Preamp Deal of the Century

Cello, Amandarae & Slowhand thanks again. You guys are right its almost impossible to get the Tung-sol 6SN7.

Just curious what would be second best to replace the Tung-sol 6SN7 and the Philips miniwatt GZ34?

HI Jay461,I am using a pair of Sylvania 6SN7W metal base along with the Sylvania 6F6G to stunning effect, yes the metal base 6SN7W are very rare,I have two pair of Tungsol black glass round plates ,one pair as new, never been plugged in yet... There is something going on between the Sylvanias that I like better, I need more time with comparing the Tungsols and the metal base Sylvanias.I am hunting down another pair of Sylvania metal base and will sell my near N.O.S. Tungsols once I find them.The tube store has some Philips mini watts non metal base for your p.s. if you are interseted.

Thanks Stiltskin, the price for those miniwatts are steep for me. Hence the second choice. I'm using my Chardonnay with a solid state power amp (MC352) and looks like most of you here are using an all tube set up(?).

Could there be a different combonation of tubes for solid state as opposed to a tube amp?
If so, then that begs the question what are the best tubes for the Chardonnay in a SS set up?

I asked Mick about wich one of SAUVIGNON (linestage of Cortese) or CABERNET (linestage of Grange) would work better with single ended triodes like Cary 805C.
He said that although the CABERNET is the cream of their preamps both have the ability to bring out the best of the Cary, although the Sauvignon has lower gain and might have better volume control...
Does it have any importance with respect of amps? or is it more important if you have sensitive loudspeakers?. Or both?.
Compared with the Syrah gain he said that the the Sauvignon is about the same as the Syrah in "low" gain while the Cabernet is about in between of the "low" and "high" positons.
Someone could explain it?.
I´d like to pair one of those preamps with Cary 805C Single Ended Triodes (50 watts) and Von Schweikert db99 loudspeakers (99db sensitive).
I´d rather the CABERNET but I´m affraid to have very little volume control.

HI Jay461 if you want to have a sweeter sound with your SS try RCA VT231 grey glass.

If you want a substitute in almost the same ligue for Philips Miniwatt metal base look for GZ34 of these kind:

-bakelite black base
-with good flash down the top mica
-double D getters
-4 notch plates
-from the late 50,s and early 60´s
-branded GE or RCA. (with hole in center of base pin)
You can find them maybe as low as around $30-$40 if you look patienly.

I like 4 cut and double getter better than 8 cut single getter. 4 cut double
getter is older, single getter was a cost cutting measure, cost cutting is
usually bad for sound quality.
Around the middle 60's the tube companies tried to cut production costs and
many changes were bad for sound.
My favorite GZ34 bakelite base was from late 50's. Like 1959 was a great
sounding year!.

But again the best are Philips Miniwatt , Mullard or Valvo GZ34
metal base. They are the best althogh hard to say for how much compared with the GZ34 bakelite base.