Preamp Deal of the Century

Stevem1960,

I can relate to what you are saying about "leaving well enough alone". This is the exact reason why I refuse to tube roll with my Cortese. I love the sound I get with the stock tubes. This is the way Mick set the preamp to sound and it sounds fantastic to my ears. I am getting that "magic" sound from my system now. I am not going to screw things up by trying to improve the sound with NOS tubes! I hope everyone can find the magic in their system. It is there somewhere. If and when you find it, leave things alone and enjoy the music!

Slowhand: I have'nt tube-rolled for five years! And, I've got many nice 6SN7's including Mullards; Brimars; Sylvanias; Toshiba and KenRads ...waste of time, Micks preamps are BEST as delivered with fresh tubes and as adjusted by him. Tube rolling is the proverbial dog-chasing-tail ...all IMHO.

Regards,

Steve M.

Oh, I forgot. My Sony SCD-1 is on it's way back to me from having the latest VSEI upgrades done to it. Oh No! I hope I have not lost my magic!

I totally agree with you Steve M. You can buy a lot of great music for what NOS tubes cost.

Mick told me that my Malbecs are ready to ship. I ordered them in October. As soon as I have them and a chance to listen to them I'll post my initial impressions. They are good candidates to replace my highly modified Golden Tube 300b Mk I, but let's my ears to decide. Pablo.

Slowhand,What a brute of a c.d. player the SCD1 is.55 lbs? I bought the 777 shortly after they came on the market back in 2000 and had it modded afew years later.The 777 was my first c.d. player ever. It sure was dark days for vinyl back in the 90s .Have you tried rollerblocks under your SCD1? Put them near the transport,its amazing what they do for a c.d. player.....Last time I checked going prices for certain vintage tubes ,I put mine away in a safer place.Back in the 90s the most expensive vintage vacuum tubes I bought was CRAZY money,around $60.00 for a pair of Sylvania metal base 6SN7s.The tube and parts dealer saw me coming. I couldn't tell you what going prices for any of the vintage Western Electric vacuum tubes were going for. Someone mentioned here apair of W.E. 350Bs were $400.00 apair.I think hes wrong,400 for a single tube, if it test new. Tube rolling with vintage vacuum tubes will change the sound of your Supratek pre.Thats for sure. Though certainly not for the better.If you have money to burn on vintage tubes, slow down, this money for sure is better spent in other areas of your system.Have your c.d. player modded and buy some rollerblocks to go with it. Have your tonearm rewired and carry on with the same wire through out your system. Try out some decent a.c. distribution through out your system,all from the same manufacture. Anyone of these steps will have a profound effect.