Schiit Freya S or Freya +?

A preamp only needs to create a small line level signal so although I have a preamp with dual large toroidal transformers, it seems the Freya betters that one if only due to the tubes (and likely hipper design). It was Atmasphere Ralph who got me thinking about a tubed preamp years ago when he suggested that tubes can pull more detail out of the mix...I now agree wholeheartedly. Effortless Grace was my great grandmother's name.

Great grandmother Effortless Grace -- LOL!

The Plus with a good pair of gain tubes sounds great, far better then the SS buffer stage alone. I suppose the latter is comparable to the S (less the SS gain). Am I correct?

No. Freya S runs a "Nexus" gain stage, while Freya + runs a JFET buffer:
From Schiit:
"The Freya+’s "JFET buffer" uses a gain-of-1 compound-pair JFET differential amplifier, coupled with an equalized-transconductance BJT output stage. So it converts single-ended to balanced, so now you have another option if you want to convert an SE source without using tubes."

Here is a great comparison of Freya S and Freya + by trusted ears: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/schiit-freya-and-s-impressions-stream-of-con...