Product Review
Wait. A passive or active preamp? A relay-switched stepped attenuator volume control for perfect channel matching and unmeasurable distortion? A unique active stage that uses a hybrid tube buffer? And a remote control included? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Get prepared as Schiit rewrites the value equation in home audio the same way we've done for the desktop.
When you're talking about gear that doesn't sit on your desktop (like our headphone amps), you need the convenience of remote control for volume, input switching, output switching, and muting. Saga includes a custom remote control, standard.
Go ahead. Run Saga in passive mode for a convenient remote-controlled passive preamp that's ideal for many systems. If you need to drive long cables, or want to add some "tube sound" switch it to the hybrid tube buffer--a serious buffer running on 200V rails with vanishingly low distortion.
Most preamps--passive or active--use a potentiometer for volume control. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but some pots can have channel imbalance at lower volume levels (so that one channel sounds louder than the other). Saga uses a sophisticated microprocessor-controlled relay-stepped attenuator for perfect channel matching and zero distortion. You can hear it clicking as you turn the volume up and down.
The vast majority of the total production cost of Saga--chassis, boards, transformers, assembly, etc.--goes to US companies manufacturing in the US. Our chassis are made minutes from our facility. Our PCBs are done just over the hill from us, or done in NorCal. Our transformers are also made in California.
Saga is covered by a 5-year limited warranty that covers parts and labor. One exception: the tubes. Those we cover for 3 months.
