up to around 8k and all of them were shown the door by one or another passive device. If you truly need gain, then disregard the aforementioned and buy the best active preamp your budget will allow.

I have a Schiit Freya + I occasionally use (well worth the $800 I spent on it) and with my class A mono's I prefer it in the active mode using the LISST  Tubes. However the passive mode is very musical also. It will be system dependent and I like having a little gain.