If anyone is still looking for a SLP-98

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. 

@billpete ...2nd owner who bought it to pair with a Cary tube amp 12 something or other.

Probably either the Cary V12, 12i, 12R amp, and I owned one for many years along with a few colleagues. Without a good local tech or Cary agreeing to service the 87lb monster, this happens. Many paired the SLP-98 pre with it or still do.

Maybe you could just plug it in and let it play on/off for a week solid, and make sure all is okay and nothing shorts out. Let those EH tubes burn, some say they are "okay" with more time, yet I will say I tried mine for a while and did not enjoy them. 

For an entirely different thread, or you can search old threads - many of us have posts out there about our batches of vintage and/or new re-issue 6SN7s. PSVANE direct (mfg) just sent me some replacement CV-181TIIs I like quite a bit, and I still have a few quads of TJ Full Music 6SN7s I run in my SLP-98L now. Mix them too.

Sounds as good or better than many of my vintage ones. The TJFMs (now sold to PSVANE Co.) have lasted well last 2 years, and time will tell on the new PSVANEs. I helped a friend with his integrated amp and we recently installed the new Horizon series in his. A little more detailed than former versions. With these, I keep my vintage 6SN7s mothballed and stored away and break them out once a year fwiw.

Yes, V12. He said it was a heavy monster. 

Will post when I get the SLP, should be next week.