Preamp Deal of the Century

Hello Amandarae. Yes the 6v6 works very well as a regulator in the supratek. Regarding warm up:each and all quality [tubed] preamp stages will take a minimum of 20 minutes of warm up time to come into there own and should be optimum about twice that amount of time. I can see you have figured it out that there is not much point in turning off your SS amp. Regarding the bass balance with the Kenrad black: What speaker are you using? Your phono stage configuration is different then mine however I am really somewhat suprised at your analysis of the red based 5692. Personally... It would be my last pick of nos 6sn7's for the line gain duty in my Syrah.... Funny thing is: it is far and away the choice of tube in my MFA luminescence.Than again, the lumi is somewhat darker sounding the my Syrah. Perhaps this observation is in direct contrast to the Kenrad... because of the bloomy base you are experiencing with the Kenrad. As our own Jazzdude has recommended [more than once I might add]... you mighy want to try a pair of RCA grey glass 6sn7gt's. They are a lot better balanced [tone wise] than the RCA 5692 in the syrah and possess a lot of that organic midband of the Kenrad. Further more, they are a hell of a lot cheaper to boot. In my rig, the 5692 sounds a lot closer to the voice of the sylvania 6sn7gt. Nothing is absolute regarding the voice of this particular octal tube and they certainly all have their own flavor.Do try the RCA grey glass though as they really are sweet and relaxing. Cheers and best of luck.

Jazzdude and Ecclectique,
Much thanks for the info and suggestions!

Ecclectique,

Yes, I think you are right! The 5692 red base is not as good as the Kenrad in the Supratek but in my system it is alright and does not have that "bass bloom" as I am experiencing with the Kenrads. Mind you, my system(click on system on my thread) is probably not as good as what most guys here have. So please take that as a caution.

Having said that, I think it is time for me to panic!

The Chenin seems to sound somewhat odd to me lately. I know it's only been almost two weeks since I got it but let me express my concerns and maybe I can get some understanding on why my unit sounds odd. Here you go,

For linestage and phono, it seems that my preamp produces a very prominent bass and somewhat recess mids (especially vocals). It sounds like the mids is one notch lower of the entire presentation as oppose to the lows and highs! Highs are good though. I wonder if there is something wrong with my unit or not. I tried various 6sn7's, regulators and tubes in the phono stage to no avail. The only thing I have not replaced is the rectifier. It is still the stock version.

Out of the box, the unit sounds great I thought. But now, even if I am still in the "getting to know you" stage, it seems that I am not getting what most folks talk about how liquid this system is. I have no hum issues. The tubes lights fine. The gain toggle switch at the top of the preamp are(two) set to low and tape monitor to off. So what can it be? Also, I noticed that the unit powered up is a little bit hot to the touch even the volume control.

I need help! Any suggestions will be highly appreciated.

Thanks.

Amandarae. Wow, You have a lot of very fine equipment in your arsenal. A couple of questions. What speakers are you currently using to voice the supratek???... the logans or the paradigm's. How large is your room and your speakers location in the room. No need for panick sir. Like most new vacuum tubed equipment.....you will need some run in time with the supratek as the transformer,wires and tubes will start to settle in and find its voice after about 100 hours or so. Rolling tubes at this juncture will only confuse the issue further. When I first received mine, I too, felt the same kind of anxiety as it sounded somewhat unbalanced and out of sorts tonally.I was thinking too myself that perhaps I made a big mistake,I was rather disappointed to say the least. So much so, that I put the stock tubes back in the preamp,turned the cd player on repeat and let it play for almost a week before I even went back into the room. The change in tonal balance after 30 or more hours was not suttle to say the least. Not only was it more coherent tonally,but what became immediately apparent was it's superior focus. I don't know the stock 6sn7's that came with your preamp,mine were of chineese origin and are really quite good tonally. A few suggestions to help you get a handle on the voice of the supratek: Tube rolling? Leave the stock tubes in it and roll out the supplied rectifier "ONLY" and replace with a nos equivalent[preferably a mullard]You will probably notice the change immediately however, listen to it for at least 100 hours before changing out the 6sn7's. The 6sn7 will have the largest influence on the tonal balance,more so then any other tube. You will find out that the preamp will improve dramatically after the 100 hour mark and continue to improve even further until 300 hours or more. Once it finds its focus... the tonal balance tweeks and tube rolling flavours suddenly become so much easier to voice in your room.Please, trust me on this, be patient and you will be rewarded. Best of luck.

Ecclectique,

Thanks for appreciating what modest equipments I have. I admire your Westminster speaker sir and the rest of your system as well.

Back to the issue, it is either you are a prophet or you have some kind of gift to predict the future. Let me explain.

After I submitted my previous post, I left with my kids to visit their grandparents. I also left the cd player "on". To tell you the truth, I am a little bit distraught/shaken since the preamp is nowhere near sounding like many of the users reported it to sound and is a big investment for me and I cannot go any further beyond that financially.

I'ts been a good 9 hours since we returned home and what do you know! The preamp sounds very different! It is starting to show its real "character" to say the least. Now it is one O'clock Pacific time and I cannot get enough playing my cd's and LP's. The Chenin is opening up bigtime! I think I logged in about 40 hours now(since I first got it)and the change or improvement is undeniably audible. Vocals are better than what I can remember and the overall balance is starting to find its places.
So I think my concern is not an issue anymore. I hope that it stays this way and just gets better in time.

BTW, I am using the Logans and my room is 12'x14'x8' and the speaker placement is optimal. It's been un-touched since I dialed the position in from my previous preamp. Does the new preamp mean that I have to experiment on the speaker position as well, or recheck it?

Also, I will heed your advice and stop changing/rolling tubes for now. You are right, it will just add to the confusion on situations like this. As for the rectifier, I only have the Mullard/Amperex GZ34 at hand. Is that the tube you are talking about? Since we are into tubes, I like to ask if you have a particular experience regarding the RCA 6L6GC tubes. At present, they are what I am using as regulators. I noticed that after an hour or so, there is some bluish hue that I can see from the walls of the tube. Anything less than an hour, the bluish hue are non-existent. Is this normal for these type of tube? Or are they being over driven(B+ too high)?

"Once it finds its focus... the tonal balance tweeks and tube rolling flavours suddenly become so much easier to voice in your room.Please, trust me on this, be patient and you will be rewarded."

I will do exactly what you pointed out. Thanks for helping me, I really appreciate it. Please pardon my ignorance for "crying wolf" prematurely. Wheewww! Foolish of me. I should have known better since I been reading this thread for two years now. As I had mentioned, this preamp is a big investment for me and sometimes, paranoia takes over when you noticed something new that does not compute with your expectations.

I will report back further observations if any. But I have a very strong feeling that most of it will just be praises for this fine preamp we are fortunate to own.
I am happy now.

Thanks again!

Hello Amandarae. Firstly, Congratulations on your supratek acquisition...you will be rewarded in due time! I am certainly no prophet sir,however... I have a sneaky suspician I may be able to somewhat guesstimate the outcome of your next 100 hours of seat time in that wonderfully [so called] humble rig of yours. Sir: Your past and present equipment choices speak volumes. Yes,that mullard/amperex gz34 is a great rectifier and the logical place to start your journey. Rectifiers can make or break any good amplifier especially in a system of such high resolution. The speed and transparency of an Electrostatic speaker is ruthlessly revealing and leaves nowhere to hide. I am a firm believer in getting the tonal balance correct first and foremost in any given room, one will find the rest of the presentation much easier to optimize to ones preferred flavour.Infact.. you may be fine tuning your speaker placement in due time once the supratek has found its voice as the stage of the preamp is almost holographic in comparison to your known references. Regarding the 6L6's and blue gas. Do not be concerned, as many output tubes will exhibit that characteristic,just be sure they test above 90% on a tester. If you have logged in around 40 hours... the rectifier swap should be somewhat noticeable now as the bass resolution of the supratek is world class by anybody's standards.Be prepared, as the astonishing clarity and focus of the supratek is really going to come into its own in the next 50 to 60 hours or so.You will find yourself spinning all those treasured old lp's into the wee hours of the morning only to discover that you never knew they were recorded so well. Enjoy! Stay tuned and check back in. Cheers David