Preamp Deal of the Century

I have the Cortese and a Sim Audio W-5. I think the combo works very well. Supratek preamps should mate well with most SS amps. You should email Mick with the input impedence and gain of the X250 and ask him if he has any concerns about component matching.

Hey guys. I would like to know what thwe consensus is re the gain knob on the back and also the gain switch on top of the unit. Also, which direction is what on the top flip switch. My amp is a model 10 Rowland. Thanks

i think it really depends on the sensitivity of your amp. i don't know the rowland, but my vac is pretty sensitive, and likes ideally under 20db of gain, so the top switches are set to low output (forward), and the back dial is set to highest output (all the way counter-clockwise).

hey bwhite (brian?)... i checked my kenrads, and they say vt231. something about them, maybe because i have them in my vac as well... just too much. sounds a little more veiled than the black glass tungsol.

you also liked the sylvania metal base 6sn7W... would this be similar to the black base, top getter, sylvania 6sn7W? i have a pair of these, and thought they were extended, but a little thin...

Hi Dennis - if your KenRads say VT-231 they are in the middle of the 3 sonic spectrums I've mentioned. In my system I find these to work the best - yes, their sound could be interpreted as "veiled" when compared to other 6SN7's but they deliver a weight and body that no other tube I've found can match. The rounds are much more open, a bit sweeter and dynamic.

In my system, I'd say my room is slightly "live" - so that adds a natural "air" to some extent. The KenRads tend to roll the highs slightly, push the midrange and give the sound a more natural overall timbre. Voices are much less metallic than with other tubes (Sylvania 6SN7W metal base).

I've found that most every tube has trade-offs. You just need to determine where in your system you can compensate for those.

There is never a sure fire tube implementation that works perfect in every system & for everyones taste (as I am finding out with my Aesthetix IO). The best solution is usually to try as many as you can.