View Full Version : Schiit Freya Plus Upgrades
The Freya Plus is one of the few Pre Amps (reasonably priced) that will fulfil my needs.
There were a few minor details that niggled me and as its a keeper I thought I would address these.
To sum up the things that I've done:
Added Socket savers to lift the Tubes out of the case (Cooling)
Added additional vents to the top cover and base to further aid cooling
Fitted taller feet, to match other gear and aid airflow to the new base vents.
Made the volume indicator more legible
Changed the colour of the LED function lamps to Blue (Match other gear)
Changed the Single ended outputs to XLR sockets. (My preference)
https://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Freya/Pics/Freya_03L.jpg
https://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Freya/Pics/Freya_03D.jpg
https://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Freya/Pics/Freya_03N.jpg
I managed to reduce the case temperatures and no doubt the part temperatures, find the whole story on my blog here:
https://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Freya/Freya_03.html
sachu888
01-07-2021, 10:10
Nice !!
Regards
Sachin
Opti-cal
01-07-2021, 10:11
Been after one of these forever . . . .
Failed to find one and Schiit UK are . . . well very much living up to their name on that front.
It is a pre-amp which fulfills ALL my requirements in one package. Just wish I could find one . . . .
I ordered a UK spec unit from the US web site last year, at the time Schiit UK hadn't had one for nearly a year.
They currently have a 4 to 6 week lead time on a UK spec unit.
At the time, I had to wait 2 months for the next batch to be made, I pre paid by card and for Fedex express, I received mine within a week of stock being available on the website. It was picked up Tuesday and I had it in my hands Friday morning.
No stock came to Europe from that batch, they were all gobbled up by pre orders and their home market. They make more on the home market sales as the pricing is similar worldwide, but there is no additional distributer mark up.
They were very good and didn't draw on my card till stock was available. They emailed me when available and I had to re submit, because the card authorisation had timed out.
It cost me about £80.00 more than UK price, with higher shipping cost and duty added, but was the only way I was going to get one. The Dollar/Pound exchange rate is very favourable at present.
Be aware, Schiit UK will not honour the warranty for one purchased this way, the unit would have to be shipped back to the States.
Its worth it.
Opti-cal
01-07-2021, 11:44
I ordered a UK spec unit from the US web site last year, at the time Schiit UK hadn't had one for nearly a year.
They currently have a 4 to 6 week lead time on a UK spec unit.
At the time, I had to wait 2 months for the next batch to be made, I pre paid by card and for Fedex express, I received mine within a week of stock being available on the website. It was picked up Tuesday and I had it in my hands Friday morning.
No stock came to Europe from that batch, they were all gobbled up by pre orders and their home market. They make more on the home market sales as the pricing is similar worldwide, but there is no additional distributer mark up.
They were very good and didn't draw on my card till stock was available. They emailed me when available and I had to re submit, because the card authorisation had timed out.
It cost me about £80.00 more than UK price, with higher shipping cost and duty added, but was the only way I was going to get one. The Dollar/Pound exchange rate is very favourable at present.
Be aware, Schiit UK will not honour the warranty for one purchased this way, the unit would have to be shipped back to the States.
Its worth it.
Thanks Ken, appreciate your experience there.
To be honest I got fed up with waiting and bought an alternative, however I still think it's an excellent unit and offers a tiny bit more than the one I bought (Musical Paradise MP-701 MKII). It's a blooming excellent pre-amp in it's own right but the output is not fully balanced and does not have the option to switch active/passive/tube outputs. A real trump card for the Schiit. I also prefer the aesthetics of the Schiit.
Fair play for taking the plunge, sounds like you've made a good unit even better too.
Congrats and enjoy!
(If one came up for sale I'd still be interested haha!).
Firebottle
01-07-2021, 12:00
Excellent job on the venting Ken, I'll take a look at your blog.
walpurgis
01-07-2021, 12:14
Good job! :thumbsup:
Ali Tait
01-07-2021, 12:55
Nice work Ken. Bring it to the next NEBO. :-)
Nice work Ken. Bring it to the next NEBO. :-)
That's the plan Ali, along with my modded Primaluna PL4 for HF, Nord class D, now sporting Rev D input boards (bass++), the new speaker cabinets and Marchand active crossover with Linkwitz Transform. I'm kicking an f3 of 19Hz with this combo. :D
https://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Project_Images/Yam_Rev/YamRev_08B.jpg
Thanks Ken, appreciate your experience there.
To be honest I got fed up with waiting and bought an alternative, however I still think it's an excellent unit and offers a tiny bit more than the one I bought (Musical Paradise MP-701 MKII). It's a blooming excellent pre-amp in it's own right but the output is not fully balanced and does not have the option to switch active/passive/tube outputs. A real trump card for the Schiit. I also prefer the aesthetics of the Schiit.
Fair play for taking the plunge, sounds like you've made a good unit even better too.
Congrats and enjoy!
(If one came up for sale I'd still be interested haha!).
How do you rate the MP-701 II?
Have you done any tube or Cap rolling?
The reason I ask, is a member of this parish has a similar set up to mine, same HF valve amp, same LF class D, same modified NS-1000m speakers/active/passive crossovers.
He went for the MP-701 instead of the Freya Plus, its early days for him, so wondered if you had anything worth passing on?
Opti-cal
01-07-2021, 14:19
How do you rate the MP-701 II?
Have you done any tube or Cap rolling?
The reason I ask, is a member of this parish has a similar set up to mine, same HF valve amp, same LF class D, same modified NS-1000m speakers/active/passive crossovers.
He went for the MP-701 instead of the Freya Plus, its early days for him, so wondered if you had anything worth passing on?
Haha, yeah I can't leave anything alone . . . not even for five minutes.
I have some experience with the MK1 version so I pretty much just followed a blueprint that got me the sound I wanted with that.
The design is slightly different however, enabling you to mix and match the caps for the power bypass section which has enabled me to really 'dial' in the sound I wanted. A win for the 701 in this section.
I seem to favour Mundorf Silver/Gold/Oil for the main out put caps, I've got some massive 4.3uF ones in there, probably massive overkill but they sound so smooth top to bottom.
Then on the bypass section I use an Audyn True Copper Max one at 0.33uF and a Clarity ESA 8.4uF (same rating as the standard Bennic ones). The different ratings certainly sound better than having both the same rating (I did try with both the Audyn and Clarity ones with the same values on both caps).
The rectifier has been swapped for a Mullard GZ34, just the best rectifier for the job and the tubes are 'coinbase' RCA 6SN7's with adapters. I also really like the Russian 6N8S (OTK stamp) tubes in this position, they have really nice bass and attack, however the RCA's just have a bit more magic and sparkle about them, I'd be happy with either. The 3rd (follower) tube is a Reflektor brand 6n23p. I've tried all the tubes in these positions, 6n23-p, 12au7, 12bh7 etc etc, and pretty much all the other ones you can try at 6 and 12v. This is by far the best combination.
The only real 'bottleneck' I can find on the preamp is the volume pot. It's okay but as in my MK1 eventually I will replace it with a stepped ladder type as it really opened things up once that was in.
Overall I can't really fault the MKII. Like I say the only downside for me is that the outputs aren't 'true' balanced, they are just wired to accept XLR out. The XLR in from my DAC does sound better though although I'm not 100% that isn't the same story. I may just be getting a higher db output from the DAC's balanced out and therefore just higher gain before it gets to the preamp, but either way it sounds good.
Happy to answer any more questions on it as it's a superb (big) thing.
Sounds decent out the box but nothing more, with the above modifications it really does put it up a few brackets and would tread on some serious competition. That's got me enthused about putting the ladder volume relay on it now . . . .
Cheers
Chris
https://i.ibb.co/2NJcQL7/IMG-20210512-215330-805.jpg (https://ibb.co/k1Zqfrg)
Good work Ken, it looks very professional. :)
Chris - Re MP-701 I'll send him a link to your comments.
Thanks for the comments so far chaps.
Chris - "The XLR in from my DAC does sound better though although I'm not 100% that isn't the same story. I may just be getting a higher db output from the DAC's balanced out and therefore just higher gain before it gets to the preamp, but either way it sounds good."
As I understand it, the higher dB for balanced is only when using the Inverted + Non-Inverted signals.
If the 701 input is single ended with XLR adaptor sockets, which I believe it is. Then the Inverted signal is not connected and just the Non-Inverted part is being used, which is the same dB as a single ended signal. It's probably down to modern DAC's having a much higher output than traditional line level signals, whether SE or Bal.
How do you rate the MP-701 II?
Have you done any tube or Cap rolling?
The reason I ask, is a member of this parish has a similar set up to mine, same HF valve amp, same LF class D, same modified NS-1000m speakers/active/passive crossovers.
He went for the MP-701 instead of the Freya Plus, its early days for him, so wondered if you had anything worth passing on?
Ah that would be me !
Thanks Ken - sterling work.
i note that you have achieved cooler working tempertures, and the unit looks looks very nice.
The MP701mkII is superb value for money
Chris, are the caps that easy to swap in ?
I acquired a few 6N23P Russian valves which i believe are in the same working voltage range as the stock 6N11.
I felt the bass lost a bit of wellie so i am back to the 2N11 s.
The rectifier tube is stock.
I will have to read up to familiarise myself with the tube options on this very versatile preamp.
Hope i can PM you Chris.
Opti-cal
02-07-2021, 06:52
Ah that would be me !
Thanks Ken - sterling work.
i note that you have achieved cooler working tempertures, and the unit looks looks very nice.
The MP701mkII is superb value for money
Chris, are the caps that easy to swap in ?
I acquired a few 6N23P Russian valves which i believe are in the same working voltage range as the stock 6N11.
I felt the bass lost a bit of wellie so i am back to the 2N11 s.
The rectifier tube is stock.
I will have to read up to familiarise myself with the tube options on this very versatile preamp.
Hope i can PM you Chris.
Hi Shahrin,
yes no problem PM away.
A lot of tubes take 30 hours+ to really come on strong with the bass so your 6N23-P's may have improved with time. Nearly all the 6N23-P's I've heard have trumped the 2N11's. The Voskhod "Rocket" 6N23-P's are about the best of the small Russian tubes (although I use a Reflektor brand one in the follower position). I do have to say though that to really get a jump in performance the switch to 6SN7/6N8P tubes using adapters is necessary.
Changing the rectifier to a GZ34/5AR4 also had a dramatic difference for me. It doesn't absolutely have to be a Mullard one (as they are expensive) I have 85% of the performance of the Mullard using a T.A.D. GZ34/5AR4 here from Hot Rox:
https://www.hotroxuk.com/tad-gz34-5ar4-str-premium-select-rt501.html?utm_source=GoogleBase&utm_medium=organic&gclid=CjwKCAjwz_WGBhA1EiwAUAxIcWt614j7CoUGI-3q77GKNz2w_K51mdKw6AgYm_J95RgUbQN4ssBtJBoC28YQAvD_ BwE
The caps are very easy to swap in. (Unless you go for mega oversize ones like me!). Just make sure you drain the current from them before (ground with a screwdriver) or wait a good hour or so since switching it off.
Like I say feel free to PM me so we don't clog up Ken's thread too much.
Cheers
Grounding with a screw driver doesn't do the caps any good.
Put a big old ceramic resistor across the cap for a few seconds, that will drain it.
Use something like a 20W 400 to 800ohm ceramic wire wound resistor.
I made a box with a resistor in it, that I can plug a pair of meter test leads into, to do this for my Tube amps.
This box can be plugged in, in line with my meter/test leads, to drain the cap and confirm zero voltage is present in one operation.
The resistor is mounted in parallel across the leads inside the box.
Opti-cal
02-07-2021, 07:33
Grounding with a screw driver doesn't do the caps any good.
Put a big old ceramic resistor across the cap for a few seconds, that will drain it.
Use something like a 20W 400ohm ceramic wire wound resistor.
I made a box with a resistor in it, that I can plug a pair of meter test leads into, to do this for my Tube amps.
This box can be plugged in, in line with my meter/test leads, to drain the cap and confirm zero voltage is present in one operation.
The resistor is mounted in parallel across the leads inside the box.
Fair enough, my method might be a bit crude, it's more of a way just to see if they are drained enough to remove rather than to completely drain them, sorry if that wasn't clear.
A box as you describe does sound like a good idea.
Ali Tait
02-07-2021, 07:52
That's the plan Ali, along with my modded Primaluna PL4 for HF, Nord class D, now sporting Rev D input boards (bass++), the new speaker cabinets and Marchand active crossover with Linkwitz Transform. I'm kicking an f3 of 19Hz with this combo. :D
https://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Project_Images/Yam_Rev/YamRev_08B.jpg
Banging! Look forward to hearing it all Ken.
Cheers Chris
No we dont want to hijack Kens thread ;)
Thanks for link re rectifier.
I need to see a few projects through to completion.
Much obliged.
Shahrin
Grounding with a screw driver doesn't do the caps any good.
Put a big old ceramic resistor across the cap for a few seconds, that will drain it.
Use something like a 20W 400 to 800ohm ceramic wire wound resistor.
I made a box with a resistor in it, that I can plug a pair of meter test leads into, to do this for my Tube amps.
This box can be plugged in, in line with my meter/test leads, to drain the cap and confirm zero voltage is present in one operation.
The resistor is mounted in parallel across the leads inside the box.
yup thats best way to drain them. sparking will work but its shock tactics and may not rid it all. That said in the old telly days we were inclined to just stick a rather large driver across the huge smoothers.:D
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