Steve, I bought a Freya+ a year ago after your video "don't upgrade speakers, upgrade your electronics". I am so glad I did. I use it as a preamp into my old NAD C370 integrated (130 wpc into 8ohm). What a beautiful difference. I run it mostly in tube mode. And I now really like my old Monitor Silver bookshelf speakers. I've made other changes too based on your videos. I can't thank you enough.

1 of my childhood friends was very ill. He is also very poor so I gifted him a pair of SEAS full-range driver speakers and a Schit passive preamp and an older amplifier. This lifted up his spirits and I think it added a few extra months to his life since he later passed away from his illness.

Cheers for including my system Steve! 😁 I've just added a subwoofer to the main system after watching one of your shows from a year or so ago. Love the show man!

Steve, I'm not in the market for more audiophile gear, but I still enjoy watching these videos. I love the positive energy and I tend to learn something new every time :) Thanks!

Great review, Steve…I own a Freya + and LOVE ❤️ IT! Got 3 sets of NOS Tubes so that I can "tinker" and make myself crazy 🤯…. You helped me know (I was curious), that I do not need to even check out the transistorized "tubes". That cuts down on my insanity…but just for newbies…you can buy tubes in matched pairs…you do NOT have to buy quad sets. I use a pair of my stock JJ's on the output (left side) and roll pairs of NOS on the gain side (right side), as that side colours the music the most. The Freya is a LOT of fun…and I coupled mine with a SChiit LOKI MAX…so I smile a LOT when listening!!!! 😎

I have the Freya S. Great sounding amp and no tubes. Some reviews say it sounds better. Main reason for getting a Freya was Balanced inputs and outputs with RCA inputs and outputs

Steve I recently came across your channel it is giving me back my passion for all things audio thank you brother

Even though I have a Freya+, I always enjoy your music selections and have discovered a lot of new music thanks to you! Cheers. The First Watt B1 looks really interesting too.

Steve, don't forget to post your suggestions for tube upgrades. Appreciate what you do! (And you've added 4 albums to my Find On Roon list.)

Ability to switch to Buffer Mode or to Tube Mode is a BIG PLUS... Very versatile

Perfect timing Steve. My Freya + was delivered today! I also have the LISST tubes as well. Can't wait to set it up!

I just bought the Freya Noval, which is a ➕️ with different tubes and apparently more tube options. It was on clearance with tubes for $599. I was about to pull the trigger on the ➕️ for my Xmas gift to me. The ➕️ is $450 more if you get it with tubes. I think I made the right call, but know very little about tubes. Grew up hearing them (70s-80s) but out of reach for me. Always liked plain old AB. I decided to introduce tubes to the system and figured a preamp was the best place to start. Monoblocs next year, maybe tubes we'll see. Thanks for your very detailed reviews. We enjoy them (the wife and I).

I always love your music selection. I just bought little kruta.

Steve, thank you for all the videos. You are reason I tried tubes and now I am hooked! I own a Freya+ and have rolled tubes 3 times. I enjoy the tube mode the best with Psvane HiFi tubes. The sound is tube-sweet with plenty of detail and delightful presentation. The Freya+ fronts my Willsenton R8 with JJ & Tung-sol tubes that drive the Tekton Perfect Set. The source is a Bluesound Node 2i as a transport into a S.M.S.L M400 DAC. Yes, this unit gets very hot!

I just purchased the Freya +. I'm using JJ 6SN7 tubes. The Freya is a notch or two above my old Parasound P5. Both SS and tube mode are excellent. However, I do prefer the tube mode. Thanks for your excellent review.

This is a very interesting and useful review. I’ve been trying to understand two things about the Schiit preamp; how much would it improve the sound of a random amp over solid state, and are there other similarly priced pre amps that get the same level of improvement? I love the idea of a tube pre, but? Thanks for the helpful discussion.

One small correction: you don't need quad matched tubes for the Freya+. You only need matched pairs on the left (output stage) and right side (gain stage).

Getting a barely used Freya+ in a week. Finally have 2 balanced inputs for my cec tl51xr cd player and my nad m51 dac to connect to. Cant wait

This preamp is a great introduction into tubes. I can clearly hear the differences between tung sol, rca, ge and sylvania tubes.

Any chance you are going to review the Nutube B1? I have built the Amp Camp Amp “mono blocks”, and have been looking at the B1 ever since I finished them. Would love to hear what you think of the B1 in more detail. Thanks for all the great content!

Thanks! Steve Guttenberg Audiophiliac

Steve, great review as always. I do treasure and have ordered some of the Music you recommend in your listening repertoire. Some Girls being a case in point. As an "old drummer" - 71 yo - having resurrected playing after 50 years [1969] , I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of Charlie Watts as a drummer.....simple, but always spot on Temp and driving the Band!. Like Ringo, no big Solo guy - they didn't need to. He's not Bonham, not Baker, not Moon, or Copeland or Gaad, but was great none the less. I'm happy that I am able to keep up with him in my playing. Playing an instrument, no matter what it is, can give a very fulfilling pleasure in one's Life. It's what Drives this Channel - Audiophiliacism!! PS: I would volunteer a LP for some very good listening pleasures (baby boomers for sure)... Ten Years After Recorded Live (1973) on LP (also on CD issued in 2013 which i do not have). it was reproduced unadulterated with no Dubs or additives in any way - just pure Ten Years After Live in Amsterdam, Paris, Rotterdam in 1973. Alvin Lee at his best. One of the best Guitarist of all time. R.I.P. Charlie and Alvin.

The Aegir paired with the LS50 Meta is not a very loud combination, good only for a small room.. I do have the Freya+ but I had to add another Aegir to use the amps as monoblocks. The Freya even attenuates the volumen by quite a bit. The other thing to point out is that you need the differential or tube modes to go from single ended inputs to balanced outputs.

The nutube us great. I have built two of them. I upgraded the electrolytic caps with film and put larger power supply caps in it. I also added a little filter inline between the wall wart and the preamp board. All of this only made maybe a 15% difference. A testimate to the quality of the design.

I am a fan of the Schiit on this channel!

The Korg nutube is a triode vacuum tube! Nice comparison. It makes me think of Dennis Had. Who resurrected the 6SN7 in the late 80’s-90’s. He’s still at it! And offers an affordable 6SN7 preamp. Besides standard 6SN7’s get some adapters and run 7N7’s or pairs of 7193’s which are my favorites of this ilk, made for a short time during WWII and still very cheap. 7N7’s are loktal bases but otherwise are identical electrically - they require an adapter. They are available sometimes for less than 10 bucks each. Any of the new tubes of the 6SN7 type are kind of wannabes, but don’t shy away there is a lot of New Old Stock out there to choose from and they all sound great. Do little homework about equivalent tubes types and start rolling.

Hello Steve , I have been a big fan of your reviews for the Audiophiles. Your latest review of Freya+ has been spot on. It was indeed schitt.. show. I have Schitt Mani 2 phono amp , Project EVO Turntable ( bought both after going through your review), Dyna Audio DM 3/7 floor standing speakers. Presently using a Integra AV receiver to run these speakers, intend upgrading . So need your inputs on suitable amp which syncs with the Freay+ pre amp and DM3/7 dyna audio speakers. have a budget of 2000$.

Running Freya S into a Vidar driving Audio Physic Padua speakers. A combination I really like. So far great luck with Schiit products.

Lots of options for a decent price strongly considering these. Sounds like schiit. 👍

I have to say the world of Hifi audio would be a darker more lonely space without Steve Guttenberg. That for your years of contributions sir.

Some Girls Is my favorite Stones album, this live album from 78 is incredible, I had the Blu-ray for several years but never watched it until now. I can report the DTS-HD Master Audio's sound is killer. The live concert video emphasis your points about the live album, the band, and the electric energy even more. Thanks as always for this great channel!

I would love to have one of these to mess around with. I would like to compare the tubes and the solid state option. Interesting. Love the Some Girls Era. It was so much fun. My favorite Stones album still and I got to see that concert too. Great mems. I met Charlie Watts at Arabian Horse Nationals in 1991. He was a very kind gentleman accompanying his wife at the show.

My personal experience with the Freya is that NOS Sylvania GTB tubes took it to another level over the new manufacture tubes that I tried. Also, the left two tubes looking from the front of the unit can be a different brand tube than those on the right which have the greatest effect on sound. Always turn the unit off and maybe unplug it when changing tubes, obvious but don't forget.

Steve, always enjoy your reviews and expertise, been watching for years! I'm looking to buy a preamp and the Schiit Freye+ seems to fits the bill. I've never owned anything with tubes and looking forward to the holographic sound people talk about. Question, you'd mentioned you'd buy better tubes? What exact tubes would you buy? I have zero experience with tubes and trust your opinion. Just want to buy some killer tubes and be one-and-done with it. Thanks again for all you do to encourage us in our music listening journey! Blessings brother!

I was hoping for a comparison between the Mytek Brooklyn and the Schiit Aegir driven by the Freya+'s tubes. I currently use the Freya+ as a tube-ifying preamp to the Gato DIA-250S. The results are rather exquisite compared to the Aegir: with the sharp highs smoothed out and made more real, almost too real, ethereal in fact. And overall, music seems to be more tightly controlled.

Hi Steve, So since last year I happily got into Schiit. Bifrost 2 (upgraded to the 64) Freya+ , 2 Aegir. Paired with the RP600M. Recently received A Decware Torii MK5 paired mostly with Lii Audio F15 and A W15 sub all in open baffles I built. Just wanted to say thanks for your channel. My Audio experience is on a level that I never could imagine 2 years ago.

I have the Freya S hooked up to my system with Adcom 555 250W amp and a Theta Digital DAC. Let me just say that this preamp brings the best out of that old 90's hi-fi equipment and made my speakers sing. The GFP-556 v2 I had before was not as clear or resolving as the Schiit preamp with it's extremely low distortion and clean output with 2x and 4x gain modes

The 4 caps to the left of the octals sockets are part of the tube circuitry, these used to be WIMA MKP10 caps and they were at best ok but they have been superseded by 4 unknown (the 4 red square blocks to the left of the octal sockets). If anyone knows what make/model these are please let me know.

Cool stuff

I got to see the Stones at Soldier's Field in Chicago in 1978 on their Some Girls tour. Was an epic show.

Wonder how the Freya S compares sonically to the Freya + with solid state tubes.

Steve, apologies for the length. I've been looking to upgrade my system for about a year or so but the more I research the more confused I get. I'm not an in-the-know electronics guy so lots of detailed terminology goes over my head. My existing setup consists of my vintage 1990 Yamaha Natural Sound A-45 Integrated Amp of 120 wpc into 8 ohms. Has a Loudness control and 7-band EQ, which I like and A and B speaker options. Source is usually the 5-disc CD changer that came with it (though it is slowing down) but I also have an AUVIO bluetooth connector that I can stream from my Mac or iPhone. Running Original Monster pin connector cables into new B&W 702 S2's that replaced my DM 602's. I barely get the volume control beyond 10 or 11 o'clock unless I turn the Loudness control counterclockwise. I recently tested a Rotel RA-1592 (200 wpc), which I thought would be a great match with the 702's and blow away my Yamaha. I literally had to listen to the same songs (Enigma Return to Innocence and Rush Red Barchetta) multiple times to differentiate any minimal differences in output vs. my Yamaha. So, I passed on purchasing that. Now, I am considering getting the Schitt Freya+ preamp with the 6SN7 tubes and a VTV Stereo Purifi Audio 1ET400A Amplifier with VTV Vacuum Tube Buffer (227 wpc into 8 ohms). I read the combination of these components is phenomenal compared to the solid state pairing. But, I heard that about the Rotel too. I also read that the VTV Stereo Purifi Audio 1ET400A Amplifier on its own is a great choice. Curious if you know anything about the VTV and potential expectations with either and the combo tubes into the 702's? Thanks.

Will order the Freya+ to pair with my PS Audio S300 amp.

You are exciting me about my CDs!…and SACDs…..THANKS!

Schiit is definitely a great brand, the value of products aside, with great people running the show. I'm glad they opted out of the headphone jack on the Freya+, because it'll be more reasonable to put in with my current stack and better justify it's role as a source selector. Why risk making it noisy with more transformers for the HP out. I've had their Modius -> Lokius -> Magnius stack for 2 years now and I just sent the HP amp in for some warranty work on the output. Came back a week later perfectly flawless. (I'll definitely be gentler with the interconnect) Solid brand

anyone compare the Freya + and Woo WA22 for tube pre capability? I can find used WA22s for around $2k so just not sure if the pre on woo outpunches the Schiit.

The concept of a passive preamplifier cracks me up.

My wife grew up in Japan. She says no tubes. When we looked some ML electrostatics she said they weren't big enough. So it isn't all bad.

Hahaha! I Just *GOT* Thomas&Stereo's title for his review of the Musical Paradise MP701mk2 tube and capacitor rolling preamp: "It's like 5 preamps in one"😅 Actually in the review he expands that to 100+ preamps in one. So many ways to roll your own sound... Loving mine! But it is single-ended🤔 So, as a reference point I've added the DENAFRIPS Hestia12th balanced preamp between the Ares12th and Bryston amp. All balanced. Honestly, i could live with the above Clear, open, full bodied & snappy presentation..... But then theres the allure of what Anthony Michaelson (Musical Fidelity) called: "The ineffable Magic of valves"... Its good to have both options. Good idea Schït. Just got there by a different route (and avoided that awful name;-) 🎵🎶😁🎶🎵

This video helped convince me to get a Freya, so thanks for that! But as I understand it, you don't need to get matched quads of tubes. You only need matched pairs, because one pair is for the gain stage and one is for the power stage.

Hey Steve,was wondering if you will be reviewing the Schiit Tyr anytime soon?

What are your impressions of the Freya+ with tubes compared to the Pass Nutube? I have both but have not compared.

NOTE about matched tubes -- In the Freya+ you only **need** two matched pairs, not a matched quad. Because the right-side tubes are used for gain and the left-side tubes are cathode follower tubes and operate independently. So no need to match all four. It will sound just as good two have 2 matched pairs. Just make sure you use a match-pair on the left, and a match-pair on the right (not front and back). Gain Tubes are much more important than cathode follower tubes.

Do you need a dac with this and can you plug in active speakers directly to the tube preamp?

Hello Steve, I have several different components I just hooked up the Frey+ with a new Decware zen SE84UFO2.1 with all internal upgrades. I am running this through Forte III and I now think I found the sweat spot for these speakers! I am also using the Denafrips Ares II Dac. Now its time to build another system for my t.v. room. LOL. Steve for this room I want something different I just need speakers that are warm what can you recommend? This will be powered by the schiit aegir mono blocks. I am thinking the wharfedale linton heritage thoughts?

Can you use both XLR (to the powe amp) and RCA pre out (to drive subwoofer) ?

Anyone know of a review of the recent Bifrost2 upgrade ? I've only had my Bifrost for 5 months and they've done a $300 upgrade.

Thanks for the Sunday Afternoon rock-out share with the Stones and wowza, what an exciting & on-fire live album! Digging it through a Freya S and enjoy it’s 2 gain stage flex for different recordings such as this one.

I know this is late but have you done or planning to do a review on the NuTube preamp?

The knob on my Freya+ is NOT solid aluminum, it is plastic. One of my biggest complaints with the Freya+ is the knob, or more specifically, the nearly invisible index mark on it. I replaced mine with a ‘blade’ type just so I could tell where the volume was set when I switched sources, which is my second biggest complaint with the Freya+ - you can only move in one direction through the sources: no back and forth-put a knob on it, I say. Sounds good, though; less distortion in buffer mode.

I have this Freya+ (love it) w/ some quality tubes but I tend to reserve "tube mode" for quality music, and passive for everything else to lengthen my tube $. I am interested in trying the LSSTs. I wish Freya+ had 2 sets of 4 sockets and a switch so I could toggle between.

Oh... this is killing me. After one one year of waiting for Freia to be in Europe's stock I just give up and 7 days ago bought Benchmark's LA4. Happy with the choice but lusting over the first love. Thanks for the great music.

Thts a good idea , interested in how tht sounds up front and personal .

OK it is the B1. Paired with the amp camp amplifier they made beautiful music together.

Hi Steve. I hope you will have a chance to review Schiit’s newest amp the Tyr mono block amps

Would be nice to have the schitt stack. On my wish list to own schitt devices.

Can both sets of outputs be operated at once? I need one of them for a subwoofer.

I have 3 of these preamps. They all have a problem. Popping sounds are heard from the speakers when the volume knob is turned. Yes, from the speakers. Usually around the 12 o'clock position of the volume knob, and with many combinations of cables, sources, speakers and amps. This happened to all 3 brand-new units right out of the box. I contacted Schitt to see if there is a defect with these and all I ever got from them was the runaround. They would not give me a straight answer. Anyone else experiencing this issue?

Hey that stones tour was great I saw them 14th St in 78 at the Academy of music. Paul McCartney sat behind me.

Nice schitt steve

Steve, great review. Question...do you find the volume control of the Freya + needs to be turned up more than others? Someone online had mentioned that their Freya+ needed to be turned to about 3 o'clock rather than his previous transistor preamp at 11 o'clock. Just wondering. Thanks much!

So Steve - I’m not sure you covered what is the difference or similarities of the 6sn glass tubes Vs the LISST tubes ? Which did you prefer and why?

Steve will you be reviewing the new hardware balance bi frost ?

Holy schiit !!!! (“Yeah, that’s where the tubes go …”)

I'm very interested in the Clockwork Orange 1998 remix, but cannot find any information about it. Are you sure it's not just a remaster? (which of course is very different than a remix).

When you gain experience as an audiophile and get to play with some of the gears that Steve reviews, you begin to realize more what a phenomenal reviewer he is. I have very recently purchased the Schiit Freya Plus with LISST and I have the exact same opinion as Steve has, though I live several thousand miles away from him. Steve is positive about the Schiit Freya Plus because of its solid build and versatility, but he is not particularly happy about its LISST mode and concludes that First Watt B1 NuTube preamp sounds significantly better. He couldn't be more accurate in his description. First Watt B1 NuTube preamp performs better mostly because of its effect on the frequency response that Schiit doesn't have apart from applying +14 dB gain. Its neutrality takes it to the level of being boring. The high frequency roll-off (graphs available on their site) of First Watt B1 NuTube preamp is cruicial characteristic of any tube device and makes them sound tubey, devoid of that Schiit sounds pretty much a solid state device with some gain along the signal chain. However, considering the build and price Schiit freya plus has nothing equivalent.

I'm using Eh gold pins. They are much nicer than the stock jj or tung sol. Those tubes are cool ,and safe. The EH are warmer and fuller without being gooey and romantic. I want to try the Lisst modules.

You should review the Parasound P6 preamp thanks!

Hey Steve, Could you compare the Musical Paradise MP701mk2 tube preamp? $720 base model. Infinite Tube and capacitor rolling combinations including 6sn7 with adapters. Tube rectifier too! Just got mine. Swapped to lower gain 6au7 right away. Waiting for correct caps to match my Bryston, but already enjoying the journey. Clear and holographic tube sound. Thomas says better than Freya+? 🎵🎶😁🎶🎵 (edit) PS Now I also have the solid state MOSFETtube and rectifier option? Thanks schiit! ⚡ 🤔 💡

Lots of Chinese 6SN7 available, Shuguang for instance

Best Audio Streaming Signal Chain? Coax Cable in from street, A/D converter (modem), Ethernet cable out, Streamer, USB B 2.0 cable out, D/A converter (DAC), balanced XLR cable out. Best chain. Correct? Which converters or streamer can be debated, but not the form by which the signal passes.

All four tubes don’t need to be matched. You can use two matched pairs, one pair for the gain and one pair for the buffer. Different sounds can be had mixing different tube pairs.

I have a DAC with balanced outputs, RME ADI 2 DAC fs. I run that straight to my amp, sounds great. However, I have been considering adding a tube preamp to maybe give me a little variety to my system's sound. I like the idea of switching from passive to active to tube A to tube B. But is all that variety good? Is sound compromised? Straight from my DAC to my amp is pure and good. I would hate to take away from that to add a different color to the music. If it is good though, I am 100% for it.

Steve, I’ve thought about this long and hard. But I just cannot knowingly bring a piece of schiit into my house.

Anybody knows is the shelf life of the “transistor tube”?

Are those navcom silencers under the cutting board?

Steve, I thought you liked the sound of the Freya v1? It appears that the original is warmer and smoother, and Freya+ is more transparent - from reviews. I have the original and I'm tempted to spend my little salary on tube rolling rather than upgrading to the Freya+. But it's so hard to tell which is best.

Happy to see that IKEA cutting board absorber hack.

How’s it compared to connecting DAC directly to AMP?

Shit! This is great 😊

Hi Steve, love the review! Your other recent video on the Emotiva BAS-X TA2 integrated amp was the reason I made my purchase the same day and the other reason as you pointed out was your opinion on the KEF LS50 Meta speakers. What does this have to do with today's video on the Shiit Pre-amp? I emailed Shiit Audio earlier last week to ask their advice on pairing the best amplifier/pre-amplifier combinations with the KEFs and in their reply (email) I actually received the most sarcastic and offensive one sentence reply that I am still fuming about and reported it to upper management with a copy of this rude individual. When the customer supervisor replied back to I told them it was too late because I purchased the Emotiva based on the nasty attitude from this Shiit representative. However if things went the other way I may have actually considered the Schiit components you have reviewed here. Just a cautionary bit of information for your viewers of the drawbacks to companies who choose to NOT talk directly to their customers and it can backfire like it did here. I would love to hear your feedback...thanks Steve.

Glad you mentioned the nonexistent headphone jack. I think the Freya or Saga design with a built in headphone amp would be a killer product for Schiit. I am using a Modius as a preamp in one system, but it only has 2 inputs and no remote.

So the Freya+ is a great bargain. But how does it compare with the best preamps, regardless of cost? I'm looking to upgrade from my current pre to a true top-tier pre. I'd like to save money, but sound quality is foremost. Why do you qualify the preamp as a "great preamp" instead of saying it's one of the best, period?

Hey Steve, So what do you really think of the Freya NOVAL model??? 🎶🧐🎶

👍👏

Does this preamp get hot in solid state mode also???

Need a solid state version opinion

I've been using this amp' for a year & I'm happy with it 😁😁 despite what Topping sponsored ASR says about the Freya+

Schitt sure doesn’t let grass grow between their tubes.

The Freya+ runs *really* hot. Mine failed in 2020 and I'm pretty sure that was the primary reason.