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Schiit Freya S Preamplifier Review

birkbott

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I have a general question. I have a denon x3300 avr preout to the schiit freya (tube) to the crown 1502 power amplifier. Now in this chain, I have the schiit freya's volume on to max, put the channel amps on the crowns to about the 2'oclick position and control the overall volume through the denon avr remote control. Does this sound about right in the way I have this setup? Also, for everyday listening (no where near pushing the max on the crown power) what is the thought on the sound quality of this? I am also using all balanced xlrs.

thanks.

why 2 preamps?
 

AudioSonic

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why 2 preamps?

Not sure what you mean? I am using the preout of the avr to pass the sound to the schiit freya (which is a tube amp) to use that instead. I have had it working now for awhile and it really does sound great with the crown amplifier. This drives the front 2 standing speakers for stereo and so far everything works great.

thanks.
 

Willem

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To me, the Schiit seems completely superfluous, because you are not using it instead of the AVR, but in addition to it. You could feed the AVR output directly into the power amplifier. Why add the distortion of a tube preamp?
 

firedog

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It sounds fine to me if you are going for the tube sound. I sometimes do the same thing for fun.
 

Kal Rubinson

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AudioSonic

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I'm sorry if it wasn't clear. I just figured people knew what the Schiit Freya was for :) and why I was trying to add it into the setup. Normally, I would feed it straight to the amplifier but that negates the whole reason I got the tube amp.

But since I wasn't too versed in this initial setup, I felt I just put out a feeler to see if the way I did set it up would be ok in regards to how it should be setup if I had these parts. I've found over time that I had it setup the right way.

again,

thanks.
 

AudioSonic

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If you want the tube sound just use the Schiit as your preamp and ditch the denon. You don’t need both.

ah I have the denon being used as the multimedia center where all my devices plug into, including my computer :) It's pretty convenient to have as a one stop shop.
 

birkbott

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ah I have the denon being used as the multimedia center where all my devices plug into, including my computer :) It's pretty convenient to have as a one stop shop.

if all you wanted to do was introduce tube distortion between your pre and power amps you could have done it for a lot cheaper. Just sayin’. But you do you I guess.
 

AudioSonic

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if all you wanted to do was introduce tube distortion between your pre and power amps you could have done it for a lot cheaper. Just sayin’. But you do you I guess.

The reason I bought the Schiit Freya is because of its high recommendation across all the reviews I've come across, specifically for the price/performance aspect. If you really have nothing to add why continue posting on this thread? Did you even address my original question?

thanks.
 
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Laserjock

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But this isn’t even the Freya + (tube) version.

I don’t believe it’s been reviewed here?
 

AudioSonic

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But this isn’t even the Freya + (tube) version.

I don’t believe it’s been reviewed here?

The question was to the general setup. It doesn't have to be the "tube" version man. Read the question. Maybe I shouldn't have even asked? Thought this was an AUDIO COMMUNITY? Should I say then, sorry for asking? geez.

In any case, I've got this resolved. It was a surprise to me when this thread suddenly popped up again in my email box after a MONTH of no replies? So I think this is a done deal. Thanks though.

cheers~
 

Laserjock

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The question was to the general setup. It doesn't have to be the "tube" version man. Read the question. Maybe I shouldn't have even asked? Thought this was an AUDIO COMMUNITY? Should I say then, sorry for asking? geez.

In any case, I've got this resolved. It was a surprise to me when this thread suddenly popped up again in my email box after a MONTH of no replies? So I think this is a done deal. Thanks though.

cheers~
Sorry,

I’m glad you got it the way you wanted it and confirmed it works for you.
Do you only use the tube feature or is it dependent on what you’re listening to?
Maybe Amirm can get the Freya + in to test.
 

Kw6

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Is there any audible difference between a Alps Blue Velvet volume control vs the the stepped attenuator used in the Freya?
 
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The question was to the general setup. It doesn't have to be the "tube" version man. Read the question. Maybe I shouldn't have even asked? Thought this was an AUDIO COMMUNITY? Should I say then, sorry for asking? geez.
cheers~
Even though ASR is an "Audio Community", it is different than most in that the general consensus of its members is to favor audio gear (and setups) that objectively measure well.

With that in mind, the folks who responded to you (including me) simply don't understand why you would start off with a compromised audio signal coming from your Denon's pre-outs, and then further degrade the signal by feeding it into another pre-amp (the Freya). This can only introduce more noise and distortion, so it just doesn't make any sense unless your goal is to add additional noise and distortion.

I guess convenience is the main factor for you, but you will get objectively better sound by bypassing the Freya and feeding the signal from the Denon straight into your power amp. Or even better, use the Freya as your source switcher, and feed the signal from the Freya directly to the power amp, bypassing the Denon.

If you want to maintain separate signal paths for the Denon and the Freya, you could use Y-connectors; one pair at the power amp so that you can feed the power amp signals from both the Denon and Freya, and another pair for each source component; one part of the "Y" would go from the source to the Denon and the other part of the "Y" would go from the source to the Freya. Just don't feed the Denon and Freya signals to the power amp at the same time.

If you are happy with your current setup, I would just suggest that you leave the Denon's volume control set to maximum and use the Freya to change the volume level; the Freya's stepped attenuator volume control likely does a better job maintaining channel balance throughout its range compared to the Denon's volume control (though if the Denon's volume control is digital, maybe not).
 
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maverickronin

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Is there any audible difference between a Alps Blue Velvet volume control vs the the stepped attenuator used in the Freya?

The channel balance will be much better with either a stepped attenuator or the relay-resistor ladder used in the Freya.
 

BAMCIS

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Subtract the Freya S, they are no more. It's just Freya + if you want a balanced pre amp from Schitt. Or Magnius. Or Jotunheim. Or Mjolnir. How is the $199 Magnius making 5 db better than the $899 Freya + in it's solid state mode (125 vs 120)?? That's LA4 performance unless I'm missing something. I'd love to see how many volts the Magnius puts out via balanced outs, is it just the 4 volts (listed) at max volume or does it make more like the Bryston BP26 doing 31 volts? Is that more headroom or a sweet spot that you get to quicker? Volume knob on my Freya S is at about 2 o'clock when it gets loud on my PS Audio M700's / Magnepan 3.6.
 

Pillars

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Subtract the Freya S, they are no more. It's just Freya + if you want a balanced pre amp from Schitt. Or Magnius. Or Jotunheim. Or Mjolnir. How is the $199 Magnius making 5 db better than the $899 Freya + in it's solid state mode (125 vs 120)?? That's LA4 performance unless I'm missing something. I'd love to see how many volts the Magnius puts out via balanced outs, is it just the 4 volts (listed) at max volume or does it make more like the Bryston BP26 doing 31 volts? Is that more headroom or a sweet spot that you get to quicker? Volume knob on my Freya S is at about 2 o'clock when it gets loud on my PS Audio M700's / Magnepan 3.6.

I have absolutely no idea why but, when I tested Magnius as a pre it sounded terrible. A90 did not suffer this odd problem. Maybe something was up with my Magnius. I sent it back.
 
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