Preamp Deal of the Century

Amandarae,

I ordered the upgraded High Black gloss finish for the Chenin. This otta be really pretty......But I have to admit that when I heard the Hovland and saw in in real life, I feel in love with it....but after reading this thread and recommendations of my audiogon consultant friends, they all told me to go with the Supratek.....and that the Chenin sounded way better in their systems.

I'll let you all know how it goes when my Chenin gets here..:-)

Long
p.s. I lied, I didn't really read all of this thread, it is way too long..:-)....

Ecmlee,

Yep! I too have the same "noise" when switching to a Bendix 61006 tube. As for a different tube rather than a 5AR4/GZ34, have you tried RCA 5V4GA? I found this tube "pleasing to the ear" as well when use as rectifier comparing them to my Mullard Metal Base 5AR4.

Just a suggestion.

Just a short comment on the Chenin... I ordered my Chenin in piano black and chrome...Absolutely gorgeous...I have not spent a lot of time with it yet...very busy...Having logged 200 + hours using a vintage Fisher FM 100-B tuner for most of the burn in.I have just begun to swap tubes with n.o.s...One thing for sure that stands out with the Chenin is how unforgiving and revealing it is with what is plugged into it, along with the quality of recordings flowing through it...I like that... This has narrowed my search for a new system,goes something like this...Dynaudio special 25s or Gilmore audio #4,heard the model 2s...God save us...Atmasphere m-60s monos,for sure,VPI Scoutmaster with options,cables ect,hmm Anyway,I started to read preamp deal of the century around #200.It took a while to convince me...Its for real...

5AR4 rolling.

I have had a Cortese for about 5 months now and needless to say I think it is wonderful.

Two day?s ago the power supply rectifier tube failed (5AR4), well it took me 2 days to get hold of a replacement and yesterday it arrived. What a change, a slight mains frequency hum I had has now reduced by half but more importantly records sound much better. I can only describe it as a blacker background.

I have already tried rolling the 6922 and 6SN7 but the effect of replacing this rectifier tube was more profound.

What experience does anyone else have of changing this tube.

Roy

Don't get the enthusiasm over this thread. Speakers are the most important factor in the electronics chain. Yet people seem to love their preamp's the most...then amp's it seems....then speakers.
Hummmm...maybe I should go buy 5 or 7 preamps and place em all around the room for a killer multi channel music system. Cool