Schiit KARA Preamp and Headphone Amp Review

[dzerig]

Sorry, but no. The mute kicks in when switching gain settings. This is designed to protect the system and stabilize before unmuting.

Speaking of changes, if you get the Freya tube heater to turn off after say 2-3 minutes, rather than 1 minute or less, it'd be an improvement. Dunno if you can update that remotely on existing Freya, but although I appreciate not a/b ing my amp all the time, occasionally I want to compare tube sound to solid state, and I like to listen for too long before going back to the tubes, it shuts them down.

It just seems they shut off too fast, for no reason, when a few extra minutes won't .... I mean you guys didn't want standby switches on VIDAR! But run the tubes for a few extra seconds without listening to them, oh no!

 

[dzerig]

How can you be sure it isn't placebo?

How can you be sure measurements aren't a placebo, making you think you hear differences you don't hear?

I do not agree entirely.
In '70 and 80', people hardly listened to HiFi equipment before buying it and chose it on the basis of specification and aesthetics.
Then, somebody succeeded in convincing them that there was some "magic" not shown by measurements and only experienced during listening.

One such company was NAD which was lauded by magazines for it's 3020 amplifier as showing that specifications were not the be all and end all of audio quality, and that many components' power ratings were useless in actual operation as they had little dynamic power in real world operation.

Boy did they fool everyone!

 

[Soria Moria]

How can you be sure measurements aren't a placebo, making you think you hear differences you don't hear?

I don’t hear differences in any of the gear I have owned except for headphones.

 

[Moscardo]

How can you be sure measurements aren't a placebo, making you think you hear differences you don't hear?


One such company was NAD which was lauded by magazines for it's 3020 amplifier as showing that specifications were not the be all and end all of audio quality, and that many components' power ratings were useless in actual operation as they had little dynamic power in real world operation.

Boy did they fool everyone!

3020 advantages came basically from power reserve in power supply and soft clipping circuitry which made it able to manage much better instantaneous peaks typical of music signals. A clever design but not without defects, as to deliver much more transient power than nominal one it was also not well protected and prone to failures if abused.

However, that was not a fault of specifications, but of their interpretation. Now we know that instantaneous power is as important as continuous power and both parameters are needed to judge amplifiers quality.

 

[solderdude]

The NAD 3020 was plagued by thermal runaway of the 2N3055 output devices because NAD did not use emitter resistors.
Back in the day I saw quite a few of them with blown up output stages.

 

[eigentone]

I don't "live" on this forum (but I do love it) so my late reply to this review of the kara:

It occurs to me the Kara may have been inspired in part by the fact bridged Vidar 2 amps need a balanced input.

I also wonder if the insane rail voltage level of the Kara has something to do with driving bridged Vidar 2s? For those not familiar with Vidar 2's, the stereo 8 ohm output is rated at 100W, and in bridged mode 400W.

 

[AaronJ]

I think Kara came along because someone on Head-Fi suggested a Freya S w/ headphone output and Jason liked the idea. I don't think anything about the Kara gets better performance from Vidar 2's bridged mono than Freya S did despite what the website reads.

 

[Moth]

I wish Schiit would make a modular preamp. A Freya S/ Kara with optional/ upgradeable plug-in phono and DAC cards, sort of a preamp-only version of the Ragnarok or a better Jotunheim with the relay attenuator and remote.
Also wish the source input selector was rotary, or at least had two buttons to scroll back and forth between your most used sources without having to scroll all the way back through via one button.

 

[Nick_L]

Hello @Moth ,

I totally agree with your second topic on your wishlist. A rotary as input selector would be great - a direct change also via the IR remote would be a significant improvement for me. Regarding the first topic: I am fine connecting a dedicated DAC and phone pre-amp - but optional, why not?

Nick

 

[pseudoid]

I wish Schiit would make a modular preamp. A Freya S/ Kara with optional/ upgradeable plug-in phono and DAC cards, sort of a preamp-only version of the Ragnarok or a better Jotunheim with the relay attenuator and remote.
Also wish the source input selector was rotary, or at least had two buttons to scroll back and forth between your most used sources without having to scroll all the way back through via one button.

If we are talking about an audio "Wish List";
I'd be all over a fully-modular audio/video enclosure that is OpenSouce with standardized [non-proprietary] interfaces for both hardware modules and the software, which runs them.
Similar in fashion to what PC/Windows platform has achieved and Linux (and Raspberry) tried to normalize but couldn't!
Could you imagine popping-in a few more higher-power TPA-3255 modules, when you get tired of 5W versions (purchased on AliExpress for $5) and you want to go up-class to 16++ channels because you just bought a 8K TV with a plug-in/modular HDMI8.2 processor?

 

[HoweSound]

I think Kara came along because someone on Head-Fi suggested a Freya S w/ headphone output and Jason liked the idea. I don't think anything about the Kara gets better performance from Vidar 2's bridged mono than Freya S did despite what the website reads.

I'm still waiting for a comparison and measurements to show whether or not the Kara actually improves on the Freya S.

 

[40th Anniversary]

The 5k output R is only that high at -40dB setting and can be very low at other settings. It varies depending on the volume setting.
This can be an issue with long or very high capacitance cables. Less of an issue with resistive loads. In that case the volume steps may not be 0.6dB each but volume is controlled by ear so a deviation is not a problem.

Some people believe in passive pre-amps. They will love the option and also get a buffer and even another gain.
Schitt just caters for those people. And yes, the distortion in active mode is higher than the Topping and with good reason (low feedback design) but at the measured level (4V balanced) it is still below any audible levels.

People buy Schiit for several reasons. They have more Schiit, they like the form factor looks, they like the company and people behind it, they believe in the mission of Schiit.

It is just a pre-amp with headphone out.

I'm currently feeding my RME ADI-2 DAC FS to a Schiit Kara in Passive mode; in turn connected to a Benchmark AHB2. I quite like the sound in this mode. I need more listening time.

 

[40th Anniversary]

I am new here, and I am new to Schiit products. I just wanted to chip in with my experience of living with the Kara as a preamp for two weeks now.

I was looking for a reasonably priced preamp with low gain, stepped attenuator and a remote. The Kara seemed to fit the bill perfectly. My dac output impedance is about 500 Ohms, and the input impedance of my power amp is 28k. So all the parameters should be fine although the high output impedance (5 kOhms) of the passive is a little high. I liked the idea of a low global feedback discrete buffer/gain stage, which is similar to the I/V stage of my dac.

I have been messing around with the different settings in the Kara; passive, low gain, high gain. During my listening sessions it's become quite apparent that the Nexus amplifier stage of the Kara adds a bit of bloom and takes away some of the transparency of the sound. The low gain and high gain settings sound very similar. But the passive mode is significantly more transparent and realistic sounding. I don't know why, I would not contribute this to the measurements. My power amp has significantly higher 2nd and 3rd order harmonics, so I don't think that adding a fraction of distortion would make any difference. However, the percieved sound gets quite muddied up by the gain stage of the Kara.

As a passive stepped attenuator, the Kara is a 10/10. I don't mind the clicks. I don't hear any clicks from my speakers, just from the relays. It's intense, but it's fine. As a gain stage, I'm not so sure. It's definitely not transparent. It takes away some details of the sound.

I would like to hear from others who own the Kara, if your experience is the same. Right now I wish that Schiit would launch a passive preamp with a stepped attenuator and remote, and no gain stage or headphone pre.

I am listening to Kara now in passive mode. My first passive pre. I think I can agree with your descriptions. I am discovering the passive mode and quite like it; I can't really describe it, but it sounds more detailed and delicate, like a good glass of red wine (when one discovers and enjoys a nice glass of red wine).

 

[jkorten]

I own this piece of Schiit. Nice preamp. Extended range. For my headphones, best HP amp I've had. But a similar priced preamp from China (FM255 MKII clone from Weileing) sounds less stressful somehow. That being said, I'm keeping the Kara for my family summer home. But my main listening chair is the FM255 clone which is more natural sounding to my ears.

 

[dzerig]

Beware preamp vendors with promises of so-called 'class A' performance.

 

[Sal1950]

However, that was not a fault of specifications, but of their interpretation. Now we know that instantaneous power is as important as continuous power and both parameters are needed to judge amplifiers quality.

We always knew.
The problem was that many company's were quoting "instantaneous" power as the products power spec
so the stated output power was a useless number.
In 1974 the FTC introduced a spec that at least gave some numbers that showed a lot about an amps true power.
Things went all wonky and sideways again with the introduction of multich receivers and amps. Are they talking about
1,2,8,16 or all channels driven, into what impedances, etc etc etc..
"Instantaneous" numbers are easy thing to fudge and fake and confuse the buyer over.
True RMS continuous power into X ohms, @ X freq, @ X% distortion, all channels driven; tells you something in the REAL world, not someones fantasy world.

 

[formdissolve]

If I'm reading the headphone graphs right, my Dan Clark Audio Aeon Open X with an impedance of 13ohms will sound like crap?

 

[Rottmannash]

If I'm reading the headphone graphs right, my Dan Clark Audio Aeon Open X with an impedance of 13ohms will sound like crap?

Mine sound great and are my daily HP.

 

[formdissolve]

Mine sound great and are my daily HP.

You use those with this Kara?

 

[tineared]

It is mind boggling to me that they didn't include a front power switch and/or a 12v trigger. I would have bought one already if it had either one...