Gain: 1 (0dB)

Frequency Response: 20Hz-20Khz, -0.2db, 3Hz-500KHz, -3dB

THD: <0.004%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 1V RMS

IMD: <0.0055%, CCIR

SNR: >120dB, A-weighted, referenced to 2V RMS

Output Impedance: 75 ohms SE, 600 ohms balanced

Topology: JFET differential amplifier compound pair with equalized-gm followers

Tube Gain
Gain: 4 (12dB)

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

THD: <0.01%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 1V RMS

IMD: <0.01%, CCIR

SNR: >115dB, A-weighted, referenced to 2V RMS

Output Impedance: 75 ohms SE, 600 ohms balanced

Topology: differential triode input with semi-circlotron follower stage

Input Impedance: 10K ohms

Crosstalk: >85dB, 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 +/-18V rails, plus 6.3VDC 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

Unless you have a stash of great tubes, you are gonna be better off ordering a Freya with tubes (or LISST, in the case of Freya+). If you order either Freya without tubes, you are saying:

Tubes. These two preamps have two different operating points and gain structures to support two different families of tubes.

LISST is our solid-state replacement for tubes, based on depletion-mode MOSFETs. This is due to the fact that 6SN7 tubes are still kinda hard to get, and also because many people like the way they sound.

No. Also imagine the peace of mind, having solid state tube replacements that won’t die, like, in forever.

Why 31 flavors of ice cream? Why 173 different kinds of toothpaste on the store shelf? Why more than one color of car? Because choices. Choices are cool. We should have more choices. Except maybe in toothpaste. We don’t really understand that one. Or why there’s like 500 different kinds of bread on the bread aisle. But hey, those are mysteries that we shouldn’t perhaps delve too deeply into.

If you have only one source, and it has a volume control, maybe you don’t need a preamp. But if you have a system with more than one source, and you want convenient remote input switching and remote volume control, a preamp is a good idea. You can also pair it with our DACs for convenient remote volume control, since our preamps don’t cost like the total debt of a small nation-state.

Absolutely. Because in the last 20 years or so, audio pricing has gotten really stupid. Go ahead. Look around for a remote passive preamp, and check the prices. Now add a buffer stage. And a tube gain stage. Oh, wait, there really isn’t anything like that. And then start looking at preamps that use a sophisticated, perfectly-matched relay-switched stepped attenuator instead of a volume pot, and you’ll quickly come to the conclusion that Freya is in a class by itself. That is, a class with a three-digit price tag, not a four-digit price tag (that doesn’t start with, like “5,” either.)

That’s cool. We like smart design and efficient construction that make great sound affordable to more people. But if you literally have $100 bills hand-stitched into toilet paper so you can wipe your butt in wretched excess, then by all means, find something that costs more. Just don’t think it’ll automatically be any better.

Yes, no problem at all. Just don’t expect it to convert single-ended to balanced or anything like that. It is, after all, passive.

Right. The differential JFET buffers will convert single-ended to balanced, which is very handy if you want to run, say, a pair of Vidars from a single-ended source. They’re also pretty cool designs, with a compound feedback pair front end and an equalized-transconductance output stage.

This one is also pretty neat, with a differential triode front end feeding a semi-circlotron output stage for lower distortion and noise cancellation. That trick, together with DC heaters, provides a much, much lower noise floor than most tube preamplifiers.

Unlike a typical potentiometer, a relay-stepped attenuator gives you perfect channel matching down to the lowest level of the volume knob. It also makes cool clicking noises when you turn the knob. In our minds, this is the best way of doing volume control. There’s only a couple of thin-film resistors in the signal path at all times, rather than a potentiometer wiper. And it doesn’t use a “volume control chip,” which we believe proper only to cheap receivers. But then again, a lot of people think we’re crazy.

Then you need Saga+ or Saga S, Freya’s little sisters.

From Wikipedia, In Norse mythology, Freyja (/ˈfreɪə/; Old Norse for “(the) Lady”) is a goddess associated with love, sex, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death. We have no idea what seior is, and the war and death stuff doesn’t sound so fun, but the first five items we can go along with just fine. Disturbed? Don’t be. It’s just a name.