[Zhon]

At @Paladin79's recommendation over a year ago, he recommended to me some Soviet Reflektor ECC88 tubes for the cathode follower sockets for my Freya N. They are inexpensive, readily available, and made a positive difference over the stock tubes that came with my Freya. For the past couple of weeks I've had my new set of Telefunken's in the differential gain sockets. A couple of weeks ago I started hearing some random hissing noise while listening to music. I traced it to one of the follower tubes, thankfully, so I pulled them and replaced with the stock tubes or similar spares that I have on hand. In the meantime, I soaked the Rockets in Deoxit for over 24 hours, gave them a thorough cleaning, and brushed them with Deoxit Gold.

Anyhoo, with the non-Reflektors the music was lacking something or rather, I was missing something that was there before, some ingredient that gave the sauce that extra thing that kicks it over the line from good to very good. Last evening I put the Reflektors back in and settled in for more of Apple Music's Jam Band playlist while I read some more of Tolkien's "The Silmarillion" (great book, BTW, not at all the slog I was warned that it would be). The good news is that there was no hissing or other unwanted noise. The music sounded amazing. Detailed, warm, and oh-so-tubey! The chain was M1 Mac Mini->Gumby->Freya N->Lokius->Sys->Magni Piety>HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite headphones.

For those of you with Freya N's, what tubes are you using in the follower sockets? Any other recommendations?

<Edited to correct socket type>

Not sure which socket is which but I pair the RCA BP 6CG7s on the left with some Tung Sol GP 6CG7s on the right. Full, warm, and natural sounding (with the most natural treble response I have ever heard). This is with very neutral and slightly dry-sounding equipment in the chain. The RCAs are responsible for the bass/mids response, and the Tung Sols for the treble.

You can't go wrong with the RCA BPs ($40 a pair), and they are way easier to find than the fabled Raytheon Black Plates. Tung Sols ($50 a pair) IME has to be paired with tubes that can compensate for their lackluster bass response (such as RCA BP), though the treble is to die for.

 

[AstronomerXI]

Not sure which socket is which but I pair the RCA BP 6CG7s on the left with some Tung Sol GP 6CG7s on the right. Full, warm, and natural sounding (with the most natural treble response I have ever heard). This is with very neutral and slightly dry-sounding equipment in the chain. The RCAs are responsible for the bass/mids response, and the Tung Sols for the treble.

You can't go wrong with the RCA BPs ($40 a pair), and they are way easier to find than the fabled Raytheon Black Plates. Tung Sols ($50 a pair) IME has to be paired with tubes that can compensate for their lackluster bass response (such as RCA BP), though the treble is to die for.

Followers on the left, Gain on the right. Thanks for posting your tube recommendations! I'll add RCA's to my list of tubes to look for.

 

[Matthias0421]

Hi, can you let me know what are the names and models of the tubes? How do they sound? Thanks.

GAIN: PSVANE 6SN7-SE (GLOBE) (right)
OUTPUT: Shuguang CV181-Z (left)

Please correct me if i am wrong.

My impression in sound is better dynamic, very deep bass, better details, big stage, better say multiple stages, very holographic, emotional and realistic.

I am in beginning level, so sorry for the non professional describing of "how do they sound".

 

[OhHeyItsLou]

GAIN: PSVANE 6SN7-SE (GLOBE) (right)
OUTPUT: Shuguang CV181-Z (left)

Please correct me if i am wrong.

My impression in sound is better dynamic, very deep bass, better details, big stage, better say multiple stages, very holographic, emotional and realistic.

I am in beginning level, so sorry for the non professional describing of "how do they sound".

I'm pretty close to this setup. Sounds outstanding.

Treasure Globe 6SN7-SE // Psvane CV181-T MKII

 

[PoMarantz]

OK…
I have had my Freya+for a couple of years. I replaced all the caps and resistors in the tube circuit with $600 worth of audiophile components…and top-vented the unit a while back. Think I posted that whole super-charging,here back on this thread w/photos…not sure……have been loving my Freya +…but recently I got "itchy"
(I researched a lot)..and decided to go for the gusto and ordered two new Treasure Globe 6SN7-SE GF tubes from Grant Fidelity in Canada, (I'm in Jersey)..….have my original JJs on the left side. I have been running 2 NOS GE 6S7N GTBs on the right side…for a long time now, and have enjoyed them.
The Globes were $450 shipped…GULP!…took 2 weeks to get here..and initially I thought that I had made a HUGE mistake upon first few hours of listening……but my reading said that I had to get AT LEAST 100 hours on them before the magic happens. I have had "mixed” experiences with "burn-in claims" in all areas of our hobby…some bull§hit…some profound….I am pretty openminded about burn-in claims….MAN O MAN did the sound change a lot from first listen when new! Amazing! I am in Sonic Heaven this weekend having accomplished the burn-in (100+ hours). It’s literally transformed my system! The improvement/change in sound is not subtle at all.

 

[Smoothstereo]

OK…
I have had my Freya+for a couple of years. I replaced all the caps and resistors in the tube circuit with $600 worth of audiophile components…and top-vented the unit a while back. Think I posted that whole super-charging,here back on this thread w/photos…not sure……have been loving my Freya +…but recently I got "itchy"
(I researched a lot)..and decided to go for the gusto and ordered two new Treasure Globe 6SN7-SE GF tubes from Grant Fidelity in Canada, (I'm in Jersey)..….have my original JJs on the left side. I have been running 2 NOS GE 6S7N MTBs on the right side…for a long time now, and have enjoyed them.
The Globes were $450 shipped…GULP!…took 2 weeks to get here..and initially I thought that I had made a HUGE mistake upon first few hours of listening……but my reading said that I had to get AT LEAST 100 hours on them before the magic happens. I have had "mixed” experiences with "burn-in claims" in all areas of our hobby…some bull§hit…some profound….I am pretty openminded about burn-in claims….MAN O MAN did the sound change a lot from first listen when new! Amazing! I am in Sonic Heaven this weekend having accomplished the burn-in (100+ hours). It’s literally transformed my system! The improvement/change in sound is not subtle at all.

Nice, when you get a chance, please provide a detailed comparison if you can. Thanks.

 

[OhHeyItsLou]

OK…
I have had my Freya+for a couple of years. I replaced all the caps and resistors in the tube circuit with $600 worth of audiophile components…and top-vented the unit a while back. Think I posted that whole super-charging,here back on this thread w/photos…not sure……have been loving my Freya +…but recently I got "itchy"
(I researched a lot)..and decided to go for the gusto and ordered two new Treasure Globe 6SN7-SE GF tubes from Grant Fidelity in Canada, (I'm in Jersey)..….have my original JJs on the left side. I have been running 2 NOS GE 6S7N MTBs on the right side…for a long time now, and have enjoyed them.
The Globes were $450 shipped…GULP!…took 2 weeks to get here..and initially I thought that I had made a HUGE mistake upon first few hours of listening……but my reading said that I had to get AT LEAST 100 hours on them before the magic happens. I have had "mixed” experiences with "burn-in claims" in all areas of our hobby…some bull§hit…some profound….I am pretty openminded about burn-in claims….MAN O MAN did the sound change a lot from first listen when new! Amazing! I am in Sonic Heaven this weekend having accomplished the burn-in (100+ hours). It’s literally transformed my system! The improvement/change in sound is not subtle at all.

I have the Treasure Globe 6SN7-SE's and much like your experience right out of the box the treble was very hot. It took mine about 150 hrs to settle down and now they're very balanced. Bass is tight and textured and now treble sparkles with a ton of detail.

 

[PoMarantz]

Nice, when you get a chance, please provide a detailed comparison if you can. Thanks.

…hi…OK…I want to give these Treasure Globes a full burn-in of over 200 hrs. before I give my impressions. I am also burning-in some new Tung Sol GTBs on the left side of my Freya + (and I want to shift them to the right side and get some impressions as contrast to The Globes and my NOS GTBs), …I have NOS GE GTBs which I have been using for years and really love. I will list my system components as well to give context….I'll try to post this weekend after burn-in and listening.

 

[PoMarantz]

I have the Treasure Globe 6SN7-SE's and much like your experience right out of the box the treble was very hot. It took mine about 150 hrs to settle down and now they're very balanced. Bass is tight and textured and now treble sparkles with a ton of detail.

…mine are settling down….they are doing everything you say yours are at 100 hrs burn-in….but….I still have a trade-off of midrange fullness to a degree compared to my NOS GE GTBs. I am going to get them to 200 hours and give impressions after that. Our systems, sound preferences, and sources make all of this so personal and difficult to discuss and compare meaningfully…but it’s all good to be engaging with the music!

 

[prtuc2]

Hello everyone, just received my Freya+ today and decided to fire it up. I am not sure if I am connecting it wrong or just the unit itself even at max volume on the Freya+ --> Decware torii MK5 the listening volume is much lower than without Freya+ in the system.
Also test this with my headphone setup Freya+ --> Eksonic Aeras, the volume is noticeable lower. I am not sure if burning it in will solve this problem. This is a B-stock item just for your information.
Thanks for any input everyone.

 

[Tbone289]

Hello everyone, just received my Freya+ today and decided to fire it up. I am not sure if I am connecting it wrong or just the unit itself even at max volume on the Freya+ --> Decware torii MK5 the listening volume is much lower than without Freya+ in the system.
Also test this with my headphone setup Freya+ --> Eksonic Aeras, the volume is noticeable lower. I am not sure if burning it in will solve this problem. This is a B-stock item just for your information.
Thanks for any input everyone.

I'm not sure what is going on here. In passive and differential buffer modes at max volume, you should have the same output from Freya+ as your source's output since it's unity gain in those modes. This is not a burn-in issue.

The only case I can think of that will give you less than unity gain is if you're feeding Freya+ with a single-ended input and using balanced outputs in passive mode. Passive mode won't convert SE to balanced, but buffer and tube modes will.

Tube mode output should be 12dB higher than your source's output at max volume.

 

[mystaiced]

Hello everyone, just received my Freya+ today and decided to fire it up. I am not sure if I am connecting it wrong or just the unit itself even at max volume on the Freya+ --> Decware torii MK5 the listening volume is much lower than without Freya+ in the system.
Also test this with my headphone setup Freya+ --> Eksonic Aeras, the volume is noticeable lower. I am not sure if burning it in will solve this problem. This is a B-stock item just for your information.
Thanks for any input everyone.

What source are you using and what cables? There will be a slight volume difference if using XLR input but not using the tube buffer or differential buffer. If you are converting Single ended to balanced, or balanced to singled ended, differential buffer should be used at a minimum. Or tube buffer and that will add more DB in volume like @Tbone289 stated above.

 

[Tbone289]

Yep... I edited to add the same as you were posting @mystaiced.

 

[prtuc2]

Speaker setup PC usb out to usb in Rockna Wavedream SE RCA out to Freya+ input 3 RCA --> RCA out from Freya+ to my power amp Decware Torii MK5 RCA input.

Headphone setup PC usb out to usb in Yggdrasil, from Yggdrasil XLR out to Freya+ XLR IN --> from Freya+ XLR out to my Eksonic Aeras XLR input.

I had purchase the RCA and XLR cables from Schiit website Ptsy cables.

As for the setting on the Freya+, I tried buffer LED and tube LED mode and the output selection either the differential buffer at 0db gain and the tube gain at 12-13.5dB gain. I haven't touch the volume on my power amp.

 

[mystaiced]

Speaker setup PC usb out to usb in Rockna Wavedream SE RCA out to Freya+ input 3 RCA --> RCA out from Freya+ to my power amp Decware Torii MK5 RCA input.

Headphone setup PC usb out to usb in Yggdrasil, from Yggdrasil XLR out to Freya+ XLR IN --> from Freya+ XLR out to my Eksonic Aeras XLR input.

I had purchase the RCA and XLR cables from Schiit website Ptsy cables.

As for the setting on the Freya+, I tried buffer LED and tube LED mode and the output selection either the differential buffer at 0db gain and the tube gain at 12-13.5dB gain. I haven't touch the volume on my power amp.

Able to take a picture of the front and back? So we can see what lights are engaged?