My “Dream” system needs a preamp

Hi scothurwitz...

So... I did purchase a Supratek but in the end decided to stay with the BHK.  The Supratek is nice but a bit to "polite" meaning it rounds off the leading edge of transients.  The version I had was the DHT.  Good balance but not in the same league as the BHK.  The tubes I have settled upon in the BHK are early 60's 7dj8's out of Germany but there are a number of very good tube options out there for reasonable money.  

My system is a 47 labs Pi tracer CD (oldie but goodie), Denafrips terminator and PS Audio DirectStream w/Bridge-II D-A streamers, of course the PS Audio BHK Pre, that's it for the front end.  The main amps are Coincident Frankenstein Mk-II 300B monoblocks driving BD-Design Orphean horns running full range plus a pair of Crown K2 amps bridged mono driving BD-Design 15" Reference Compact base speakers.

Let me know if I can help you further. 

I also own both the BHK and the Supratek Chardonnay and I prefer the Chardonnay which is a straight 6SN7 preamp. In terms of just lack of noise alone the Supratek wins by a mile. I have rolled almost two dozen different pairs of new production and NOS tubes through the BHK including 6,7 and 12 volt tubes. The quietest pair of tubes though certainly not the best sounding were a pair of triode matched Gold Lions 12AU7’s. All of the 6 & 7 volt tubes are noisier than the 12AU7’s the preamp was voiced with. The 6SN7 based preamps just happen to be my preference sound wise. We all hear things differently in our systems so neither one of us is "correct." Also the DHT based preamps sound different than the 6SN7 based one so who knows tinear123 might have preferred that version.

No doubt that the Supratek was dead quiet and yes possibly the 6SN7 could have been a better fit than the DHT version but the synergy between my Coincident amps and the BHK is better than the Supratek… in my very high efficiency system where it is capable of very high dynamics the DHT Supertek was just not quick enough on it's feet.  FYI, the BHK is very sensitive to ICs.  I have a friend that tried the same  7dj8's as me in his BHK and they were noisy.  I put the same exact pair in my BHK and they are dead quiet.  So now I have a 2nd pair for backup.

I have owned the BHK for well over two years and in that time I have used multiple brands and models of IC's so I don't go for that theory.  One of the problems with the BHK preamps from being a member of their forum for many years is that no two of them seem to be exactly alike and there have been more than a few mods of the input boards which have been prone to failure as have the ones in the amps.   So if you received one that is acceptably quiet to you with your particular amps then count yourself lucky because I suspect that there is a chance that if you tried a different one in your system it might not react the same. Mine is even noisy with their own amp.  I have a friend on another forum that has had three different ones in his system and he said each  one had it's own noise related quirks with no two being alike.  Their is no disputing the BHK is a great sounding preamp once the music is playing but when it's not it can be a different story in some systems. Especially those with low input sensitivity amps or high sensitivity speakers. You found the one you like best so enjoy  and I will do the same. 

Well the differences pre to pre would make sense of why mine is quiet with 7DJ8's and my friends has a low level hum..