If anyone is still looking for a SLP-98

A friend of mine sent me a Moscode preamp and it is called a hybrid. He sent it to me to see if it needed tubes as he has no way to test and it had stopped working for him. It had a bad mute switch that just needed cleaning. I was not overly impressed by it but I've heard worse. For whatever reason, it is called a hybrid preamp. Some people speak highly of them. Left me kinda "meh". 

Thanks for your explanation. You're well ahead of me on this stuff. I am an avid listener and I try when I can to understand some of the basics of electronics and that's about it. I have no intention of trying to build them. I may replace a part here and there but my skills in that area are very limited. When people start talking electronics to me, I feel like I'm back in kindergarten. I do pay attention though so don't give up on me. Thanks again,

A friend of mine sent me a Moscode preamp and it is called a hybrid.

Well, as I typed, I may have been mistaken about that part.

You’re well ahead of me on this stuff.

I wouldn’t say that at all, @billpete .

When people start talking electronics to me, I feel like I’m back in kindergarten.

Me too. I can solder and de-solder, but I am really bereft when it comes to understanding the  topology of the circuit that I am working on.

Yup, I just bought a desoldering rig in the last year. No idea what took me so long. Very handy tool. Knowing almost zero about all of these components is what makes me nervous. With no experts anywhere near where I live, I have to send things away to be worked on and I really don't know who to send to. There is a semi-retired guy in FL who sells "rebuilds" on ebay. I know one in TX but he is booked for 18 months at a time. I'm getting way too old to wait that long. I did send a VPI bearing to VAS. Still waiting for a verdict. He is likely to get some re-tip jobs from me as well. 

If it's a simple de-solder and solder in a new piece, I'll likely take a stab at it. Between my son and myself, we can take care of the simple stuff. I talk to the guys over at DIY audio too and they are helpful, just speak a different language than I do. EEese. 

@billpete I believe I was told Jensen caps. The tubes are EH 6SN7, I think 2 are gold and two are not. AU’s and AX’s are JJ. Probably not what I want to hear. I have quite a lot of vintage AU’s and AX’s and variants that will be better than JJ’s.

Most of us put the original EH 6SN7s back in their boxes and stored with the factory preamp box to be used for future resale of the preamp. My least favorite tubes compared to others in the 98. As for small 12Au.. tubes, it sounds like you already know what to do there. I keep and run an all-new reissue set of tubes, and another vintage set I roll in rarely.

To start, I’d recommend keeping the Jensen caps installed for a while, you might like then with th right tubes in the unit. And getting ready to acquire and try a great quad of 6SN7s paired with a few of your best 12A... small tubes first. If that preamp has been sitting a while, give it at least a week to settle back in.

Also, trying a good pair of pure copper interconnects, and silver over copper interconnects can bring out a different presentation in that preamp. Worth trying a few different pairs/types for source/input and output to your amp(s). Keep us posted how it goes in a few weeks.

decooney

Thanks. What you're saying is pretty much what I gather from all the study that I've put into this preamp. At least this one comes with the upgrades and is further upgraded than some with the Lundahl step up. I could be mistaken on the Jensen caps and may have read it on another or in talking to Cary. I can't find it in my notes on this one so not sure. I'll open it up when I get it to see what is inside. 

This one has been sitting on the shelf for the better part of 5 years. I am buying it from the 2nd owner who bought it to pair with a Cary tube amp 12 something or other. I pay little attention to amps so don't remember the model #s. His Cary amp started to act up and needed repair so he barely got to try the SLP 98. I think he said he only put a few hours on it and probably wasn't overly impressed since it had stock tubes that only had 10 hours on them. I remember that feeling with my PH301. I could tell that it was special but Chinese and Yugo tubes had to go. Virtually every vintage tube was better than either the Chinese, or Yugo EI's.