New Schiit / Preamps and Power Amp (was Putting the Schiit Signal Up)

Discussion in 'Preamps' started by purr1n, Oct 6, 2016.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
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    On Saga vs. Freya. Get Saga if you run SE and don't need the flexibility of inputs, outputs, etc. I expect Freya to be more tubey, less "transparent" than Saga because the Saga circuit is simpler, but it will be hard to say until I plug everything in toward the end of this week.

    The Parasound pre and amp are also in. I'll throw in a Crest CA2 for comparison. The Japanese Softone Model 5 passive pre-amp I was using before wasn't cutting it given the low 10k ohm input impedance of the Crest amp. The Model 5 is a nice passive stepper / switcher, but varying input Z of between 10k-34k ohms and output Z of 1k-20k ohms depending upon volume position does a lot of strange things with Gungnir Multibit as source and CA2 as amp. This is why we need active preamps.
     
  2. murray

    murray Friend

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    Thanks for your reply, Jason. That clarifies things. Do you have circuitry to balance the opposing phases to both amps in mono mode? There's no guarantee that any arbitrary preamp will supply correctly symmetrical balanced phases, although I'm sure that the Schiit preamps will be correct.
     
  3. schiit

    schiit SchiitHead

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    That's why you get a Schiit preamp.
     
  4. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    [​IMG]
     
  5. landroni

    landroni Friend

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    Here's the man himself (@baldr) on the two:

    If you know the cartridge will be MM or high-output MC, I would expect the Jotunheim phono to be the better choice as its design comes with fewer compromises, given that it provides less flexibility.
     
  6. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    More feedback on the Freya from a Canuck Audio Mart (CAM) member - since it's sparse at the moment:

     
  7. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    VIDAR UPDATES FROM HF



    PHOTOS (source)
    Yep, I hear you. If I had more experience with spring steel (and more time), I'd probably move the whole thing to a clip-based system with minimal mounting points. In this case, though, it's better to play it safe. We'll just move the holes.

    Some photos, as promised:

    What it looks like from the back.
    [​IMG]

    What it looks like outside.
    [​IMG]

    Bad engineer! How do you assemble this?
    [​IMG]

    Programming.
    [​IMG]

    No heatsinks.
    [​IMG]

    Some more thoughts on a new morning: I appreciate all the suggestions on assembly tools, but believe me, I have them all. And the idea was to use powered, torque-settable tools for production. Those kind of tools are 100% no-go. Some areas don't even have enough depth for a manual ratcheting tool.

    So, I went ahead and did a pros/cons breakdown of all of our options, and it came out something like this:

    Option 1: Leave it as is and use manual tools when needed.
    Pros:
    • It's what we have
    Cons:
    • 15-20 minutes for assembly of one product would be typical
    • Some products would not be assemblable due to soldering variation (canted parts, etc)
    • Nightmare to disassemble and reassemble for service.
    Conclusion: Hell no.


    Option 2: Move all the parts to line up with heatsink wells and drill through, use screws and Nylocks through the heatsink.

    Pros:
    • It's a known solution (I've done this before)
    Cons:
    • Tons of parts (22 screws and 22 Nylocks per amp)
    • Pain in the rear end to dissassemble
    • Still may have some non-assemblable boards due to soldering variations
    Conclusion: on reflection, it's not giving me warm and fuzzy feelings


    Option 3: Add a stamped, spring steel retainer to apply even pressure to all of the devices.

    Pros:
    • Uses half the screws of Option 2, so it's faster to assemble
    • We don't actually need to move anything on the board (!)
    • Output device orientation is pretty much non-critical (everything can be assembled)
    • Easy to disassemble
    Cons:
    • Unknown solution (I have not done this before)
    Conclusion: this really seems like the way to go.

    Why pick the more chancy option? Lots of reasons, but three primes:
    1. Although I haven't used this solution before, it is commonly used, so we are breaking no new engineering ground. I'm confident we can make it work.
    2. On a high-volume product, time for assembly and disassembly are critically important when you're paying first-world wages. This approach gives us that--and also reduces number of holes and simplifies the design of the thermal pad. It's a winner.
    3. We have a local metal stamping firm that I can literally walk to from our office and get things started on Monday. Even better, my other firm, Centric, has done marketing for them in the past, so we know each other.
    Why a stamping? Because the heatsink has devices with three different heights: TO-247, TO-220, TO-126. This is necessary to use all the exotic 2SC/2SA parts that we've spec'd. But, because these devices have three different heights, we need more than a simple bar to tie them all down--the solution has to compensate for the different heights.

    So, the $128,000 question is: does this affect the anticipated delivery date of End Q1? I'm not sure yet. If tooling the stamping doesn't take too long, maybe not. I'll keep you apprised as things move forward. (source)

     
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2017
  8. OJneg

    OJneg The Most Insufferable

    Pyrate BWC
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    Slick. Any update on pricepoint?
     
  9. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    "(And yes, still $699.)," but that was before the updates above. Assuming no change.
     
  10. Big D Design

    Big D Design RIP 2021

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    Zonto,
    Thanks for the peek. Is that a balanced input I see in the back there?
    I assume that it would be used when the amp is a monoblock setup. Just wondering what amount of current this thing would pull. Looks like a beast. Just read thru thread again and see "balanced only" with monoblock.
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2017
  11. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

    Pyrate BWC MZR
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    Is that a Magni 3?
     
  12. Scott Kramer

    Scott Kramer Friend

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    @schiit, @zonto Thanks for the pics, it's looking good!

    Zoom way in on the last pic and look around, sure looks like an easter egg to me :D
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2017
  13. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    Under careful inspection it looks like those are just the top part of the Saga chasis : (
     
  14. 9suns

    9suns [insert unearned title here]

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    That chassis is pure genius (form follows function, good looking, cheaper than average to manufacture).
    Btw, is nice to see a beefy non toroidal transformer. Also like the red PCB instead of green.

    At 699usd this is a bargain.
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2018
  15. uncola

    uncola Friend

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    They did a great job making it compact. That's the same size as some class d amps
     
  16. hifi01170

    hifi01170 Acquaintance

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    good catch! magni 3...
     
  17. PaperStar

    PaperStar New

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    Hello Guys,
    Did any of you with a Freya tried using it with a 7N7 tube adapter? Or any tube adapters at all? Is it a good idea? How easy it is to remove them form the sockets? Would they degrade the sound quality?

    Apologies if these are trivial/stupid questions - I'm a child of the 90s and never thought about tubes (anything good) until Schiit got into the game... thank you!
     
  18. Big D Design

    Big D Design RIP 2021

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    Freya just arrived. Along with 4 Vintage tubes out of the 8 Tubes I ordered.

    Question? So according to the manual
    Right side 2 Tubes: Gain Stage
    Left side 2 Tubes: Output Stage

    I'll be using the tubes supplied with the Freya initially. Still waiting for Modi Multibit. Will test with Ipod over the weekend.
     
  19. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    Ipod to Modi Multibit? Get ready for an eargasm!
     
  20. Big D Design

    Big D Design RIP 2021

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    The Freya's SE outputs need to be boosted for my sub. The balanced outputs with the Tube output selected to my NuPrime STA-9 is nice and strong. I have to turn my sub up all the way to keep up. And I really can't fine tune it to my satisfaction.

    So I'm thinking of buying an ART CleanBoxPro for the sub to get me some needed gain. I'm only using an IPod now so I expect to have more gain all around with Modi Multibit. But I will still need to balance the gains. If I go to Jfet mode with the Freya, the gains match. But then the IPod is the one lacking enough gain to drive the system. I know deep down inside that I have to match the gain in order to have the subwoofer to seamlessly interact with the speakers. Otherwise..... it's like swatting flies,,,,
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2017

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