Schiit Audio Freya Balanced Passive/Active Remote Preamp - With Extras!

This is an immaculate Freya purchased October 1, 2018, sparingly used in a non-smoking child free environment. I am the original owner; moved, downsized, granddaughters took over the music room, and here we are.

Retail $997 (Preamp w/tubes $799 + LISST “Tubes” $198).

No marks, scratches on any surface, it is in excellent condition and operates perfectly. Comes with the upgraded remote, Tung-Sol 6SN7 (new) tubes with less than 10 hours on them ($100), plus a Quad set of the LISST “Tubes”, allowing you to run it as a solid state ($198):

Responding to customer needs, Schiit Audio announced the availability of its LISST “solid state tube” design in octal form, to fit the Saga and Freya preamps directly.

“Octal LISST allows our customers to convert Saga and Freya into all solid-state preamplifiers,” said Jason Stoddard, Schiit’s Co-Founder. “So if you don’t want a tube preamp, you don’t need to settle for one—just choose LISST.”

Cost includes the PayPal fee and FedEx shipping, insured, signature required, to lower 48. You are probably familiar with Schiit products – this is one of the best. From their site:

A no-excuses balanced, remote-control preamp! Switch between passive, active JFET buffer, and tube gain modes, enjoy the fine control of a 128-step relay-switched stepped attenuator volume control with perfect channel matching, and control it all from the comfort of your favorite chair—for many times less than you’d expect to pay.

Run Freya in passive mode for a convenient remote-controlled passive preamp that’s ideal for many systems. If you need to drive long cables, you can simply select the JFET buffer stage, or choose the tube gain stage—a serious gain stage running on 300V rails.

Most preamps—passive or active—use a potentiometer for volume control. Freya uses a sophisticated microprocessor-controlled relay-stepped attenuator for perfect channel matching and zero distortion—and with 128 steps for ultra-precise level control. You can hear it clicking as you turn the volume up and down.

When you’re talking about gear that doesn’t sit on your desktop (like our headphone amps), you need the convenience of remote control for volume, input switching, output switching, and muting. Freya includes a custom remote control, standard.

It is a very impressive piece. Positive review/comments abound; here are a few:

"The Schiit Freya is better built than any $1,500 tube preamp I'm aware of. Schiit has a real knack for making serious audiophile gear that's also affordable.

“The Schiit Freya stereo preamplifier is without doubt a superb performer, and its rare flexibility will appeal to audiophiles who want to get into tube electronics without going overboard."

Now I've had Freya in my system for a couple of months, I thought I'd share some impressions. In short it has stepped up my 2-channel setup from "great with compromises" to "no-holds-barred spooky good, freaks me out most times I listen to it".

Specifications:

JFET Buffer
Gain: 1
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20Khz, -0.2db, 3Hz-500KHz, -3dB
THD: <0.001%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 2V RMS
IMD: <0.0015%, CCIR
SNR: >110db, A-weighted, referenced to 1V RMS
Output Impedance: 75 ohms SE, 600 ohms balanced
Topology: Single pair JFET per phase with passive distortion cancellation, DC coupled

Tube Gain

Gain: 2.5 (8dB)

Frequency Response: 20Hz-20Khz, -0.2db, 3Hz-200KHz, -3dB

THD: <0.01%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 2V RMS

IMD: <0.01%, CCIR

SNR: >95db, A-weighted, referenced to 1V RMS

Output Impedance: 210 ohms

Topology: differential input/output, pure triode, with low impedance followers

Input Impedance: 10K ohms
Crosstalk: >75dB, 20-20kHz

Inputs: 2 XLR pairs plus 3 RCA pairs, selectable via front switch or remote

Outputs: 1 XLR pair plus 2 RCA pairs, selectable via front switch or remote

Volume Control: relay-switched stepped attenuator with discrete thin-film resistors, 128 0.625dB steps

Power Supply: One 48VA transformer with regulated 300V rail, plus 24VA transformer with regulated +/-20C rails, plus 6.3VAC tube heaters and regulated 5VDC for microprocessor

Power Consumption: 40W typical

Size: 16” x 8” x 2” + tube height (about 2.5" more)

Weight: 11 lbs

Thanks for looking – welcome to the New Year!