Schiit Audio feedback


I wanted to provide some feedback on Schiit Audio.  I had been wanting to get one of their Freya+ tube preamps to try with my recently modified Adcom 555II.  John at Musical Concepts did a phenomenal job on my Adcom.  I’d highly recommend them if you’re an Adcom owner and you need some work done. 

I had been hesitating purchasing the Freya+ and then I ran across one that was barely used in just fantastic condition at a pretty good price.  I brought it home, hooked it up to my Adcom and Tektons and have really enjoyed it the last few months.  Several weeks ago, I was listening in solid state mode (tubes were bypassed) more for background music as opposed to critical listening since I was getting some work done.  I took a phone call, hit stop on my player, and while I was on the phone, I heard a terrible pop or bang from the area of the Freya.  I ran over and all I could hear was a sizzling sound coming from it.  I unplugged the Freya immediately and it was extremely hot to the touch.  I was worried at that point that it might have taken out my amp or speakers.  I debated on what to do as I was the second owner so I knew that the warranty would be no good.  I figured the repair bill would be a few hundred dollars.  I checked with the original owner for the date of purchase and it was 10/21.  I am not going to lie – I gave some thought to seeing if the original owner would send it back for me in order to get it covered under warranty, but I decided that was just not the right thing to do.  So, I contacted Schiit, filled out the paperwork explaining the problem and that I was not the original owner, got a return authorization, shipped it back, and gritted my teeth waiting for the estimate.

A couple of weeks later I got a shipping notification from FedEx and a couple of days later the Freya+ arrived.  No charge for the repair.  There wasn’t even a charge for shipping it back to me.  I was absolutely stunned.  What company does that?  They had no reason to cover that repair since I was not the original owner but they did.  I hooked everything back up and my amp and speakers seem just fine and everything sounds just as great as before.  I can’t thank Schiit Audio enough so I wanted to do it publicly on this forum.  This will definitely influence future purchases as I will always look to them first.

dlm110

I’ve got a Schitt stack for headphone listening in my den, feeding a Vali 2 and a Modi 3+ (AKM chip) with a cheap WiiM Pro streamer. Has worked fine so far over the last couple of years. Have loved tube rolling the Vali 2+, currently have some 6922 tubes in it.

I would be interested if they conveyed what the issue had been? Did they explain what failed?

Since you aren’t the original owner you can’t know if the unit had been dropped or abused in any way. That’s a risk we all take buying 2nd hand gear. Still, very cool of Schitt to fix it. That is customer service we just don’t see in this day and age. Wow. Good luck with it! Enjoy.

Long ago I had the Freya preamp and the Gungnir multibit dac. Not bad sounding, I was quite happy.

I think Schiit is a great company.  I’ve had lots of their gear and it’s hard to beat for the price.  I’m upgrading from the Yggy right now and have found you need to spend 3x as much to make a dramatic improvement.

Had the original Freya and also had to spend MUCH more to get a big improvement.


I own two Lokius EQ's. A Freya S preamp and a Jotunheim headphone amp that came with my Raal Requisite SR1a ribbon headphones (Only works with those cans.)
I live on Maui so there are no show rooms, no dealers. I buy based on features, price and reviews and then A/B components. The "loser" of the test is returned or sold. I state this because an issue did come up with a Valhalla 2 Headphone amp. Tested it against an Amazon bought Nobsound 8W Class A Tube integrated amplifier. Tube rolled. It has IMHO great midrange and high end for the price. The soundstage is very good, the bass is mud. The soundstage collapsed when switching to the Shiit.
I spoke with them and they said return it (was within two weeks) or tube roll it. IDK much about Tube rolling so I bought the best new, not NOS Gold Lion tubes and it didn't help. 
I sold it but it really made me wonder about the Freya Preamp I own. I did not test the Freya S against anything else as I could not find a balanced preamp made in The US for anywhere near the low price of The Freya. The soundstage is good with my ADAM A5X near field monitors. 
Any suggestions for a preamp with as many balanced inputs as possible for under $1000.00? I don't need a headphone jack but a remote is really nice!