Schiit Freya S or Freya +?

There is an audiophile on youtube that reviewed the original Freya.  He goes by the handle "Thomas & Stereo" and thinks the Freya gives him 90% of what his $3500 preamp does, at 1/5th the price.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwMXMtSprxI

Now the Freya+, with several refinements and spec improvements will do even better than that.  I don't have deep pockets for audio these days, but I'll be picking up the Freya+ by the end of the year.  I really don't think one can go wrong with either Freya version, but I want the XLR connections for my Gungnir DAC.  

I totally agree with your assessment, though I recently picked up the Freya +.  "I haven't enjoyed a piece of equipment this much in a long time".   I too found that it needed to burn in a bit, somewhere after the 50 hr mark depth to the soundstage showed up, and along the way the highs have become so articulate.  It reached a point early on when the sound was a little shrill as it burned in, but that was just one listening session.

One point on Wolf's comment about the tubes in turned off mode.  With the Freya +, if you're in tube mode, you can cycle through the other 2 modes and then toggle back to tube mode with no interruptions, but you've only got 10 or 15 seconds allowed out of tube mode.  Upon which time the Freya will warm up the circuit again.  It's a fair trade off and allows the tubes to be saved.

I've got the Vidar and can assure Samac that it's head and shoulders above the mid-fi amps I've owned from Adcom and Nad.  If you're thinking about a Gumby, I'd suggest waiting until the new year when it's to be updated with their latest version of USB, Unison.  Or check out the Bimby, which with its new version apparently comes within a hair of the current Gumby for hundreds less.