[gammi]

To me the great thing with tube-pre (for someone that already has Bliss) is that a full blown tube amp that can drive Susvara properly costs an arm and leg. With tube-pre in the chain one can experiment and get amazing results at fraction of the cost.

As a side note: I've been listening May->Bliss directly whole day, removing Freya+ from the chain completely. It's so nice to have the possibility to switch back into this absolute reference sound. Tubes and distorted transistor sound are nice adventures I want to experience occasionally, but this clean reference sound feels like home.

This is the way to do it. High power reference grade solid state amplification (like the Bliss) at the end of the chain and then can add whatever crazy coloration you want upstream of it.

Been considering Freya+ as a tube pre for my Bliss. How much "tube sound" do you feel you get out of it? I'm looking for a tube pre that really lays on the tube sound. Way I see it is I don't want some clean sounding tube, if I want clean, I'll run the Bliss alone. Point of the tube pre is to lay on those juicy tube harmonic distortions

 

[kumar402]

This is the way to do it. High power reference grade solid state amplification (like the Bliss) at the end of the chain and then can add whatever crazy coloration you want upstream of it.

Been considering Freya+ as a tube pre for my Bliss. How much "tube sound" do you feel you get out of it? I'm looking for a tube pre that really lays on the tube sound. Way I see it is I don't want some clean sounding tube, if I want clean, I'll run the Bliss alone. Point of the tube pre is to lay on those juicy tube harmonic distortions

Freya responds to the tube. A pair of Ken Rad VT 231 or RCA 5692 will bring the great tube flavor.

 

[Rayon]

This is the way to do it. High power reference grade solid state amplification (like the Bliss) at the end of the chain and then can add whatever crazy coloration you want upstream of it.

Been considering Freya+ as a tube pre for my Bliss. How much "tube sound" do you feel you get out of it? I'm looking for a tube pre that really lays on the tube sound. Way I see it is I don't want some clean sounding tube, if I want clean, I'll run the Bliss alone. Point of the tube pre is to lay on those juicy tube harmonic distortions

It works great IMO. And the active SS mode was a surprise. I've used that a lot. Really nice with acoustic music.

 

[gammi]

Thanks for the input, y'all. Didn't take much convincing, I just ordered a Freya+

 

[Rayon]

Thanks for the input, y'all. Didn't take much convincing, I just ordered a Freya+

And even if you wanted to upgrade to something more expensive later, Freya+ is a great starting point and a learning experience. Order some 6SN7 pairs and switch places of input and output tubes and try different combinations. That way you will learn what kind of effect input and output have and how different kind of tubes work in each role. After that you will be able to do much more informed decisions in the future (if you even feel a need to move somewhere). Freya+ has taught me a lot about tube amplifying and that alone is worth a lot.

 

[Timbuk2]

Wait until you rock a full blown tube amp with dynamics but tubes as a pre into great SS is also an amazing sound no doubt.

Indeed. It appears I have caught the tube bug, and I am looking into a cure... A topic for a different thread.

There was a missing sense of deeper engagement or presence (being there) that I couldn't put my finger on with Bliss and other SS amps I've heard. I tried various headphones to see if that's what was lacking and didn't find it until I added tubes. SS amps can provide amazing detail. Having a tube preamp gives you the best of both worlds and greatly adds to the holographic nature of May/Bliss. The engagement that I crave is there. I'm hearing a directionality and texture to sounds that I didn't hear with Bliss alone. Some may say this is distortion. If so, I really really like the distortion! To my ears, the Gold Lion tubes can keep up with the speed and clarity of Bliss and takes it to a entirely different level, at least with the dynamic drivers I've tested. The HD650 has the best synergy in my chain. If I move back into the speaker realm, I will definitely go totally tubular. So many flavors in this hobby, no right or wrong, just what sounds good to your ears and the synergy of your chain...

 

[innocentblood]

I own a Woo Audio 3ES and I would like to connect the 3ES preamp output to the Bliss. my DAC is the Chord DAVE/ Blu MkII. Do you have any advice for me on what precautions (if any) I should take in this setup as this would be my first time using the 3ES preamp outputs?

 

[vellocetplus]

Does anyone know what the polarity of the power plug should be in case you have a SR Purple fuse (which are allegedly directional) installed?

 

[gammi]

Well my Freya+ arrived today. Definitely glad I got it, I think it's a great addition to the Bliss. I haven't done critical listening yet but my first impression on songs I'm familiar with is it got punchier, airier (background is more open/blacker?) and the there's more texture as in the notes have more vibration to them. Strings especially really resonate and you can hear that "zing" as the string is struck. I put on the MTV Unplugged version of Plush by Alice in Chains and man, those strings were zinging and you could really hear the vibrato in Layne's voice. This was all on the Tung Sol tubes btw, I have a pair of Ken Rad VT231's on the way.

Mildly off-topic, but where should I be setting the Freya's volume to? I have it maxed out currently, the thought being I don't want any attenuation of the signal, just purely passing through the tubes (which gives 12dB gain) and then I dropped down the volume on the Bliss.

 

[kumar402]

Well my Freya+ arrived today. Definitely glad I got it, I think it's a great addition to the Bliss. I haven't done critical listening yet but my first impression on songs I'm familiar with is it got punchier, airier (background is more open/blacker?) and the there's more texture as in the notes have more vibration to them. Strings especially really resonate and you can hear that "zing" as the string is struck. I put on the MTV Unplugged version of Plush by Alice in Chains and man, those strings were zinging and you could really hear the vibrato in Layne's voice. This was all on the Tung Sol tubes btw, I have a pair of Ken Rad VT231's on the way.

Mildly off-topic, but where should I be setting the Freya's volume to? I have it maxed out currently, the thought being I don't want any attenuation of the signal, just purely passing through the tubes (which gives 12dB gain) and then I dropped down the volume on the Bliss.

You can keep knob at max for min impedance out of Freya. I’m not sure what is the input impedance of Bliss.
Stock tubes have zing and KenRad is great tube to roll. Good bass and will take rough edges out and is holographic

 

[whitefang]

Spending the entire July 4th holiday with the Bliss KTE and my Custom Build CFA3..

 

[normie610]

Spending the entire July 4th holiday with the Bliss KTE and my Custom Build CFA3..

Very nice! Which one do you prefer?

 

[slazhx]

Spending the entire July 4th holiday with the Bliss KTE and my Custom Build CFA3..

Can you share with us the spec of the custom beast compared to the standard maxed-out one? Is this from Dukei? Looks different, but really in a great way!

 

[dfiled]

Have a Bliss on the way, which I’m very excited about. Has anyone listened to the Utopias (or ZMF dynamics) on the Bliss using a tube pre like the Euforia, and if so have you heard an appreciable difference compared to the Bliss with no pre?

 

[orrman]

Have a Bliss on the way, which I’m very excited about. Has anyone listened to the Utopias (or ZMF dynamics) on the Bliss using a tube pre like the Euforia, and if so have you heard an appreciable difference compared to the Bliss with no pre?

You're not going to love my answer but I prefer my Utopia straight from the tubes without the Bliss. I didn't feel it added anything on top of them.