Pre-amp with solid state/passive AND tube modes (Like Schiit Freya+)

If your worried about tube life in small signal tube don't they last for a very long time many years if not decades, some of the good ones are even rated for many thousands of hours 20,000+. I use my mac tube preamp everyday for both music and TV watching its on 8hours + a day with zero worries about tube life so don't sweet that part at least.

The other point i suppose  is just nice for a change in sound. 

I've not heard of another tube pre with a switchable SS section as well, other then the Freya +

Hi Glenn I hadn’t realized someone had answered my post. I actually managed to source a ARC LS25 Mk II for $1900 I know it’s double the price of the freya but going by blue book prices it sounded to good to turn down, and the guy is sending me receipt that it has just been serviced with new tubes. I decided it didn’t matter if its on 8 hours a day. Really looking forward to hooking it up. Thanks for sharing that you also use your pre-amp for TV also.

Congrats on the ARC.  I think you made a wise choice as it’ll likely sound better and it’s fully balanced where the Freya is likely not. 

op

congrats on the arc linestage - an excellent choice!

get a fresh set of tubes and forget about tube wear

worry less and just enjoy!!! 

congrats ! 

Congrats ... FWIW, the Schiit Freya+ is fully balanced. 

The Freya + is the Swiss Army Knife of preamps. It is fully balanced. Nice little preamp. 

I owned the first version of the LS 25. I also tried the original Freya just to see what all the fuss was about but didn't hang onto it for too long.  While the newer versions of each i'm sure sound a little different from what I had, the sonic improvement of ARC over Schiit i'm also sure remains considerable.  You made the right  choice imo.

Glad to hear some people enjoyed the LS25. I have used a passive pre-amp in the past. I liked it with older amps that were softer but found it flat and hard with newer amps, then again I didn't have a particularly  expensive one. As with all these things depends what you have in your whole system. I'm using class D amps at the moment which are very neutral, I was running straight from my DAC and didn't like it. I want the arc to give a nice big sound stage and I don't mind saying a little character.

@strateahed @mc1969 - Edit - I was wrong with my original post. This does look fully balanced from input to output. The seven DPDT relays per channel are adequate for balanced attenuation.