Preamp Deal of the Century

Hey Pablo. A very nice post sir and I am happy you are enjoying the supratek. I am sure the chenin hasn't even come into it's own yet, as you will need at least a good 300 hours run in time to settle in. It just get's better with age! Your system is very well thought out and it's also great to see another vinyl rig. Tom[twl] is very well versed in the vinyl medium as well as the his many years of experience in the audio industry and IMO nothing beats hands on experience. A highly qualified mentor indeed. Re: 6f6g's. I service and repair old Juke boxes and early radios and generally have a supply of 6f6g's, however...I have exhausted my supply for many of the supratek gang here on this thread. I have contacted a few other of my techie freinds in a search for matched pairs and it's getting to be slim pickings out there. I am sure more will come my way as most of the techies don't give a damn what 6f6 they use. When they find them, I trade them 2 to 1 for new 6f6gt metals. PS: the 6f6gt metals are horrendous in the supratek. The coke bottle g versions with the round plates are what were after here however some of the smaller straight glass gt versions are really very good as well. Their are many 6f6gt versions.... some with flat plates and some with the same rounded plate construction of the coke bottle 6f6g. The rounded plate versions are the only applicable tube choice for regulation duty.

Pablo,

Glad to hear from another very satisfied Supratek owner! Indeed, the preamp is special. I have no regrets from the money and time spent waiting to own this superb piece of equipment.

As for the 6F6G's, there are several sources. I bought NOS Sylvanias from DIYcable.com. During my shopping, I found the ff. stores that carry them:

http://www.audiotubes.com/bjtubes.htm

http://www.vacuumtubesinc.com/new2.html

The "brands" they carry are not listed on the site. You have to e-mail them to ask for availability of the brand you like.
I highly recommend the NOS Sylvania 6F6G Round plates dark glass (Blk. and Green carton). I sold my Gold Lion KT-66 and GEC Clear Glass KT-66 who used to be my favorite regulators after hearing the Sylvania 6F6G's.

Good Luck and Happy New Year to All!!!

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Pablo,
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Congratulations on your Chenin, a nicely designed system and your obvious joy.
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Do wait for 300+ hours suggested by Ecclectique to pass by before starting your tube rolling. Roll only one set of tuebs at a time and live with them for a while before starting on the next set or position. Do invest in some of David's suggestions as well as some great NOS tubes.
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You might want to give some BMI power cords a test drive (specifically the Sharks, Whale Supremes of Orca Generation 2's). I would be happy to loan you a Shark to audition (for loan only, don't want to sell it). Email me offline if you have an interest.
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Happy New Year - enjoy your bliss....
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Rgds, Larry

Hi Larry. Hope you and your family had a very Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year! I didn't mean to suggest to Pablo to wait 300 hours before tube rolling... The new supratek or any other new tubed amplifier/preamplifier[for that matter] will become more focused and coherent with around 300 hours of run in time due to the transformers and the passive parts in the circuitry. Capacitors in particular are notoriously slow to form themselves to modulated frequencies. They take many hours to open up,particularly the top end. I would recommend we swap out the rectifier and regulators immediately [like right out of the box] as I have always consider that a no brainer.

Kevin,

l recently upgraded from an SP-9mk2 to a Supratek Cabernet. While the SP-9 is probably not in the class as your pre, the improvement was immense. To use a local analogy, l traded in my Ford Falcon for a BMW M5. Everything the others have said is true, the Cab is a revelation. l doubt you could go wrong.

Have a great new year everyone.

Cheers Simon