[belgiangenius]

Okay, now that I know your reference, you're absolutely right! What's crazy is that I actually had some Raytheon's but I never bothered listening to them, to me Raytheon just means military contractor, I figured that they were rebranded tubes and just never paid any attention to them. They wipe the floor with everything else. The Chinese Treasures are okay to have in the signal path, but I won't bother using the Freya without at lesst one set of Raytheons in it! Thanks!

My pleasure! It's nice to know that my opinion helped increase your enjoyment of the music and the gear. It's also nice to know that I'm not just smoking pot up here near Toronto.

 

[LouS]

My pleasure! It's nice to know that my opinion helped increase your enjoyment of the music and the gear. It's also nice to know that I'm not just smoking pot up here near Toronto.

The sad part is I could have already known it if I hadn't had preconceived notions about Raytheon! I don't understand why no one is reverse engineering some of these great tubes! You would think that someone in the community might try a go fund me campaign or something. If I wanted to run a company I'd try it. I do know that you'd likely need say 10 mil or so to get a couple of tubes made, but with modern PLCs and such, once you had one perfect $1,600 or so medical grade Telefunken 12AX7 that you could easily sell at retail for $100 each or so, you could run off as many as you wanted to, same for these Raytheons, Bugle Boys, etc. Once that was done you could experiment with using different metallurgy in them etc. Anyway, getting back on track, I did order a few pair after your glowing endorsement of the Raytheons, I can't wait to see if the little Freya sounds even better with 2 pairs! Thanks again!

 

[LouS]

My pleasure! It's nice to know that my opinion helped increase your enjoyment of the music and the gear. It's also nice to know that I'm not just smoking pot up here near Toronto.

BTW, any difference in short or long plates, mine are long plate versions.

 

[winders]

The best Raytheon 6SN7 tubes are the VT-231 tubes with the flat black plates and 8 copper through rods. Also the wiring below the bottom mica plate will have a “T” configuration.

 

[hornytoad]

The saddest part for me is my Dad used to sell tubes for a living and had all of these NOS production at the house .

The best of the best , but he never used them for audio and sold mostly to the military .

What a missed opportunity for me .

 

[LouS]

The best Raytheon 6SN7 tubes are the VT-231 tubes with the flat black plates and 8 copper through rods. Also the wiring below the bottom mica plate will have a “T” configuration.

The tubes I have, have 3 ridges, and they sound really good. I ought to warm up my Coda, it's SS, but it is detailed, doing some AB with it might help me gain some perspective. It's odd though, most SS gear needs an hour or so warm up, but that preamp needs a couple of days at least.

I thought I was having cable issues, but I am thinking that the Ken Rads or the Treasures may be bright, though better cables can't hurt!

 

[LouS]

The saddest part for me is my Dad used to sell tubes for a living and had all of these NOS production at the house .

The best of the best , but he never used them for audio and sold mostly to the military .

What a missed opportunity for me .

I was thinking along similar lines earlier today, but then I realized that if I knew then, I'd have so much money that I wouldn't care.

 

[SAndreev]

I've held myself up from posting here until I got the NGS (new gear syndrome) out of me, but I could no longer resist. Got my Freya about a week ago, and a pair of new production EH 6SN7. I've been evaluating Freya through different music and movies/shows and it is all that I wanted from it. Different, flexible and very good sounding.
But today was an emotional moment. I have this CD, En Evening With John Petricci & Jordan Rudess, which I like a lot. Tonight was the first time I put it on with Freya in my system and all of a sudden - I'm there, in that very concert hall. Very lifelike, amazing imaging, couldn't stop listening with my eyes closed, although it was intended more like a background listening session.

Still under impression. Now I'm even more inclined to test out how double mono Vidars would fare in my system when I can convince my wife I really need them in my life .

 

[US Blues]

Still under impression. Now I'm even more inclined to test out how double mono Vidars would fare in my system when I can convince my wife I really need them in my life .

You absolutely need them, and she will hear and appreciate the difference between Vidar's and the Parasounds.

 

[PieterV]

A week ago I gained an Yggdrasil, a Freya and a Vidar (running in stereo mode) having upgraded from a Nuprime IDA-16. Speakers are Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grand SEs. After a week the Yggdrasil is sounding sweeter and sweeter but I have a couple of questions about the Freya. Even running in passive mode it gets really hot (can't leave a hand on it very long hot). Also, it requires volume to be set at levels of 90%+. Until a set of balanced cables arrive I'm currently using reasonable quality RCA connections. Am I worrying too much having got used to the coolness of a class D? Any help / advice would be much appreciated.

 

[hornytoad]

A week ago I gained an Yggdrasil, a Freya and a Vidar (running in stereo mode) having upgraded from a Nuprime IDA-16. Speakers are Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grand SEs. After a week the Yggdrasil is sounding sweeter and sweeter but I have a couple of questions about the Freya. Even running in passive mode it gets really hot (can't leave a hand on it very long hot). Also, it requires volume to be set at levels of 90%+. Until a set of balanced cables arrive I'm currently using reasonable quality RCA connections. Am I worrying too much having got used to the coolness of a class D? Any help / advice would be much appreciated.

Tubes are hot ! I have a Freya and Rogue tube amp and both get quite hot

 

[hornytoad]

You absolutely need them, and she will hear and appreciate the difference between Vidar's and the Parasounds.

I have some Parasound equipment , P-3 preamp I run for an outdoor system comprising 20 speakers and my take on Parasound
is it can sound sort of lifeless but fairly accurate .

 

[PieterV]

OK , thank you very much. I'll get back to enjoying the music

 

[hornytoad]

OK , thank you very much. I'll get back to enjoying the music

My only complaint about the Freya is it seems susceptible to tube vibration ( maybe because it’s light ?)
I tried silicone damper rings with little help but the Herbie’s tube dampers appear to do a great job in preventing unwanted
tube vibration .

Oh and don’t judge the Freya based on the stock tubes which are terrible . I tossed mine in the trash after a month or two .

 

[Synergist969]

I keep checking within the Schiit Audio website to find a listing as to availability and price of the LISST's for the Freya valves, that one or more fellow HeadFier's had assuredly stated that Schiit Audio was attempting to provide by the end of the 4th quarter of 2017...
I have not yet seen evidence of them...Perhaps I am just looking in the wrong place on the "Products" page of the Schiit Audio website...perhaps their design/manufacture priority has changed, and/or there have been unanticipated glitches in this process...?...

Anyone out here in HeadFi land have any additional information?

Thanks in advance to anyone who has any solid, or at least semi-solid information... ...

P.S....I KNOW it is not glass...However, some of us would love the reliability of solid-state with the advantage of single-ended signal source to balanced-output conversion, along with the additional gain, AND the decrease in heat generation...