allegro

The distortion of the Tortuga LDR3 has been measured with THD about 1% at normal listening levels and IMD around 4%. Very high for a modern preamplier. I had a Tortuga LDR3 and Schiit Saga in my home system at the same time. The output impedance of the Saga using the active tube buffer is 180 ohms which works quite well with the 10K ohm input impedance of my tube amp. The Saga was more transparent than the Tortuga in my system. I found the sound of the Tortuga somewhat colored and fatiguing to listen to. LDRs are known to have higher than normal distortion but have achieved somewhat of a following among some audiophiles who like novel gear.

You can always buy a Saga and have the 15 day free trial from Schiit ... send it back if it does not work in your system. As you need a remote control, some more expensive options would be the Hattor passive at about $600 or the Khozmo at $500 single ended. Hope this helps.

When I sold my DAC with volume control and replaced with a Yggdrasil I found the fixed 2V output too hot for my amp which limited the range of the 10K ohm Alps pot on my Kenzie amp. I tried several preamps costing from $150 to $1250 and wound up keeping the Schiit Saga. It is a bargain at the price especially being remote controlled. I found in my system that while passive mode was very good, active mode was even better as long as I replaced the stock tube which I felt was holding back the performance of the Saga in active mode. The best performance/price tube I tried was a 1951 Sylvania 6SN7GT with three rivet holes. Using the $70 Sylvania switching from passive to active mode on the Saga did not change timbre of instruments or voices but did noticeably improve the soundstage and imaging, with more air. The Saga scales with more expensive tubes. I was able to win a 1940s Tung Sol 6SN7GT with round plates at auction and it is a step up from the Sylvania for me though at more than twice the cost of a good Sylvania. The consensus seems to be active mode for Saga sounds better than passive using a good tube, while passive is better than active for the balanced Freya. Just as well as you would have four tubes to swap out.