Schiit Freya Impressions and Tube Rolling Thread

[theveterans]

With the LISST, one can turn a Freya into a Saga with just the Lisst pairs on the drive side.

 

[Ghosthouse]

Received a quad of LISSTs for Freya today. Have them installed now. They are stubby ...maybe 2/3rds the height of the new production EH 6SN7s I was running and about the same diameter. Installed without benefit of socket savers to elevate them, they protrude ~1/2" above the top of the Freya case. They are "weighty" for their size. I was a little surprised at how warm they run, even at idle. Right (F & R) gain pair definitely warmer than the left pair. After playing 40 minutes or so it's possible to touch them but not for very long. Sonically any differences from the EH 6SN7s are pretty subtle to my ear...possibly a little less high end extension (i.e., "air") but, then, stage depth seems more evident and better defined. I'm thinking sound quality is like JFET mode but on steroids gain-wise. Amount of gain provided seems comparable to the EHs - maybe slightly more (based on SPL at a given volume knob position). They've only been installed and powered up for 3 hours now and seeing signal for not quite an hour. I expect their character will become more evident with additional time in use.

 

[LouS]

Are LISST's ment to be used as a quad or is it (i presume it is) ok to use them also as a buffer/line tubes with 6SN7's.

Now when LISST's are out i might give Freya another chance. First one i had had too loud noise floor with tubes no matter what tubes i tried.
But if using one pair of LISST's and one pair tubes helps, i guess it's worth a shot (or to be lucky and get silent one in first place).

Good move from Schiit to give even more options how to use Freya

I have Hexfreds and such in my Stasis amp and I have had virtually no issues with tube noise in my Freya, there is another fellow here who has had tube noise issues, but I believe Herbie's tube dampeners helped him, so it was obvious that he just kept getting bad tubes. Has the guy you sold it to said anything? You have my curiosity in high gear! If we were local, obviously not, I'd have loved to swap preamps and tubes in order to run things down, but you know my private jet has been on the fritz (screwed up), though fritz may be a colloquialism you are unfamiliar with. Seriously though I would like to have been able to figure out what the problem was. BTW, as they are merely gain stages, just like tubes, you ought to be able to use them in conjunction with tubes, which could be really handy in running down noisy tubes!

 

[Ghosthouse]

Are LISST's ment to be used as a quad or is it (i presume it is) ok to use them also as a buffer/line tubes with 6SN7's.

Now when LISST's are out i might give Freya another chance. First one i had had too loud noise floor with tubes no matter what tubes i tried.
But if using one pair of LISST's and one pair tubes helps, i guess it's worth a shot (or to be lucky and get silent one in first place).

Good move from Schiit to give even more options how to use Freya

Hello Snafu -
It is definitely possible to mix LISSTs with conventional tubes in Freya. In fact, on the Schiit website when you go to order a Freya, there's a tube option box now and one of the options in the drop down is LISST w/TungSol.

Sorry you had noise issues with your Freya. A couple of the original tubes Schiit sent with my unit were noisy but Schiit replaced them very promptly when I asked. This might have happened with a couple from the second set of tubes they sent. Again, they were replaced quickly and ultimately I ended up with a quad that was quiet. I purchased some other Russian NOS from Upscale and some NOS RCAs from Brent Jessee. These have all been quiet as were a quad of new production EHs someone gave me. I did initially think I had some noise when the unit was in "mute". THAT turned out to be due to an after market wall wart power converter used on my streamer. I replaced it and the unit has been absolutely dead quiet in all modes and settings ever since. In tube mode with the EHs and with volume full up but nothing playing, I hear nothing at all with ear next to the drivers on 92 db sensitivity speakers. Relating all this simply to show Freya can be very quiet and say sorry to hear your experience was otherwise. With the LISSTs now as an option, your risk of a noisy unit would be even further reduced. Good luck.

 

[hornytoad]

I have Hexfreds and such in my Stasis amp and I have had virtually no issues with tube noise in my Freya, there is another fellow here who has had tube noise issues, but I believe Herbie's tube dampeners helped him, so it was obvious that he just kept getting bad tubes. Has the guy you sold it to said anything? You have my curiosity in high gear! If we were local, obviously not, I'd have loved to swap preamps and tubes in order to run things down, but you know my private jet has been on the fritz (screwed up), though fritz may be a colloquialism you are unfamiliar with. Seriously though I would like to have been able to figure out what the problem was. BTW, as they are merely gain stages, just like tubes, you ought to be able to use them in conjunction with tubes, which could be really handy in running down noisy tubes!

I had some buzzing tubes (Treasure brand) and I tried cheap silcone rings with no luck . I then tried Herbie's tube dampeners and it seems to have eliminated the buzzing completely.

 

[jerick70]

For Jazz you NEED some. Ken Rads or CBS tubes in there for the horns and strings. I listen more to big band, the standards that were standards before I was born. CBS tubes can be had for around 50 or so a pair, so called NOS for that or a bit more, try a set and get back to us. They help EITHER Treasures or Raytheons. Clapton Unplugged sounds like you are there in my system.

I just picked up a pair of Airpulse Model-1 monitors. I have to run either my Shu Guang or Psvane with them or all of the sweet imaging and precise instrument placement goes away. The Shu Guang sound the best with these all around.

By the by... I'm really impressed with the Airpulse Model-1s. I tried them on a recommendation from a friend. Wasn't expecting much. A big ? for me was the Class D amplification with horn loaded tweeters. Had terrible Klipsch sibilance and smear in my mind. Very glad I tried them. They are the best active monitors I've tried to date. Airy, precise placement, serious thump, micro detail. All this with no fatigue. Gotta say these are great.

 

[LouS]

I just picked up a pair of Airpulse Model-1 monitors. I have to run either my Shu Guang or Psvane with them or all of the sweet imaging and precise instrument placement goes away. The Shu Guang sound the best with these all around.

By the by... I'm really impressed with the Airpulse Model-1s. I tried them on a recommendation from a friend. Wasn't expecting much. A big ? for me was the Class D amplification with horn loaded tweeters. Had terrible Klipsch sibilance and smear in my mind. Very glad I tried them. They are the best active monitors I've tried to date. Airy, precise placement, serious thump, micro detail. All this with no fatigue. Gotta say these are great.

I have both T1's and T2's. The OLD Raytheons with the T looking structure in the bottom wiring section smokes them for soundstage, but Treasures or Raytheons need a pair of Ken Rads to get the timbre straight. Ken Rads without Raytheons or Treasures suck because they DON'T image, but combined, it's magic, by a pair and see.

 

[LouS]

I just picked up a pair of Airpulse Model-1 monitors. I have to run either my Shu Guang or Psvane with them or all of the sweet imaging and precise instrument placement goes away. The Shu Guang sound the best with these all around.

By the by... I'm really impressed with the Airpulse Model-1s. I tried them on a recommendation from a friend. Wasn't expecting much. A big ? for me was the Class D amplification with horn loaded tweeters. Had terrible Klipsch sibilance and smear in my mind. Very glad I tried them. They are the best active monitors I've tried to date. Airy, precise placement, serious thump, micro detail. All this with no fatigue. Gotta say these are great.

I just stuck my T2's back in. The Raytheons are better, but not as much better as I had thought. You do need the Ken Rads, and someday you may want to get some Raytheons, they are a decided improvement.

 

[jerick70]

I just stuck my T2's back in. The Raytheons are better, but not as much better as I had thought. You do need the Ken Rads, and someday you may want to get some Raytheons, they are a decided improvement.

I have a pair of Raytheons already. Just missing the Ken Rads. The problem is finding them from a reliable source.

 

[LouS]

I have a pair of Raytheons already. Just missing the Ken Rads. The problem is finding them from a reliable source.

Don't I know!

http://vintagetubeservices.com/octal-tubes/

Or Upscale Audio. I had a problem with Upscale, but they said they didn't get an email, who knows. Use PayPal just in case though.

 

[eschell27]

Decided to try a pair of Octal LISST to try in the output stage of Freya (normally keep Sylvania VT-231 in output stage as they seem to be a really great/transparent tube for output) and from my initial listening this evening it seems like a great combo... what ever tube being used in the gain stage seems to impart more of it's sonic traits on the sound signature Freya adds (which is the primary reason i wanted to try out a tube preamp with my solid state amp)

Was just curious if any of you guys have started playing around with the LISST and different combos...curious to hear some impressions.

 

[DoubleIPA]

Decided to try a pair of Octal LISST to try in the output stage of Freya (normally keep Sylvania VT-231 in output stage as they seem to be a really great/transparent tube for output) and from my initial listening this evening it seems like a great combo... what ever tube being used in the gain stage seems to impart more of it's sonic traits on the sound signature Freya adds (which is the primary reason i wanted to try out a tube preamp with my solid state amp)

Was just curious if any of you guys have started playing around with the LISST and different combos...curious to hear some impressions.

That sounds like a really interesting combination. Do you have different types of tubes to try wit the LISSTs?

 

[LouS]

Thought I'd post a picture of the Raytheon structure to look for. It looks like there is a T structure in the bottom.

 

[eschell27]

That sounds like a really interesting combination. Do you have different types of tubes to try wit the LISSTs?

Using the LISST in output stage, my usual gain stage tubes are ken rad vt231 staggered plates, the raytheon vt231 T, sylvania 6sn7gt, and rca vt231 grey glass. So far ive really only listened to the raytheons and i feel that having the lisst in output it really accentuates the gain tubes even more than using sylvania vt231's as output. Still need some more listening time but i think i like them in this configuration.

 

[brad1138]

Thought I'd post a picture of the Raytheon structure to look for. It looks like there is a T structure in the bottom.

From what I read, the rectangular plates were less desirable than the "flat" plates. Hard to tell for sure from your pic, but it looks like rectangular.