The modius and magnius should be here today and I will review againt my favorite Bifrost 2 with the Jot and Ly 3…will use HD600, Focal Clear and HEDD headphones.
So many permutations here…so it will take some time…
Alex
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Yes this is a good place to take this discussion. Thanks for sharing Palidin and welcome to the forum!!
Alex
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Excuse my ignorance but what is the amp you guys are talking about that needs it’s own thread @ProfFalkin @FLTWS @Paladin ?
Just pm me the details and I’ll get a thread going for it and others as necessary! I’ll move the posts over once created
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Paladin has joined the forum and has some really neat custom builds that would better fit in the Tube amp DIY general discussion thread…
Thanks
Alex
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Yeah, almost a “@Paladin is a hardcore guru” thread!
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@TylersEclectic, “Community Member Custom Amplifier Build” thread, maybe?
I just received a pretty sweet SS amp that @lost33 built. That’d be a great place to discuss Tube and Solid State amplifiers.
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The amp in question is my creation, the Incubus Elegan, FLTWS uses the proper usage since U was a V in the Roman alphabet, in English, Elegant Nightmare.
I am not really interested in a thread because the amps are pretty time consuming and all are hand built with expensive components and wire. I am not interested in building a whole lot more. I take special care that no two cabinets are alike. It is a class A OTL tube amp using a 6sn7 and 6080 or equivalent power tube with nearly double the power of a BH Crack. The amp was created for my local audiophile group so they could do a blind comparison of 6sn7 equivalent tubes. Unfortunately people loved the sound and wanted one, I believe in the accuracy of numbers so I sent some samples out to people across the country and they wanted one as well. When many outsiders loved it, I realized there may be an earnest love of the amp but it has been a non profit venture, I have given seven amps away. We know each other some and if a person asks me for purple cables or an amplifier or whatever I try to help out. I recently made some refinements that make the amp even more desirable and FLTWS will get one soon. I do not trust one person’s opinion on the sound of any piece of equipment but he has my trust, and respect like few others. I have built over forty and have had a couple offers for the design so the amp does not lend itself to me answering a lot of questions about it lol. I have been involved in electronics since college so my joy is more about creating things of beauty, sound wise as well as visually appealing. I have been offered as much as $5k for each amp but I prefer to stay around $1,500 or less. Oh and the amp does well with 32 ohms as well as higher impedance headphones and I like to add a preamp out. I hope some of this makes sense lol.
At this point in my life I do not listen to any solid state for headphones or two channel audio and I have designed a few of those myself so I would decline any offer of combining the two in a thread. I like tubes, YMMV. 
Tom
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Just curious, with the Incubus getting such nice attention, do you have a Succubus model?
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lol now there is a bad idea, but I will consider it. I do have a bunch of lumber to use up yet I am just as happy gifting cutting boards and headphone stands to friends.
People are begging me to design a tube pre-amp so I may still do that, but only a half dozen or so. I need to get to the DC area and help my son with some woodworking. Most of his tile work is done.
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Succubus! LOL, maybe that would be a solid state or hybrid affair?
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I would recommend the Freya+, which is a Freya S plus an amazing tube section. Roll in some nice NOS tubes, spend around 50%-80% the cost of the preamp on tubes and you’ll easily be getting $3-$5k worth of tube sound. I’ve extensively compared the Freya+ against other preamps costing up to $5k and the difference did not justify the difference in price both on my speaker rig and using the SR1a. I found the latter to be a great gear evaluation tool due to its revealing nature.
Returned 3 tube preamps and the Freya+ is still here. I’ll give one last shot to a 4th preamp (MSRP is $6.9k) to see if it manages to demolish the Freya+ which I highly doubt, but will report back. No wonder why it’s been on backorder forever, it gets scooped every time it’s back in stock.
The Freya+ is BY FAR THE BEST price/performance ratio component that I have in my system and as an added bonus, it responds and scales really well with some tube rolling. Don’t sleep on the Freya+. I know I’ll be all over the Freya+ MKII or Freya++ or whatever they call the upgraded revision if Schiit come up with one. Again, don’t sleep on the Freya+ and don’t wait for the Black chassis version, it might never show up due to the already high demand for the current Silver version.
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Magnius and Modius re-schedled for Monday this am…gosh Fedex is really having a time!
Was supposed to be here Thursday…
They say “Good things come to those who wait!!”
waiting…waiting…lol
Alex
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I’m close to pulling the trigger on a Freya +. Do your impressions reflect both its balanced and SE performance? Thanks.
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I use both balanced and SE inputs and outputs. Balanced is better than SE but the latter is also great, just not as good as balanced. Note that I only notice the difference if I switch immediately from Balanced to SE or vice-versa, but if I just start listening on SE, I don’t feel like something is missing or off. Tube upgrades that have good synergy with your system is critical to make the most of Freya+.
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Awesome, very helpful as I’d be using both balanced and SE.
I believe the Freya S has Schiit’s NEXUS topology, but that the Freya +'s differential buffer stage is different. I plan on visiting the Schiitr to compare what the difference sounds like, if any. I’d likely primarily use the tube stage though.
Identifying the right tubes would be the next milestone. Thanks.
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I’ll post my experience rolling tubes on the Lyr (6SN7) in the Lyr thread when I’ve had more time listening. May help since the they use the same tubes (and topology).
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Right on - makes sense and I’ll keep an eye out! I’ve seen your pics and some of those tubes are easy on the eyes.
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Hey the package arrived!! Unexpectedly today!! Yeah!
Its all unpacked and running…sweet setup and great sound…I will write up my experience in a few days…so far only used Clears balanced and unbalanced and prefer the SE out so far, and yes thats they one that some website say measured poorly…see its not all about measurments!! LOL
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I think I need those… 
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That’s quite a pile of Schiit you have there.
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