[debjitg]

That is interesting. I've had them off and on all weekend and mine have less than 50 hrs on them but they sound very good. Not edgy but highly detailed in my system with Yggy and my legacys. My only issue with them (and honestly it's not that bad) is that the bass is shy of the 5692s but not by a huge margin. To be honest you might want to look away from the tubes for an explanation..?? At least to me on my system I've been very pleased with them.

Hum...yeah, that is why I am a bit surprised to see my results. The Jfet buffer mode sounds fine and doesn't have the edginess. I bought the quad cryo treated from cryoset - not sure if that makes things a bit different. I am also using a nc500 based Amp which is very revealing, so every small little things gets amplified - good or bad  

 

[debjitg]

When I turn the volume all the way down with the tube gain mode, I can still hear faint music coming from the speakers (94db) and I can hear it from 5ft distance. Can somebody confirm this is or not the case with their Freya ?

 

[ggones]

Same here when using tube mode with a PC (USB) to Gumby (BAL) to Freya (BAL) to Genelec monitors.  If my pc volume is at 60%, I can hear most audio stuff even when muted.  I've been turning my pc volume down to about 20%.  At 20%, I can't hear it when muted, but I can still hear it faintly when turned all the way down in tube mode.

 

[cskippy]

Easy solution is just to switch modes I guess.  I know the tube mode has a lot of gain.

 

[mervinb]

I received my Freya last weekend, 2 days ahead of the Fedex scheduled delivery date, so I've spent maybe 6-8 hrs with it.
 
Caveat: I've been a solid state guy all my audiophile life, and I've designed / built some (basic) gear ranging from amps to buffers and amps. My friends consistently remark that my gear / systems are 'tubey', and I have nothing against tubes, except that for diy I prefer playing with the lower voltages in solid state designs.
 
First impressions of the Freya:
 
Boy, it's good!! For $699 it's amazing. Some years back I built an 80+ step remote controlled preamp with buffer. I could not come close to the Freya's spec without spending that amount, and the buffer would have to be op-amp based, and the metal work a lot shoddier.
 
- As a passive volume control the finer steps for volume control are just what I like. Motorised volume controls are much too unpredictable, and 64 steps would be too coarse for my tastes.
 
- I'll assume passive = neutral. By that accout, the Jfet active buffer sounds very neutral too, although it sounds deeper, fuller and more extended.
 
- The tube stage (using stock Schiit tubes) sounds very nice. I did not notice the huge gain in soundstage that others have mentioned, although the mids are very nice - smooth, clear. My speakers are essentially flat to 25Hz and have good RAAL ribbon tweeters, and using the tube stage I felt a distinct loss of the deepest bass, and a slight loss of sparkle. Because of this and my listening preferences (mostly classical), I decided to remove the tubes and just use active buffering for now,
 
- Leaving the unit powered up, I was quite taken aback by the change in sound after ~24hrs. the sound of the Freya smoothened a *lot*. I'm used to some change as a unit runs in, but this was pretty noticeable, and my wife noticed it too. It's become more tube-like! My previous amp was an integrated (Krell Vanguard), which I reckon was quite neutral. Currently the Freya is connected to a small Redgum Mosfet integrated with volume set at max. The Redgum uses a passive volume control and sounded quite close to the Krell - maybe slightly deeper, a little less powerful. With Freya -> Redgum the pair sounds rather different - warmer, larger sounding, even deeper. Source is a Gumby. It seems like this combo benefits from an active buffer feeding the amp, and the Freya adds body & polish to the setup.
 
I'll be especially interested to hear from users who listen with the Jfet buffer stage, and those who give the Jfet buffer more time to run in. I would not be surprised to hear that initial impressions change quite a bit, given enough time for the unit to burn in.

 

[bigro]

  I received my Freya last weekend, 2 days ahead of the Fedex scheduled delivery date, so I've spent maybe 6-8 hrs with it.
 
Caveat: I've been a solid state guy all my audiophile life, and I've designed / built some (basic) gear ranging from amps to buffers and amps. My friends consistently remark that my gear / systems are 'tubey', and I have nothing against tubes, except that for diy I prefer playing with the lower voltages in solid state designs.
 
First impressions of the Freya:
 
Boy, it's good!! For $699 it's amazing. Some years back I built an 80+ step remote controlled preamp with buffer. I could not come close to the Freya's spec without spending that amount, and the buffer would have to be op-amp based, and the metal work a lot shoddier.
 
- As a passive volume control the finer steps for volume control are just what I like. Motorised volume controls are much too unpredictable, and 64 steps would be too coarse for my tastes.
 
- I'll assume passive = neutral. By that accout, the Jfet active buffer sounds very neutral too, although it sounds deeper, fuller and more extended.
 
- The tube stage (using stock Schiit tubes) sounds very nice. I did not notice the huge gain in soundstage that others have mentioned, although the mids are very nice - smooth, clear. My speakers are essentially flat to 25Hz and have good RAAL ribbon tweeters, and using the tube stage I felt a distinct loss of the deepest bass, and a slight loss of sparkle. Because of this and my listening preferences (mostly classical), I decided to remove the tubes and just use active buffering for now,
 
- Leaving the unit powered up, I was quite taken aback by the change in sound after ~24hrs. the sound of the Freya smoothened a *lot*. I'm used to some change as a unit runs in, but this was pretty noticeable, and my wife noticed it too. It's become more tube-like! My previous amp was an integrated (Krell Vanguard), which I reckon was quite neutral. Currently the Freya is connected to a small Redgum Mosfet integrated with volume set at max. The Redgum uses a passive volume control and sounded quite close to the Krell - maybe slightly deeper, a little less powerful. With Freya -> Redgum the pair sounds rather different - warmer, larger sounding, even deeper. Source is a Gumby. It seems like this combo benefits from an active buffer feeding the amp, and the Freya adds body & polish to the setup.
 
I'll be especially interested to hear from users who listen with the Jfet buffer stage, and those who give the Jfet buffer more time to run in. I would not be surprised to hear that initial impressions change quite a bit, given enough time for the unit to burn in.

Maybe Sticking them in the freezer actually did change the way they sound. Maybe you can get a Pair that has not been frozen and compare? I think you are the only one who has a cryo set and also the only one who do not seem happy with the new prod tungsol,s at least at this point.

 

[KoshNaranek]

Maybe Sticking them in the freezer actually did change the way they sound. Maybe you can get a Pair that has not been frozen and compare? I think you are the only one who has a cryo set and also the only one who do not seem happy with the new prod tungsol,s at least at this point.

I think the only thing that cryo treatment for tubes will achieve is to break/weaken the welds in the tube internals. I would say that those tubes failed provocative testing.

 

[snip3r77]

How is jfet sq vs tube ?

 

[belgiangenius]

   
Are you stating that the RCA gray glass VT231 is better than the 5692s? The 1960's RCA GTB that I have as well as the triangular plate Sylvania side getter GTBs are less open and less focused than the 5692s. Nothing beats the 5692 red or brown base in my ears yet, but the 5692s are too expensive to be daily drivers.

"Better" is a very subjective term.
 
I will spend more time comparing before I even decide which one I would characterize as "better" for my system and taste.

 

[belgiangenius]

Could someone knowledgeable give us a short description of how tubes are matched and what sufficient matching is?
 
I'm talking to a guy saying two tubes tested excellent on a calibrated Hickok TV-10 with 1650/1650 being nominal one tested at 2750/2750 mhms and the other at 2750/2700 mhms. Based on those numbers, he says they're perfectly matched.  Comments?

 

[firedog]

When I turn the volume all the way down with the tube gain mode, I can still hear faint music coming from the speakers (94db) and I can hear it from 5ft distance. Can somebody confirm this is or not the case with their Freya ?

 
Same here. I hear it also in JFET mode. Not a biggy, apparently that's the way the preamp is built; I don't hear it with other input devices, just the Freya. 

 

[firedog]

Newbie with tubes. Tube question:
 
I put in a matched pair of  new Tung Sols for the gain stage. Seems to work fine, and I've got equal volume out of both channels. However, one tube distinctly glows, the other doesn't seem to have a visible glow. Is this normal with tubes, some glow much more than others, even of the same type? Obviously the tube works, I was just wondering if lack of glow means anything....

 

[theveterans]

^ heater on the other side that doesn't glow that much will fail sooner than the one glowing orange hot

 

[RoundRound]

Hello People,
I'm waiting for my Freya to arrive (hopefully later this week), I wonder if anyone used it in a 2.1 configuration with a sub fed from the SE outputs of the Freya (and the speakers and power amp from the balanced? Does it work well?

 

[firedog]

  Newbie with tubes. Tube question:
 
I put in a matched pair of  new Tung Sols for the gain stage. Seems to work fine, and I've got equal volume out of both channels. However, one tube distinctly glows, the other doesn't seem to have a visible glow. Is this normal with tubes, some glow much more than others, even of the same type? Obviously the tube works, I was just wondering if lack of glow means anything....

 After the one tube has been on a while, I see a very small glow (you really have to look for it) from the one tube that seemed not to glow. Talked to the vendor (Watford Valves). and was told that if the tube is working, it is fine. It was tested as a match in a pair with my other Tung Sol. Vendor says the apparent lack of glow just means that during the hand made production, this tube was cut so that the wire/filament is shorter than average. Acc'd to him, not a performance issue, but just makes the visible glow small and difficult to see, as less wire is exposed. 
 
 
In terms of sound, my initial impression is this: overall doesn't change the type of sound I'm hearing with the passive and JFET modes: clean and clear, with wide sound stage, good detail presentation. 
 
The tube output has a LOT more gain, and I'd say bass is a little bit less extended and taut, and the overall sound is a bit rounder/softer/less clean and precise  than in the other two modes. But not by a lot. Percussion instruments and cymbals seem a bit more prominent in tube mode. I can certainly hear a difference if I A/B modes, but I'm not sure I'd instantly know which mode was playing if I walked into the room with the playback already going. They aren't THAT different, at least in my setup.
 
I did think mp3s and old (50's-60's) recordings sounded better through tube mode, but maybe that's expectation bias of some kind playing games in my head.  I'm pretty sure long term my go to mode will be JFET.