I have a Schiit Raganock 2 integrated and I recently asked Schiit what kind of improvement I could expect with a Freya Vidar or Aegir combo. It surprised me that the person I talked to didn’t think it would justify the change. Interesting as I like tubes and only bought the Raggy because the others were backordered at the time. I've been on the Rag for about a year now with no complaints. Actually, I bought a Muzishare X7 tube amp and while I like the tube sound, the similarity of tonality and smoothness of the two amps is remarkable. I expected dramatic differences. The Raggy has a good headphone amp and two precuts for subwoofers so high marks for functionality.
Schiit Freya+ or Saga+? Vidar or Aegir?
I listen at moderate volumes in a smallish room, 15x15 with a 10’ ceiling. My single driver speakers are 95db efficient. I’m a bit confused about which amp/preamp pairing to run with.
The Saga+ preamp has 0 gain. The Freya+ preamp has 12db in tube active mode. The Vidar amp has 100W per channel into 8ohms (which my speakers are) and 27db of gain while the Aegir has 20W per channel into 8 ohms and 22db of gain.
I’m a bit dense as regards the necessity of gain in the preamp relative to the amp and speaker efficiency so I’m not sure which pairing suits my needs. I’ll never need all 100W of the Vidar but I wonder if that and a pre with 0 gain is a better pairing than the Freya/Aegir.
Any input?
The Saga+ preamp has 0 gain. The Freya+ preamp has 12db in tube active mode. The Vidar amp has 100W per channel into 8ohms (which my speakers are) and 27db of gain while the Aegir has 20W per channel into 8 ohms and 22db of gain.
I’m a bit dense as regards the necessity of gain in the preamp relative to the amp and speaker efficiency so I’m not sure which pairing suits my needs. I’ll never need all 100W of the Vidar but I wonder if that and a pre with 0 gain is a better pairing than the Freya/Aegir.
Any input?