[OldRoadToad]

I agree it is not optimal. But then my room also isn't the perfect size and I don't have any acoustic treatments or perfect power or the most transparent equipment. Just fairly good 2 channel separates / cables / monitors.

If optimal is the standard then no, i don't have a 2-channel setup.

​It's okay...I've got 2.1 channels.  Neeener, neener, neener... 
 
ORT

 

[cishida]

I agree it is not optimal. But then my room also isn't the perfect size and I don't have any acoustic treatments or perfect power or the most transparent equipment. Just fairly good 2 channel separates / cables / monitors.

If optimal is the standard then no, i don't have a 2-channel setup.

Now, that's not to say I wouldn't love a dedicated 2 channel setup separate from the tv, but just not practical for me.

Not convinced the flat panel on the wall is acoustically more significant than other things in the room like the window, or the art on the wall or the components / cabinets.

 

[bigro]

  A "big spend"? Only if you are completely unaware of what price points are out ther for similar products. The prices for this Schiit are less than the cost of replacement volume knobs for much of the world's competing gear. This is stupid low price territory. If you need a stereo preamp you'd be completely foolish to not consider these products.  IMO, YMMV, yadda yadda, of course.

I am Completely aware, I have pointed this out multiple Times..My response was to someone who is only using a headphone setup .Adding the preamp to their current setup is probably not going to net them much outside of a cool switch and volume control. The amps in their profile are good amps but my opinion was to put the money into a better DAC as it seemed that there was room for improvement there and the DAC could be enjoyed in the current headphone setup as well as when they moved into 2 ch at that point money spent on the Pre would make more sense.

 

[bigro]

Not convinced the flat panel on the wall is acoustically more significant than other things in the room like the window, or the art on the wall or the components / cabinets.

Or the Fireplace, The Reef Tank or the Dog that likes to lay some where between a speaker and where I am seated.
 
Hmm.....
http://www.abbeyroad.com/recording-mixing

 

[briant4pres]

still cant believe the price on these... wow, considering wat the emotiva gen 3 are going for these seem like a no brainer

 

[GrouchoMarx1933]

I'm currently building my first real 2-channel system and a proper preamp is going to be essential, both because I have multiple sources (DAC and turntable to start, will be adding a CD/SACD player later), and because some of the power amps I'm considering have no volume controls. The Schiit preamps couldn't have come at a better time for me.

 

[earnmyturns]

 
I can confirm, the Freya is absolutely great as a remote control pre-amp for a Yggdrasil Ragnarok stack with no additional inputs.

Yes, but... My three living room sources are all digital (hi-res streamer, AV receiver, Chromecast Audio). The Freya remote won't do any good in this situation, unless I get a couple of Modis for the AV and Chromecast sources. I'd love to have a Yggy for my streamer, but I also need to have a remotely operable switch between streamer, receiver, and Chromecast. So close, and yet so far 

 For us 2-channel digi-heads, it would be lovely to have a Schiit multibit DAC with multiple inputs (USB, 2 x optical, 2 x coax?), a passive preamp section with analog volume control, and remote. I know, boss man has already said we can't have everything we want 

 

[artur9]

  I also need to have a remotely operable switch between streamer, receiver, and Chromecast.

 
The solution then is to buy a Mimby for each of those digital sources to then plug into the Freya.  At that point your total expenditure will be at the correct level for a proper 2ch system.  You'd be able to stand proud in the megabucks audio club.
 

Not convinced the flat panel on the wall is acoustically more significant than other things in the room like the window, or the art on the wall or the components / cabinets.

It's not but that doesn't mean it's an insignificant impact either.  You should see the things people do to have a proper 2ch listening environment where they want to hear the concert hall.  That means no reflections from any surface (floor, ceiling, walls, art, windows, you name it).  The effort is not something someone with headphones experience would even contemplate (I do not use headphones).
 
There's more than one person on the other forum who has literally covered every inch of his (why is it always a "he"?) listening room with several inches of fiberglass insulation to deaden the room so that the only things making sounds are the speakers. (And his intestines, heart, etc).  Another member has issues with a ceiling fan because, depending on its orientation, it affects the sound in different ways.  
 
This is so that the imaging and soundstaging are coming 100% from the recording.
 
Disclaimer:  I have a DIY acoustically treated room.  With a flatscreen between my speakers ;-(  Still, better than a dang fireplace.

 

[valiant66]

 

When the AV components are not powered, the system effectively does not contain a tv (or anything other than your 2 channel components). the av components are not in the signal chain.

You miss my point.  The point is the large audibly reflective thing sitting between the speakers.  You don't want that for an optimal setup.

Hmm. That is contrary to my experience, recently.
 
Now that modern TVs are only a couple of inches thick, and usually wall mounted rather than placed on top of a cabinet, they are no more a "large audibly reflective thing sitting between the speakers" than the wall is. Yes the TV is sonically reflective, but so is a wall. In my case my speakers sit 4' out from the back wall, and by extension 4' out in front of the TV. Sure, there's reflections off the back wall, but I'm not willing to drape my home in acoustic panelling, and 4' out gives speakers' front signal a good separation from the back reflection.
 
Most of my friends have similar setups - TV on the back wall, speakers pulled out into the room. If I choose to listen to Miles Davis in stereo the fact that there's a TV in the room makes no appreciable difference to the sound.

 

[artur9]

.  
Most of my friends have similar setups - TV on the back wall, speakers pulled out into the room. If I choose to listen to Miles Davis in stereo the fact that there's a TV in the room makes no audible difference to the sound.

It is possible to measure that difference.  And, once corrected, the improvement is audible.
 
But it's an incredible hassle to both measure and make the improvement.  And it often leads to household strife.

 

[valiant66]

  I'm currently building my first real 2-channel system and a proper preamp is going to be essential, both because I have multiple sources (DAC and turntable to start, will be adding a CD/SACD player later), and because some of the power amps I'm considering have no volume controls. The Schiit preamps couldn't have come at a better time for me.

Welcome to the looney bin, Marrick! Your journey will be both ecstatic and frustrating. 
 
Just a note on terminology: power amps by and large don't have volume controls. When there's a volume control on the "power" amp it's actually an integrated amp of some sort.
 
As with anything, there are edge cases. In particular multichannel power amps designed for pro use, or for distributed audio in a house, often have what they call "pads" which are teeny tiny screwdriver adjustable volume controls that "pad" down the input for each channel individually, usually located on the back panel. But they're a set-it-and-forget-it thing, rather than a volume control as we usually consider one to be.
.

 

[valiant66]

 

.  
Most of my friends have similar setups - TV on the back wall, speakers pulled out into the room. If I choose to listen to Miles Davis in stereo the fact that there's a TV in the room makes no audible difference to the sound.

It is possible to measure that difference.  And, once corrected, the improvement is audible.
 
But it's an incredible hassle to both measure and make the improvement.  And it often leads to household strife.

Well, I could see having a motorized drape to cover up the TV when you're listening only to music. Or go with a projector and have a retractable screen that can be pulled out of the way.
 
And yes, everything makes a difference. I'm dubious that the difference between a blank wall and a wall with a TV on it would be more significant that toe-ing in your speakers an extra half degree.
 
That being said, I would expect a curtain-covered wall behind the speakers would be audibly more signiifant when compared with a bare wall/TV covered wall.
 
EDIT: What I failed to clarify was I think putting a curtain on the wall behind your speakers in the listening room would have a more audible effect that putting a TV on the wall behind your speakers.
.

 

[GrouchoMarx1933]

 
Welcome to the looney bin, Marrick! Your journey will be both ecstatic and frustrating. 
 
Just a note on terminology: power amps by and large don't have volume controls. When there's a volume control on the "power" amp it's actually an integrated amp of some sort.
 
As with anything, there are edge cases. In particular multichannel power amps designed for pro use, or for distributed audio in a house, often have what they call "pads" which are teeny tiny screwdriver adjustable volume controls that "pad" down the input for each channel individually, usually located on the back panel. But they're a set-it-and-forget-it thing, rather than a volume control as we usually consider one to be.
.

Thank you! I'm already looney so I should fit right in!
 
I realize that traditionally power amps do not have volume controls and integrated amps do, but I've been seeing more SET amps lately with a volume control that are not calling themselves integrated amps, and often with only one set of inputs (the other purpose of an integrated being to have multiple inputs so you can avoid a pre entirely). A few of the amps I'm looking at are true integrated amps, with both volume control and multiple switchable inputs, like Line Magnetic amps. If I got a true integrated I may not need a pre, but on the other hand it may still benefit me to have the pre for control and let the amp work just as an amp.

 

[sublime9]

This thread is off the rails. 

 

[Letmebefrank]

  This thread is off the rails. 

It could be much worse. We once had a week-long discussion of computer keyboards.