New Schiit Freya or used Conrad Johnson PV-10AL/BL, or?

Kalali,

George is spot on on his analysis,your best choice for under 1k is the Freya.Can be used in passive or tube gain mode and definitely sound better than the cj or Mac.

I had a Freya but didn't really like it and sent it back for a refund during the trial period.I'm a very picky and fussy audiophile,Might work great for you.

At your price point I can't think of any other than a Freya,Your always taking a chance with the older gear.


Best of luck to you,

Kenny.

I also like George's analysis.  You may need to change the tubes on the Freya,  but I hear its quite nice.... as George mentioned about gain. On the Freya, be prepared that each stage,  Passive,  SS and Tubed will all have a different amount of gain. It can throw you off a bit.  Tim 

Thanks for everyone's input particularly George for taking the time for looking up the specs of my amps. The (unusually) high gain in most if not all of CJ preamps is a valid concern. The MC2200 does allow to toggle the input sensitivity between 0.75v and 2.5v which might work with the CJ pre but I'd rather keep my options more open. That Quicksilver pre also looks real good.

I have the Freya and it is very nice.I haven't heard the CJ but I did look at them when I was searching.The Freya also has 2 outputs which work well for me.One set goes to 2 Emotiva XPA100 Monoblocks and the other set goes to a Primaluna Prologue 5 .I rarely use the passive,it is either the Jfet or the Tube output.The Freya is made in America as well.Plus ,I kinda like their Schtiik and I can say I have some good Schiit man.

With the Freya you are getting a brand spanking new preamp Plus,the tubes are plentiful and mostly affordable.