Schiit Saga vs Freya

[dtb300]

Folks, give those tubes time to run in for 50-100 hours before making any statements on how they sound.

 

I have heard tubes go from bright to dull and dull to bright, closed in to open up, open to more closed etc.

 

Making a judgement out the box with no hours really does not tell the full story on how a tube will sound.

[dtb300]

2 hours ago, mrvco said:

Has anyone here tried the Freya yet?

Yep - very very nice Pre Amp.   It replaced a well known company Pre ($3k-6k range) in my rig.   Only need to go Freya if running balanced, otherwise stick with the Saga and save on tube cost.

 

Needs some different tubes from the stock 6H8C IMO - I am running 50's RCA's.

[dtb300]

Just now, firedog said:

Can't say I agree. My favorite mode on the Freya is the active JFET mode. 

JFET for me just does not have the dynamics the tube stage has.

 

This is what makes these Pre's so great - You have Passive, JFET, or Tube output mode.  Find one that fits your needs, configurations (passive and long IC's do not mix well) and sonic preferences.

[dtb300]

GTB Black Base, Bottom Getter - matched Quad

 

Passive - could not drive my long IC's

JEFT - very nice sounding - could run this mode if I had to

Tube (RCA) - Musically an overall better choice

 

Stock Tubes - Nice, quiet, very good sound stage, but lacked the musicality of the RCA.   Could be happy with stock if I had too.

 

Careful with all the tube rolling, as it is the crack of audio  LOL You can get sucked into the vortex of minuscules and never get out.  Just sit back and enjoy at times.