Preamp Thunderdome

Schiit Announces Four Preamps—and a New Sales Approach

May 28, 2019, Valencia, CA. Schiit announced the immediate availability of four stereo preamplifierss, ranging from $299-899 today, as well as a new “Product Thunderdome” sales model that allows Schiit to bring a wider variety of interesting products to its buyers, without the downsides of a traditional mass buying site model.

The four preamps are:

• Saga S. Single-ended passive or JFET buffer remote controlled preamp with 64-step relay stepped attenuator, $299.
• Saga+. Single ended passive or tube hybrid buffer remote controlled preamp with 64-step relay stepped attenuator, $399.
• Freya S. Balanced and single-ended passive or Nexus™ solid-state gain stage remote controlled preamp with 128-step relay stepped attenuator, $599.
• Freya+. Balanced and single-ended, passive, discrete differential buffer, or discrete differential tube remote controlled preamp with 128-step relay-stepped attenuator, $899.

"This may seem like a lot of preamps,” Jason Stoddard, Schiit’s Co-Founder, said. “But, taken together, they provide a wide range of options at affordable prices for people looking for either tube or solid-state preamps. And, since we’re selling them under the Product Thunderdome model, we’ll find out exactly what people like—and continue making only what they like.”

Product Thunderdome is an entirely new idea, where “several products enter, but maybe none leave.” It allows Schiit to bring its customers new, cool things more often, and perhaps even to offer one-off special runs in the future—but without making prospects join a group to get the price down, or wait for months for delivery. The products that sell the best continue in the line.

“This allows us to have some fun doing variations that nobody may ever have seen,” Jason said. “For example, we probably would have never done solid-state preamps without Thunderdome. Now, with two solid-state preamps in the line, we’ll see what people really want.”

One of the solid-state preamps, Freya S, is also the first product to feature Nexus™, a unique, discrete, current-feedback topology that seamlessly handles both single-ended balanced inputs and outputs without conversion.

Similarly, Freya+ is a large advance on the previous Freya, offering complete power-down of tubes when not in use, a motorized potentiometer to track the remote control, and a new differential buffer stage for easier integration with amplifiers that need differential input. 

Saga S is Schiit’s least expensive preamp to date, and provides an ultra-high-end relay-stepped attenuator passive stage, as well as a two-JFET discrete buffer, for use with a wide range of power amplifiers. Combined with Vidar, it creates a complete preamp and power amp system for under $1000.

Saga+ is an enhancement of the original Saga, with a motorized potentiometer to track the remote control and DC heaters for even lower noise. Like all Sagas and Freyas, it also features a relay-stepped attenuator for volume control.

All four preamps are available to purchase immediately at schiit.com.

About Schiit Audio

Founded in June 2010 by Jason Stoddard and Mike Moffat, Schiit has grown into a leader in affordable high-end audio, with a wide range of products spanning DACs, headphone amplifiers, and preamplifiers, from $49 to $2399. 

Press Contact
Denise Martin, [email protected]