Added a Schiit Freya+ to a Sansui 8080


Hi.  I started out with a Yamaha A-S801 and Wharfedale Lintons.  Using a Wiim Pro Plus as my source.

Recently I swapped the Yamaha for a refurbed Sansui 8080.  Sounded amazing.  Tons of warmth!

I got curious and wanted to tinker and added a Schiit Freya+ preamp.  Lost all the warmth!  In return, it revealed much more details, vocals and instruments are more clearly defined and separated.  But I lost the low end and warmth.  It's not bad, it's just different, sounds amazing actually.

I've tried to recapture some of the warmth by adjusting the EQ in the Wiim.  I cannot seem to get there without it sounding muddy.

I'm trying to learn and understand the difference in the amps and what specs might be contributing to my observations.

The Sansui has a 0.2% TDH while the Schiit Freya+ runs much more clean at <0.01%

Is it safe to say that less TDH main contributing factor to what I am observing when I say I've lost warmth?

I've only had a couple of days, so my ears might still be adjusting, but I do miss that vibe and feeling the music created when using only the Sansui.

I do think I lean towards wanting a warmer sound.  This might have just been an experiment in me needing to try something different to learn that.

Other notes:  

The tubes are new production Tung-Sol 6SN7

The Freya+ has 3 modes.  Passive, JFET buffer and Tube gain.  Tube gain is the only stage that is listenable for my ears

steam_engine

Showing 1 response by mapman

Probably lower distortion. SS Freya measures well from what I have seen. Is this the Freya with the tube mode? I’d expect that to sound different than SS or passive.

I have a Freya (no tubes) I’ll be hooking up for first time this weekend. Expecting good things!

Freya with vintage amp will work fine. All depends on personal preference for sound. Personally, I would avoid most vintage gear. Technology has come a long way and best products at all price points which includes Freya reflect that. From a pure technical execution perspective, vintage gear is more likely to be the bottleneck to ultimate performance. Thing is ultimate performance is not the same thing as what people like. People like whatever for whatever reason and that’s perfectly fine. Different strokes…. I remember that vintage Sansui sound quite well.  Very nice!