Preamps

I’ve paired my Freya with an ARC REF75 amp and it sounded astonishing

+1 for the Shiit Freya, a 3 in 1 Swiss army knife with the best mechanical volume control you can get.
Has to be the bargain ($699) of the decade, embarrasses many $$$$$$K preamps, it’s got what’s needed under the hood that’s why.
Probably not dazzling enough for the "glitz queens" though.

As for the questionable coupling cap statement (above), the Schiit freya uses Wima coupling caps, so do many others. like this 8K euro Acoustics Arts from Germany that got raved about in 6 Moons
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dYJpNC7cRxQ/VI4GXO11ogI/AAAAAAAAwu8/tz9_JDR7cIA/s1600/accustic_arts_monoII...

https://6moons.com/audioreviews2/accusticarts/1.html

Cheers George

So many good reports out weigh the few bad to me, about noise with the Freya.
Sure for those kind of low dollars ($699) you get cheap 6SN7 or 6H8C tubes with it, and there are going to be the odd bad noisy one, but I was told by owners they send out asap replacements if you do get that.

And spending $7,500 on the Audio Research LS28 will get you, matched selected 4 x tubes, but it’s also costing >10 X the amount and some reports that it’s nowhere near worth the money when compared to the similar 4 tube Freya.

Cheers George

Some just can't accept that something for $699 can compete with $$$K preamps, just because it doesn't have the million dollar glitzy looks, doesn't mean it can't sound it, it's got what it takes under the hood.

Cheers george 

wolf_garcia do you agree with this you have one???

"@georgehifi Freya is a great piece of equipment but a horrible tube amp. I have a collection of best 6SN7 ever made. Noiseless in my other preamps. Same tubes in Freya make noise. Same with microphonics. The thing somehow picks up all vibration in the room and directly transfers it to tubes. Great JFET buffer. I use it between sources and studio monitors, but as tube preamp, it’s worthless."

Cheers George

Georgehifi is wrong about the Schiit Freya...it has five inputs and THREE OUTPUTS...2 single ended and one balanced. What a stunningly horrible misstatement, rendering me horrified and utterly saddened, reduced to a mere shell of a man...*sniff*...

https://i.stack.imgur.com/4RK6O.jpg

Shattered!!!

ozzy
I just contacted Audio Research about your statement that the ARC preamps having issues with subwoofers

ricred1 OP
I can understand "they" may have, as AR pre’s being tube are output capacitor coupled, are used to seeing tube poweramps of up to 100kohm input, and many subs have a very low input impedance 10kohm
  
You need a big output coupling cap if you want to get down flat to 20hz with 10kohm input, and they may not be big enough.


And I just looked your sub is 10kohm input!!


Cheers George

But since the subs are self powered I don't see how the preamp output impedance can affect the sub.

The AR preamp with output coupling cap, has to drive not only your main amp input impedance, but also the 10kohm of your subs amp even though there are 2 outputs, and this could be the problem, the output cap in the AR  "may" not be big enough as explained in my last post, and cause a premature rolloff of the low frequencies, so the sub may not go down low enough.

Cheers George 

There were just too many recording where I really didn’t want the band in the room because the mastering sucked.

It shouldn’t be too hard to set the system up so when good recordings are played it goes source direct to poweramp, and you use the sources volume control.
But when bad recordings are played the source goes through an active preamp using it volume control that de-focuses them and makes them more listenable.

What’s needed is a source/preamp switcher to the poweramp/s.

Source direct outputs have to be disconnected from the amp inputs, and re-directed to the preamp inputs, and the preamp outputs then connected to the amps inputs. All done powered up with just one flick of a switch without any clicks, pops or bangs.

Cheers George

When I first received the Dave I tried it straight into the amp and preferred music with the preamp inserted.

Yes, I can see that. But first you have to make sure you weren't "bit stripping" if the volume on the Dave was below 75% of full you could have been losing "bits" (lowering the resolution from 16bit to 14 to 12 ect the lower you go below 75%).
  
If it wasn't "bit stripping"  then yes going direct can sound absolutely stunning with unmatched transparency and dynamics with the good to best recordings, but then almost unlistenable with the bad recordings, it gives you everything warts and all and pulls no punches.

A preamp will be a a bit of an equalizer pulling back a little on the good/best recordings, and making the bad one a bit easier to listen to.
It all depends if your prepared to cull some of those bad recordings for the sake of hearing the good ones at their very best. 

Cheers George  

Schiit Freya. https://www.schiit.com/products/freya

3 preamps in one S/S, Tube, Passive.
best mechanical volume control 128 position relay
remote control
5 inputs 2 outputs
xlr or se
low/zero gain so it uses most/all of the source signal, instead of shunting a lot of it to ground like most active pre's do, which gives lower noise.

Cheers George