Preamp Deal of the Century

Outlier - preamps seem to be more sensitive to tube quality than amplifiers. A tube which sounds perfect in an amp can squeak and be rather noisy in a preamp. Be aware of this when shopping. Ask the seller if they honor an exchange or refund if the tubes you buy are too noisy for the Supratek.

I've tried many 6SN7's and clearly the best are either the Ken Rad black glass or the Sylvania 6SN7w's (metal base).

The RCA 5692 red base tubes you speak of are just okay. Tung Sol Round plates are pretty good. Raytheon VT231's are alright. Brimars are too detailed but may work in some situations. A tube I haven't tried is the Mullard CV181 - which isn't a "true" 6SN7 but should work.

In your tube quest you might try looking/shopping for 6SN7GTB tubes. They are new(er) cost MUCH less and there are quite a few different brands available. So far, I've picked up some National's and a pair of Canadian made GE 6SN7GTB's which were pretty darn good. There is no doubt that the character of the older NOS tubes is superior to the 6SN7GTB's I've tried but the GTB's are WAY quieter, less microphonic and super cheap (can usually be purchased for 10 or 15 bucks a pair).

hope this helps.

Hi Asa, Syrah is fine and has absolutely no problem. The changes are that I am reducing listening time to have more sleep!

Hi Bwhite I try to call scott to mod my chardonnay several times, but nobody answer the phone is he still in business?Or how can I get hold of him. Thanks

Thanks BWhite for the tube advice. I'll start hunting for some of those tubes.

Tubes for the Syrah. I found the best 6SN7s in the Syrah to be the KenRad VT231s or the old Sylvania brown bases, 6SN7W GTs I believe. The RCA 5692 red bases were terrible. I also found the best regulators were the Sylvania 5932 best. The best rectifier I found was the RCA 5V4 GA. The phono stage tubes give you little choice. The WE 147A versus the Raytheon 5842 is difficult as the first tends to be best if not microphonic, but most are. The choice between Mullard and RCA 6GK5 seems to make little difference. Also many of these tubes are noisy.

Tube rolling with this unit is great fun but expensive. Good luck to you beginning this journey.