Schiit Freya S or Topping Pre 90

[tprevett]

I'm in the process of system upgrades.. I've purchased a pair of @Buckeye Amps NCx500 Monoblocks (Still waiting on them), Moved my SVS Ultra Towers to my stereo listening area currently connected to my Outlaw Audio RR2160 MKII (will be for sale soon), am taking delivery of a DMP-A6 on Sunday and have purchased a Topping Pre 90.

Before purchasing the Pre 90, I went back and forth between the Pre 90 and the Schiit Freya S. It sucks that none of this equipment is available locally to listen to..

I have until July 15 to return the Pre 90 via Amazon and was wondering if anybody had insight on which pre amp would be a better choice. I keep thinking I should have went with my initial though on the Schiit...

Or just save my money and use the DMP-A6 as my pre amp.

Thanks for any help this fine group can give me.

 

[MarkS]

If the reason you're buying all this stuff is to improve the sound, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you that all electronics sound the same. Speakers and room correction is where money can buy you better sound.

 

[tprevett]

If the reason you're buying all this stuff is to improve the sound, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you that all electronics sound the same. Speakers and room correction is where money can buy you better sound.

My current setup is way underpowered for these speakers.. Giving them more power to feed off of will certainly wake them up. The Outlaw certainly isn't a chump when comes to quality sound, however, the sonic impression I got from these speakers was so much better when they were in my theater and fed with a more power. This is the main reason I'm upgrading.

 

[Snoopy]

With all the quality issues topping seem to have , I would pick the schiit

 

[CleanSound]

With the Freya, you can't power it off when you're done using it, the switch is on the back. It's meant to stay on all the time, because audiophools believes in warm up time. That's a deal breaker for me personally.

 

[izeek]

it's a pain in the ass, but reaching back isn't a deal-breaker for me in sonic terms.
love my schiit saga+.

 

[tprevett]

Well I returned the Pre 90. I really wanted the volume display to tell my wife don’t go past XX volume. Lol. But I think the Schiit is the better choice. US company. Warranty etc.

 

[MarkS]

My current setup is way underpowered for these speakers..

Can't agree. The Outlaw RR2160 MKII is rated at 110 W/ch into 8 ohms, 165 into 4. The SVS Ultra Towers have a rated sensitivity of 88 db @ 2.83 V, 1 meter, full space. There is no way this is not enough power for those speakers.

the sonic impression I got from these speakers was so much better when they were in my theater and fed with a more power.

This is an effect of the room, not the amp.

 

[tprevett]

Omg my room is fine. That outlaw does not have enough to drive the bottom end of those speakers to the level which I am happy with. I’ve used a more powerful amp with them and it really opens them up. Why are you busting my chops?

 

[tprevett]

When I use them with my Monolith Amp I don’t need the sub in my stereo setup. When I use the outlaw I need to use the Sub.

 

[MarkS]

Omg my room is fine. That outlaw does not have enough to drive the bottom end of those speakers to the level which I am happy with. I’ve used a more powerful amp with them and it really opens them up. Why are you busting my chops?

For the benefit of other newcomers who may end up here. It is just extremely unlikely (based on past research) that there is a true audible difference here. Only a blind, level-matched ABX test eliminates various biases that we all have.