Preamp Deal of the Century

Ivarmorten:

i used a 6106 and sovtek KT66 in my chardonnay without issue. mick is building a cabernet for me which is about done. he told me that the 6106 wouldn't gel in the cab's circuit.

Ivamorten,

What I'll say has been writen before in this thread but I'll recapitulate and provide some personal spin.
I have found that Chardonnay takes some time to break-in. Let it break-in for a few months with the stock tubes. This will stabilize the sound and acclimate you to the tubes that Mick voiced the preamp with. If you still want to roll, now you have a baseline.....
I've rolled many of the tubes mentioned on this thread. I highly recommend that you find a reputable tube dealer that will provide good tubes. The Chardonnay is very transparent and 'deserves' the best! I've wasted too much money on 'fleabay'. Caveat emptor!

Tube rolling is system dependent and I like to think of it as the bass/treble controls or system equalization. A given set of tubes will provide a very different response in your system. For example, a bendix 6106 rectifier will sound different with the Kt66 vs a bendix with a set of Tung-sol 6L6s.

For my particular set up I like the 6106 over the metal base Gz34. I like the 6F6GT in the regulator over the Kt66 with the 6106. However, the combo I've settled on is the 6106, 350b in the regulator and the Tung-sol 6sn7gt.

Enjoy the magic of Mick's preamp and save some money for your music!

Thanks Tvad, Kgturner and Powers for your kind replies. I just bought the Bendix from Kgturner on ebay. I would not have traded on ebay if I didn't know who the seller was.

My Chardonnay is two years old and it is completely broken in, obviously. I am perfectly happy with the stock tubes, but I want to have some tubes as spares. I am not into the expensive NOS stuff anyway, although it would be fun to try 350b as regulator. I have ordered two Sovtek KT66 and two Electro-Harmonix 6SN7EH. These are cheap and fun to try to see what this tube rolling is all about. I believe Mick is suppling these tubes with new Suprateks nowadays.

The stock tubes are Sovtek 5AR4, Electro-Harmonix 6L6EH and 6N8P of some unknown origin (probably Chinese).

I use a Mullard 5AR4. It is much better in my system then the Sovtek. They are not cheap - usually around $100 - $150 dollars, but well worth the upgrade IME. I found it too be smoother and cleaner sounding overall presentation. Other then that I too have found that Mick's choice for the other tubes is excellent and playing around with NOS and other funky tubes does not necessarily provide any better sound. Often just a bit different. Often for the worse.

cheers and good listening.

Hi everyone,
I just want to say thanks!!!
Since this thread is probably the reason behind my latest purchase - Chardonnay with a Bendix 6106 Rectifier tube and a matched pair of very rare Tung Sol Round Plate tubes.
All I can say is...........I AM SHOCKED & FLOORED in the same time. $1700 (used) for this preamp is one of my best buys so far. And I am not talking about money.

This thing is everything you guys said it is and more.

Cheers