[Ron D]

Like most people I have 2 paths to acquire a Schiit Freya Plus preamp - buy new from Schiit with the 5 year warranty or used for less money with no warranty as the Schiit warranty  is not transferable.

Being in Canada used Schiit preamps do pop up now and then but if anyone can offer an opinion on their reliability it would help me make a more informed decision on taking the path of buying used versus new with the warranty. Sending a broken down unit back to Schiit in the US will be expensive though if under warranty would be the path to take. If not under warranty I am able to send it to a Canadian based repair facility.

if these things are akin to being bullet proof then used is a definite option especially given what a new one landed here is Canada will cost me - a little over $1500 Canadian or the equivalent of about $1175 US after exchange, brokerage, etc.

Appreciate any feedback and thanks in advance

[Samoyed]

I love my Freya plus, and in two years I’ve had only one issue, a JJ tube started to hum. Not really a Freya problem, but God does it get hot when the tubes are running. I love the sound, and oddly, the JJ tubes.

[FullRangeMan]

Its not expensive, buy new use 5 years and sell.
Its a PCB unit so time life are not long as a hard wiring unit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsL-i8nFvdA

[Escott1377]

For the OP, please do not think of this as me trying to derail your question.  I was in the same situation recently where I was considering the Schiit unit.  I took a leap of faith and bought MP-701 MK2 Tube Preamp Pre Amplifier by Musical Paradise.

I am very happy with my decision since this unit allows you almost an infinite number of tube configurations as well as great ease in changing capacitors.

I did not go for the Mundorf upgrade and it took approximately 10 business days from order to shipment to my house.

There are not many reviews out there on the unit, but I have been a tube roller for 20 years and figured that I would take a stab with capacitors as well.

So far, so good.  I have upgraded the original tubes as soon as the unit arrived, the output caps have been replaced and a bypass capacitor added, and the power filter caps will be here today.

Just wanted to give you something to consider that may be a little less expensive but is much more upgradable over time.

His DAC has received a lot of praise on the board and it is similar with the multiple tube / rectifier / capacitor options.

Good luck!

[SteveFord]

I'd be interested in responses, too, as I've been looking at getting some Schiit for the Magnepan LRS I have on order for the boob tube. 

[mick wolfe]

I love my Freya plus, and in two years I’ve had only one issue, a JJ tube started to hum. Not really a Freya problem, but God does it get hot when the tubes are running. I love the sound, and oddly, the JJ tubes.

Same here, only running ANOS G.E.'s. In regard to the OP, I'd rather buy new with a 15 day audition and 5 year warranty than most likely only saving a couple hundred buying used.

[Ron D]

great input so far.

as far as the MP unit goes I did briefly look at their offerings and will revisit. Have to better understand what happens if servicing is necessary.

FRM - thanks for the video link, it was informative and its easy to see why Schiit uses a pcb board given they are building it to a very reasonable price point. Back when I had a dedicated 2 channel system I owned many tubed preamps, all significantly more expensive than the Freya and for the life of me given it was a number of yeas ago I cannot remember which ones may have had boards versus point to point but I'm thinking logically the more expensive ones likely were point to point (Hovland, Audio Horizons and Lamm, not sure about Rogue Audio).

what intrigues me about the Freya is the 3 different operational modes - passive. active and tube and how they can be adapted to my set which is used for both TV/movies for the family (love the fact it has a remote but not crazy about the sound it makes when ones change the volume) and music for me. Active for the family which doesn't burn up the life of the tubes and tubes engaged for when its just me and my music.

what did concern me and I acknowledge that it comes down to build cost and necessary profit margins was just how microphonic the unit was as was demonstrated in the online review from Darko. Not that one would have any reason to be knocking the case but there is little designed isolation from the tube output - again it comes down to how to build a viable product at very reasonable price point = some trade offs must occur.

I am now leaning towards buying new and hope to see more input over the next few days and I thank everyone for what has been posted so far....

[Escott1377]

You can buy a product that is somewhat of a tube stabilizer - so it goes into the sockets and then you insert your tube into these.  I have read where the Schiit product greatly benefits from these devices since the tube pull puts lot of torque on the board.  It also raises them high enough so that you do not have to remove the cover to swap tubes.

[mick wolfe]

Yes, and the extender also allows for the use of odd coke bottle or bulb shapes which simply won't work with recessed tube sockets.

[Samoyed]

Link to the extender?

[Escott1377]

Go to Google.  I saw it on a You Tube review of the pre.  That is how I learned about it.

[Ron D]

Do a search for "tube socket savers" and you will find many links.

[FullRangeMan]

FRM - thanks for the video link, it was informative and its easy to see why Schiit uses a pcb board given they are building it to a very reasonable price point.

I that shall thanks to Mr.Kevin Deal for say public these basic teachings on tube amps, some years ago I posted about PCB x hard wiring and received a flood of criticism, but there is much more as soft start, time delay, steel chassis and low bias.

[mitch stl]

I'm a little late to the discussion, but I currently have a Schiit Lyr 3 and am very, very pleased with it.  I use it with their Aegir power amp. Before the Lyr 3, I had a Saga+ preamp. I've had zero problems with all of the units. The only reason I moved from the Saga to the Lyr was due to the need for a bit of gain (both are tube preamps.) The Saga is a unity gain preamp which turned out to be a bit shy for those recordings done at a lower level. The Lyr offers switchable gain (+3.5 dB and 17 dB options) and it turns out the lower gain level solved the problem.

But, back to the reliability question, I've been very pleased with Schiit gear and don't hesitate to recommend it. And, BTW, the sound quality is excellent.

[SteveFord]

Good to hear that Schiit isn't going to take a dump right out of Warranty.