Warm, yet detailed tube preamp

@avanti1960 Cary Audio SLP 98 is the ticket between warm, dynamic and detailed and responds well to tube upgrades, e.g. Sylvania GTA.

I can make my Cary SLP-98 preamp sound like four different tube preamps by simply changing the 6SN7 tubes and capacitors. And, it responds to different interconnect cables when the rest of the system is reasonably transparent.

TUBES:

The original stock EH Electro Harmonix 6SN7 tubes always seemed a tad lean.

For more detail, neutral midrange, vintage 6SN7 Sylvania GT work okay

New manufacturer TungSol 6SN7GTB, more weighty, less detail, tad more grainy. Not as refined as my vintage or others below.  

For more midrange weight and body, velvety, PSVANE CV181s do the trick.

In between, my mothballed sets of TS Full Music 6SN7s are very nice.

ICs:

Having tried several different pairs of interconnects with my SLP-98 - Apature silver-over-copper, Analysis Plus OCC copper, various Cardas Grade 1 copper, and others... each provided different results as well.

Caps:

Choose your flavor, a whole other chapter on different sounds with this preamp.

In summary, when someone indicates lean or full or weighty sound from any 6SN7 preamp I’ve tried, there are other factors involved to yield different results too fwiw.

The SLP-98 is a nice preamp, but somewhat hampered, IMO, by the simple parallel 6SN7 configuration and the stock output capacitors.  I tried many tube and cable combinations with mine and achieved decent results, but by comparison the Aikido 6SN7 is much "faster" and more transparent, offering more information and liquidity while maintaining the linearity and naturalness of the 6SN7.  Part of that is due to the noise-cancelling properties of the Aikido, as well as the SRPP-like configuration.  If you like the Cary but haven't heard an Aikido-style preamp I think you'd be surprised at the comparison.  It's too bad Don Sachs doesn't make his anymore.  An assembled and upgraded SP14 is a close contender, though.

@dogearedaudio If you haven’t already, check out the Raven pre that Don has co-designed for Spatial Audio — it goes way beyond what he’s done with his prior preamps albeit at a somewhat dearer price point.  There’s another thread here that has a lot more info on the specifics of the design.

https://www.spatialaudiolab.com/raven-preamplifier

Yes, that looks like a very nice design, and not as expensive as I thought. Wonder what the harmonic cancellation sounds like (assuming it’s a push-pull topology). I still think the Aikido is one of the "great ideas" of audio and considering how cheaply it can be built, and how easily it can be upgraded to give stellar performance, it’s also a great bargain. ;-)

If you're into a kit, try the Vacuum Tube Audio SP14. I did mine up with Mundorf Ag/Au caps, Khozmo remote attenuator, Vishay resistors and NOS 6sn7 tubes. Fits my system's sound like a glove and it's been absolutely trouble free for many years!