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

PS: to those thinking about the $699 Freya. That don’t need balanced.

There’s also the Schiit Saga at half the price $349!!!, single ended (no balanced), 5x inputs, 2 x outputs, active tube or passive outputs (no s/s) output. It still has a remote control, and again relay controlled 64 positions volume control 1db increments, which is plenty I use 48 with no problems.
http://schiit.com/products/saga

Cheers George

I don't need balanced but wasn't sure if Saga was in the same league (as Freya) sound quality wise. Anyone with experience?

Beside being single ended only, same passive, same relay controlled volume control, except 64 position instead of 128.
Tube buffer is bit different, unity gain, output impedance 180ohms  on the Saga, and 5 gain, 210ohm output impedance on the Freya.

Cheers George

@kalali. Put about 25 more hours into the Freya. It’s been steadily opening up and it responded to changes in equipment. The passive is really great, particularly after swapping in a Cary DMC600. It’s better than the built in volume control. It seems to let a greater difference between the Cary’s tube v. solid state output show through, especially at lower volume. That’s really what I got the Freya for. If that’s all there was, I’d be happy.

The JFET has calmed down some, but is still my least favorite of the three.

On the tubes, I got impatient waiting for the stock tubes to break in and swapped in a quad of RCA vintage 6sn7gt and then pairs of Sylvania GTA chrome tops and GE GTB side getters. They made a huge difference, and seems the Freya is very responsive to tube-rolling. Not as tubelicious or as responsive as my Cary pres, but there was indeed an appreciable amount.

I suspect I’ll probably be listening to the passive, most often. So, while I might try them, I probably won’t be leaving TS BGRPs or Ws in there to burn up. Hell, I think they cost nearly as much as the Freya.

Between the two outputs and upsampling options on the DMC600 and the three outputs on the Freya...plus tube-rolling, it could be a tweaker’s dream (or nightmare).

Anyway, just thought I’d report back that, even though it’s still early, I think the Freya is a good buy at $699, new. Worth a try, even at risk of losing the shipping and restocking. Lots of options.

**There is also a fairly new set of Omega speakers in this setup, so some small part, except for the tube-swap, which was immediate, could be attributable to them breaking in, as well.

stfoth, thanks for the great review, appreciate it. I'm thinking the main reason for my interest in getting a tube preamp is to experience this so called "tubey" sound that everyone talks about. At the end, I might not like it as much - which I doubt, but just feel the need to experience it.  Great word by the way: tubelicious!