Calling all Schiit Freya owners: question about amplifier pairing and heat problems.

The Freya seemed fairly cool to the touch in the Schiit Audio room at AXPONA 2019. Nothing of a temperature to suggest finger-burning concerns. 

The tubes in my "original series" Freya aren’t especially hotter than they should be (4 preamp tubes should seemingly be hottish, but...meh...), and note that the top vents are around the tubes...there’s plenty of side venting making for good air flow, and I think the 2 transformers are simply close to the lid so it’s relatively toasty above them but not excessively so. I give tube gear plenty of air space and it hasn’t melted yet, a good sign. I think people bought tube risers mostly to not fatigue the stock tube sockets with excessive-compulsive tube rolling, but mine have been fine and hey...I roll tubes man...uh huh...I use a Dennis Had 12wpc single ended tube amp and the Freya has plenty of output to drive the thing, especially the tube gain that I always use except when utilizing the passive or FET setting to keep the tubes honest, a cool instant gratification feature. High efficiency Klipsch Heresy IIIs make it all work swimmingly.

I had a very early production Freya and it did get hot. Many reported using tube risers to get the glass above the top plate. 

My Freya does get very warm but not too hot to touch. Oppo 103/Vincent SP-331/Vandersteen 2Cs. To me the sound is wonderful.

phastm3 -
Gosh the Taranis is some serious horsepower for 99db efficient speakers!  You might choose to use the Freya in something other than tube mode.  14 db of gain from tubes paired w/highly efficient speakers might give you a bit of tube noise unless you get some really quiet ones.
The HeadFi Freya thread is pretty informative.  Good luck.  

I’m really happy with the Freya and consider it a step up from the 6H30/EZ80 tube preamp I used previously. I’ve used (am using) the Freya with a Merrill Audio Taranis Class D power amp as well as Hegel H200 operated as power amp in HT bypass mode.

I’m glad to hear that the Freya is working out with the Taranis. I have the Taranis and i have the Freya ordered. I am using the Mytek Booklyn DAC also. Hope it isn’t too much gain for my Klipsch Forte III’s (99db efficiency)

Primarist - I’ve had a Freya for the better part of a year now (and a Gungnir for longer than that). Have been very happy with both pieces. The Gungnir since the MB upgrade is spectacular.

First, on the heat: Compared to other tube gear I’ve had, the Freya with various 6SN7s does not get exceptionally warm. In fact, while I prefer JFET mode, when I do have tubes installed I’ve been a little surprised how relatively "cool" it operates. The 6SN7s don’t seem to throw heat like some other small tubes I’ve had in other gear. This is NOT to say the Freya surface right near the tubes doesn’t get hot BUT if you mean the whole chassis or areas well away from the actual tubes are "too hot to touch" - that definitely has NOT been my experience. I haven’t run Tungsols - maybe they operate differently? (seems unlikely), but have run new production EH, some NOS RCAs and NOS Russians (as well as the as-supplied Russian 6SN7s).

There’s a pretty active Freya thread over on HeadFi.org. See what the consensus is over there. I think Jason might actually participate from time to time. AND like mofimadness suggested, contact Schiit tech support (email is best). Like MoFi, as a general rule I avoid stacking powered-up gear. Heat kills. The Freya is on the top shelf of my equipment "console" with plenty of space all around. The Gungnir is on a lower but still open shelf. The Gungnir gets warm to the touch...a little warmer since the MB upgrade. But that’s all. Never hot.

I’m really happy with the Freya and consider it a step up from the 6H30/EZ80 tube preamp I used previously. I’ve used (am using) the Freya with a Merrill Audio Taranis Class D power amp as well as Hegel H200 operated as power amp in HT bypass mode.

Since the Freya is basically a passive preamp and I believe the active stage is low gain, you may want to take a look at this. Before buying something much more expensive. Check out the reviews of the Job225 since this is basically a smaller watt version. Designed by same outfit (Goldmund). MSRP was $1299 and now on closeout $499. I love mine. 

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NUSTA200

I’m from the old school that says you should never stack gear. It creates more heat and also can lead to more noise in the system.

I would maybe give Jason or Mike a call or email and see if this normal. IMHO, he will probably tell you the same thing...