Schiit offering LISST "tubes" for SAGA & FREYA pre-amps

Right side...or as the Firesign Theater said, "put the balls on the other side, they work better that way." 

Although I like sound of the new Tung Sols in the Freya, I got curious and stuck a pair of NOS Sylvania "Chrome Dome" 6SN7GTBs in the "input" (right pair) sockets and man…they sort of lift it up to another sonic level altogether. A relatively inexpensive (for well regarded NOS tubes anyway) good thing. I'm keeping the Tung Sols in the "output" sockets. 

A large part of why I like tubes is that they're tubes…linear, they glow, and I can swap 'em out. I agree that the newish Tung Sol 6SN7s aren't spectacular sounding, but I tried them anyway and they do work fine and very quietly (they seem modeled after RCA 5691s maybe…those little anti microphony rods?), and I prefer a clean sounding tube without any sonic signature per se…I have 2 (one spare) Amperex USA 6SN7GTBs for my Fire Bottle SE power amp and they're excellent, but hard to find.

I had 2 matched new Tung Sol 6SN7GTBs already when I received the Freya, so I ordered 2 more and stuck ’em all in. There is amazingly low noise from the tube stage in the Freya in my rig (surprising since I read most of the 10,418 comments in "headfi"), and that’s with testing for that by putting my ear next to a horn loaded tweeter that certainly will reveal hiss. I didn’t think the stock Freya tubes were so bad particularly, but I swapped them anyway because I’m a mindless crowd follower. I often swap output modes around when listening, although the gain jump in tube mode has to be allowed for, and that, for me, keeps the tubes honest (or something). I would get the Lisst tube replacement things if they glowed, but I doubt they glow at all under normal circumstances…and they would die in a thermonuclear electromagnetic pulse, so there’s that.