Schiit KARA Preamp and Headphone Amp Review

[Travis]

But what about the tubes ???

Kara? Tubes, solid state, no matter. I know that particular model very, very well. They have a SINAD of about 10 db, and a signal-to-noise ratio of about of 5 dB.

In other words, they let you know that someone pressed the doorbell, long after UPS/Amazon man has left. They let you know when it's time to eat, go out, time to play. They have no mute button.

They are very smart, a full 24-bit depth. They have Class A topology, very, very warm. The packaging is top-notch, However, a hair remover roller is essential and periodic maintenance is essential with these units.

 

[Mnyb]

Yep, and a HT Processor bypass.

If Schiit reads these forums, the omission of a balance control is what's prevented me from buying the Freya+, and now the Kara. It's a slap in the face to those of us with hearing imbalances and completely ignores the fact that people live in imperfect spaces and may not be able to configure their speakers in a perfect triangle with the MLP.

Not sure why this reality was completely understood by equipment designers for decades and now in 2023 is basically ignored. I'm willing to pay for these features, make a version of the Freya+ or Kara that includes an HT Bypass input that automatically sets unity gain and a remote controlled balance control and I'll pay $1,000 for it.

My 25 year old Adcom GFP-750 has both of these features and both are remote controlled:

Adcom GFP-750 preamplifier

Adcom is one of those companies that's just too consistent for its own good. Year after year, they put out well-engineered, fairly priced gear, while we audiophiles become jaded and almost forget they're there... You want a good-sounding CD player that doesn't cost an arm and a leg? [Yawn.]...

www.stereophile.com

Yes they could control the L and R ladder independently ? If not the ladder consists of relays with 2 sets of contacts in each relay ? To save some .

Amen to that , no one is building feature complete preamps any more .

 

[solderdude]

There is a second row of relays on the right that you just cannot see in the picture of the board as it is obscured by the left side of the chassis.

They could do a balance but it would require a second linear pot, a second ADC input on the processor and at least 8 extra digital outputs to drive the other row of relays separately. As it is now both rows simply get the same 7 bits that drives the relays of both channels.

 

[ocinn]

No disagreement here. And it should be easy to include a very high quality fixed 80Hz, 24dB/oct LR high-pass. I don't even think it needs to be adjustable, 80Hz will almost always work. Low Pass would be nice too.

Low pass is not really needed as literally every powered subwoofer includes one already.

 

[respice finem]

It is insane how much they shed. You look at them and hair falls off! We joke that they constantly eat just to make hair! We have central vac and have to empty the canister after just one vacuum! On the positive front, their hair is never dirty. It lacks oil so stuff doesn't stick to it.

There is a "mental mitigation" for such problems

No Outfit Is Complete Without A Few Dog Hairs T-Shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve t-shirt

The power of the people is more powerful than the people in power blackeyedpeas com streetlivin bepstreetlivin. Lit up the d with some revival art last

teetshirts.net

 

[milosz]

What's the SINAD of that doggo?

 

[respice finem]

Barking against sleeping, might be near 100 dB @1m But only one channel...

 

[Snoopy]

this thing would be seriously cool if it had a "loudness" control feature like Yamaha or RME.

 

[OldManMatt]

I can see this preamp being useful for most people. First and foremost is the performance, which really shouldn't be taken for granted. A preamp that is not going to degrade the signal of all the other components used is worth $700 bucks to me.

Balanced inputs are always a plus and make any component more useful. Having at minimum one balanced output makes this unit very attractive..2 extra SE for subwoofer or bi-amping is a feature not every manufacturer offers, regardless of price. Remote control. The basic features of this preamp are pretty solid IMO.

But then we have a tiny power switch on the back. No on/off feature on the remote. I can work around that..but I don't like it. No L/R balance control. I can control this with my dac, but not with my analog inputs. Trigger control would be nice. Wish it was mandatory that all separates components had trigger functions. Im just thinking out loud with all of this. Seems hard to find good components with everything that I want in it. For $700 bucks though this one gets pretty close.

 

[Noske]

Conclusions
In passive mode, the preamp naturally reflects the superb performance of the Audio Precision analyzer. Note that it will change the loading impedance so may impact performance of other devices connected to it. To avoid this, you want to use the active mode which still produces excellent performance.

Given this comment, and what has been discussed about the issues with passive mode, I'd pass on that. I would also pass on the headphone option. Just a pure (not minimalist - the technology and inputs and outputs are tremendous) active preamp with high quality components rated at say 10,000 hours or better. I'd pay the same. No compromises. This is not a paradox - less is more.

Edit - while output impedance is rated at 75 ohms for SE, and 600 ohms for balanced, I'd love to know how these numbers may vary with frequency and volume. These tests were achieved here a few years ago with Schiit Saga. My Purifi power amp has an input input impedance of 20 kOhms - on the low side, I think.

Review and Measurements of Schiit Saga Tube Pre-amp

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Schiit Saga passive/tube pre-amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member who has waiting literally months for his review! The Saga costs USD $349 from Schiit direct with stock tube plus shipping. The tube supplied with this unit was the...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[JohnnyNG]

Low pass is not really needed as literally every powered subwoofer includes one already.

Of course, but many are 12dB/oct so would be nice to have 24dB/oct slopes for HP/LP on the pre.

 

[OldManMatt]

Yeah the passive mode would be an afterthought for me. My favorite amp at the moment has a very low 10k ohm input. Which has been fine running direct from Dac, but I've found it to be more problematic than I thought it would be when it comes to experimenting with various preamps. I've learned a lesson about minding the input impedance of power amps.

I would rather have a feature or 2 extra of what I mentioned over the headphone amp. I would be curious of the percentage of people that would actually use it. I'm sure there are some..I can remember as a kid my mom having 20 foot headphone cords running out of our stereo receiver.

The SE difference in distortion kinda rubs me the wrong way. Noticeable? Maybe not..and I'd probably only use the single ended output for sub so again not a big deal. Guess I'm just nit picking but that's how I get when I see data. But again, the price for performance and inputs/outputs is pretty good. I might have to give this preamp a try..It would serve a purpose for me.

 

[EJ3]

I agree. It's a bit of a bargain in this day and age to get all that performance, loads of inputs/outputs, a remote and made in the USA.

@amirm very extensive review.

& a FIVE (5) year warranty!

 

[Noske]

Yeah the passive mode would be an afterthought for me. My favorite amp at the moment has a very low 10k ohm input. Which has been fine running direct from Dac, but I've found it to be more problematic than I thought it would be when it comes to experimenting with various preamps. I've learned a lesson about minding the input impedance of power amps.

I would rather have a feature or 2 extra of what I mentioned over the headphone amp. I would be curious of the percentage of people that would actually use it. I'm sure there are some..I can remember as a kid my mom having 20 foot headphone cords running out of our stereo receiver.

The SE difference in distortion kinda rubs me the wrong way. Noticeable? Maybe not..and I'd probably only use the single ended output for sub so again not a big deal. Guess I'm just nit picking but that's how I get when I see data. But again, the price for performance and inputs/outputs is pretty good. I might have to give this preamp a try..It would serve a purpose for me.

10K ohm input may be troublesome. I quote the words written by Amir from that link I provided because clicking is often a waste of time - but not here.

"Looking all the way to the right, the minimum impedance is 183 ohm. At the lower end of 20 Hz, impedance climbs to 3,130 ohm. Using the typical 10:1 rule, your power amplifier input impedance should be at least 30k Ohm to avoid frequency dependent/EQ changes. Put more simply, if you use lower input impedance power amplifier after Saga in active mode, your low frequencies below 500 Hz or so will attenuate. This may accentuate the rest of the spectrum you may like, or not."

 

[Schollaudio]

What's the circuit topology, opamps?

 

[EJ3]

in the year of our lord 2023 i cannot fathom someone with a set of cans (!!) tethered by a headphone cable the length of a car to their hifi rack while they sit down on their sofa

but yeah i guess this is what atmos 7.2 avr owners do according to the manufacturers. I've been told many companies do a "kitchen sink" approach so as not to miss out on ANY sale (eg. my AVR has a phono input!)

do full size owners really sit this close to their pieces of equipment?

but I mean if its a few bucks to add then i guess so?

I may be the only one (can't be or they wouldn't sell them) that only uses only wireless headphones (ancient SENNHEISER TR-180 open back [so that I can enjoy the stereo while I am doing things around the house or in the yard near the house]), only use a tower computer and only integrates stereo signal from the computer to the stereo ([which are on different floors] {or the other way around} via BLUTOOTH transceiver's).
If I want to do more critical listening, I will be in the living room with the stereo & listening to speakers.
I do not have a use case for corded headphones (being limited by where I can go by the cord is more annoying to me than any benefit of great sound I may get). (my AVR experiment was 5.2 from 1991-2001 [Top of the line Denon's] and quit AVR's in 2001).
Since then, everything has been separates.
Although you never know what might happen next.

 

[raif71]

Barking against sleeping, might be near 100 dB @1m But only one channel...

Give this doggo its own iem

 

[respice finem]

I attempted this once with normal (over-ear) headphones. Incredible how far they can fly

 

[solderdude]

What's the circuit topology, opamps?

Schiit's own discrete nexus input stage and continuity output stage design running at double the power supply voltage most opamps run at.
So no opamps and also not op-amp alike topology (which most discrete amplifiers are).
Works very good in high impedances but not so well into very low impedance loads (fine for power amps even the low input impedance ones)

 

[Noske]

Works very good in high impedances but not so well into very low impedance loads (fine for power amps even the low input impedance ones)

This statement contradicts itself. Works not so well into low impedance, and then to say it is fine for amps with low impedance.

Someone tell me that there is no issue with this, and why this issue ought not be addressed.