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Schiit Saga or Freya+ who uses either, share experience


joessportster

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I had a saga for a while. For the money it’s an excellent piece. I preferred it in passive mode, it lost some transparency with the tube buffer and I didn’t need that extra “warmth” in my system. In passive mode it adds nothing. Ultimately it was bettered by a Tortuga LDR, but not by a lot. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

 

Shakey

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I have a Freya + really like it in all 3 modes. I'm a big fan of 6SN7 preamps, having had several....at least one of mine you had at one time. I was 100% passive prior to the Freya +. I bought it because of it having balanced connections which my xilica needed.

 

I'm done preamp shopping/swapping. It's a keeper. Dead quiet. Nice simple remote

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I just bought the Schiit Freya+ and am using it with Klipsch XF-48s so, far it sounds amazing (I'm literally only a few hours in owning this). I wanted to get into tubes and so far it is ultra quiet, no noise, no hum whatsoever. The new Freya+ is supposed to be 20db quieter than the original but I've heard original Freya owners saying theirs were dead quiet but good to know the engineers were able to do that. Additionally, it's got a feature that only heats up the tubes when actually in use so, that's a good feature to prolong their use.

 

Already in the first few hours I notice more warmth but it's not overt, I'm sure when the tubes and preamp are worn-in it will improve. Soundstage is great, and it is amazingly clear and not muffled at all or what people call "bloomy." It's rather a nice marriage of modern tech and old school done really well.

 

I was also thinking since Klipsch speakers are typically usually strong in the mid range and highs, a bit of smoothing off the top end would for possibly a even better experience.

 

I've seen plenty of original Freya models going for a nice price, I was lucky enough to ****** a Freya+ from a vendor who bought it to do some testing and then quickly sold it so it's literally brand new.

 

If you have more questions let me know, but I'm still only becoming acquainted with it too.

 

EDIT: I've done so much research before getting this home. A lot of the noise typically come from bad connections with the sockets or putting in a tube with dirty pins. Google how to clean vacuum tube pins, I was amazed myself. I think the most non-invasive way I saw was with a Dremel using a felt tip to basically polish the pins, a dirty tube from the 50s was made to look brand new!

Edited by wdlvwdlv
Grammar mistake
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One more thing to my post above. Don't know if it's me but I'm playing back vinyl records through the Freya+ and it sounds amazingly quiet. More so than when I just had the Phono feed going through my Pioneer Elite VSX-32. I almost feel like any pops somehow are being minimized, I can hear them every now and again but they are not nearly as prominent on the Freya+ vs the Pioneer Elite.

 

Thought I'd add that if you should happen to be into vinyl.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm too lazy to search but check the tube section. I posted a quote from manual about right and left slots and which make biggest difference. 

 

I've got tons of 6SN7s so run vintage in all 4. I've never even installed the stock tubes that came new with it.

 

Looking forward to your impression. I'm done preamp shopping I think.

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I was seriously considering a Freya+ but then a friend offered to let me borrow his Saga+.

He said he preferred it with the tube buffer engaged but when I first got it from him I liked it better passive. The more I listened to it in my system, the more I liked it so I ordered one.

Then I proceeded to order a bunch of 6SN7's. I found that a lot of them were a little hot in the treble. The Tung-Sol was even a little grainy but in general the differences between tubes was subtle yet noticeable. Raytheon was the winner for me until I found the Mullard 6SN7. It came close to the sound I get from my Mullard 12AX7's.

This whole experience rolling tubes in the Saga was reminiscent of when I was rolling tubes in my Jolida JD100 tube cd player years ago. Every different tube rolled was a minimal difference in sound barely detectable but when I rolled in the right tube (which also happened to be a Mullard) it just clicked and I knew that was the right tube.

Luckily the 6SN7's are pretty affordable as far as tubes go and yet again, I found that NOS tubes rule.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

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  • 5 months later...

I recently purchased a Freya + as a B-stock item, and it arrived within a week of ordering the preamp. I just couldn't wait the long lead time for a new unit. Anyway, I can't find any blemishes on the chassis and it was packed like a brand new unit with what looks like a new quartet of JJ 6SN7 tubes. It must have been a return.

Instead of using the stock JJ 6SN7's, I installed two matched OS GE gray plate side FAT D getter 6SN7GTB tubes in the differential voltage gain positions (right side) and two new production Tung Sol 6SN7 tubes in the output buffer positions (left side). I initially used octal socket savers from Eurotubes in Portland, OR to elevate the tubes above the chassis to keep the chassis from any additional heat radiating from the tubes. Later on, I took them out as most of the heat generated using the Freya + in tube mode radiates from the regulated power supply underneath the top cover.

 

For connections, I wanted full balanced connections from my DAC to my power amplifier. I used two pairs of DIY Mogami 2549/Switchcraft XLR balanced cables to connect my SMSL SU-8 Version 2 DAC to the Freya +, and the Freya + to my Pass DIY Aleph J Class A power amp that drives my modified Klipsch Forte II speakers.

I have a Raspberry Pi 4 running Volumio connected via USB to my SMSL SU-8 DAC. I started off with the Freya + running in the differential JFET buffer mode, and I really like the clarity and large, deep soundstage. the bass response is very good and I really appreciate the black background with the all-balanced connections. Operating the Freya + with the nice metal bodied remote is very straightforward. I am not sure why some people have complained about the clicking noise of the 128-step volume attenuator. I found that it works very well with excellent channel balance. Overall, the differential JFET buffer mode presents a musical presentation with great tonality, timing, and great detail.

After running about two hours, I switched the Freya + into differential tube mode, and the sound was initially a little edgy in the upper midrange with some sibilance, but over the course of 30-60 minutes, the sound smoothed out significantly. The soundstage started to open up to extend beyond my speakers side-to-side and well beyond the back wall. The tone took on a creamier richness if I can call it that. As others have said, the Freya + in tube mode will get warm--literally. I could place my hand over the power supply area where most of the heat is emanating and keep it there, so it wasn't scorching hot, but definitely warm. But then, I also have a Pas DIY Aleph J with some hefty heat sinks radiating a lot of heat too. The combination of the Freya + driving my Pass DIY Aleph J sounds beautiful. I can play anything from blues to jazz, to rock to symphonic classical, and the music is so engaging and organic.

I have listened to lots of vinyl playing on my Denon DJ VL12 Prime direct drive turntable connected to my Audio Research PH5 tube phono stage and the Freya +. It just gets better with an analog source. Separation between performers is excellent and the fine detail and tonality of the music comes through very clearly. I hate to say it, but music sounds better playing through the Freya + compared to my Audio Research LS7 tube line stage. With the balanced connections, I have a black background, and maybe this is what allows me to hear things in recordings I hadn't heard before. Maybe it's because the LS7 only has single-ended RCA connections.  I also have a rebuilt McIntosh MC240 tube power amp to connect to the Freya + using RCA single ended interconnects.

 

IMG_1330.thumb.jpg.401c9d0c04397bc01f9d3de0d20028d9.jpg  IMG_1332.thumb.jpg.13c38580daf90d19935d0c967073d643.jpg

 

In my experience, the sound really settled in nice after 20+ hours of cumulative playing time. The jury is still out on long term reliability. For now, I have to say I am very impressed with the build quality, the Schiit aesthetics, and more importantly, what I am hearing from this $899 preamp.

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