Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

[JayT]

Re the Freya, the only tubes I tried were the Tung-Sols, so maybe I haven't given it enough of a try. I've gone through two sets of these and each time they started making a lot of noise after 6-9 months of use, so I've been reluctant to invest in expensive NOS tubes. I also blew a tweeter on my old speakers (Totem Mani-2 which I repaired and still have in another system) when I switched output modes and got a loud pop. It may have been the result of one of the tubes wearing out, but it has soured me somewhat on the Freya. And, as I mentioned in my first post, I HATE the indecipherable little symbols that Schiit uses on their front panel.

So I've been using the Freya with the FET buffer only over the past few months. I have to say that for the money, it's an excellent sounding unit, and the remote is nice and simple and works fine for volume up/dn which is all I use it for. But since I'm willing to spend a few thousand dollars or so, I think I can find a better sounding preamp without the Freya's quirks.

[joeinid]

I’m sure any good/great preamp will work perfectly with the Nord amps.

One of the main reasons for using the stp-se was because of a lower gain which was necessary for my Job amps. You don’t have the same issues with Nord so either Pass, Bryston or another great preamp will mate perfectly.

[Randy Myers]

I have found that the Freya very much displays different synergy with different amps. It also really shows the difference in various tubes. I personally feel the standard Russian NOS tubes are a much better choice then the Tung-Sols they offer as an "upgrade".

The Schiit pre-amp, in my experience really does very well with NOS tubes. I currently have a set of 1956 CBS 5692 Brown Bases and a set of early 1950's Sylvania Chrome Doomes in it. It is a remarkable pre-amp, very flexible. It sounds much different with my Audio Mirror, T+A, and McIntosh amps. All very good, but different. I am starting to think I like the synergy with the T+A amplifier the best.

Therefore I believe the Freya would match up nicely with the Ncore amplifiers, but probably would do a better job with different tubes.

[Dth31]

Congratulations! The Stage 2 stp-se is outstanding and an amazing bargain for the price. I hate to say it, but there’s really no comparison to the base model. It’s better in every way.

I agree. I use the STP-SE stage 2 in my second system. The transparency achieved with the resistor upgrade makes a HUGE difference. Resistors are similar to what VAC uses in their top models. Crazy good for the money.