Preamp Deal of the Century

Hello all,
I'm from Italy and apologize for my poor English.
After reading this subject many times I'm ready to joining the "club", as i'm ordering today or tomorrow a Cortese. My current pre is ARC ls5 mk2 mod by GNSC, 7308s siemens outfitted, i really love it ims, but planning on a return to vinyl i need a pre-phono too.
I'm thinking now to keep my ls5 as linestage and Cortese as phono,then ....I'll decide which one will be the "winner" ims.
My system:
AA Capitole mk2--Gyrodeck sme309 Ruby2 .7v
Arc ls5 mk2.....
Goldmund 29M
Sonus Faber Amati.

Here is my little concern: Cortese or Grange? (the latter could be clearly better than arc allowing me to sell it)

Thanks everyone sharing opinions on my plan.
Sandro

One thing you guys have to remember is that there are Suprateks out there that use other tubes in the phono stage. Mine is one, it uses only 6c45pi. Cello's is another, his uses (correct me if I am wrong Larry) 2 6c45pi and 2 6922. The 6c45pi are not part of the 417a/5842 family, regardless of what anyone says.

I guess it proves that any Supratek is truly a custom piece. I have not heard of any 2 that are exactly the same. So I guess what I am saying is you cannot look at tube topology to identify a model. Everybody says that the Syrah only has one tube in the ps. Wrong!

Joe

Amandarae, Ecclectique, Jphii thanks for your input. I e- mailed Mick on the subject of "Chenin or Syrah". Mick tells me he does not use sheoak for the Chenin because its too expensive. Evidently he used to use it for the Syrah though and had sheoak Syrah cabinets left over from the Syrah days. According to Mick there are only 10 Chenins in sheoak that say "Syrah" in existence. The model name above the serial # on the back also says Syrah which seems strange to me. So I guess I have a Chenin.
Thanks again

Hi Gang. Yes it seems that Mick has used different tubes in his phono stages, sometimes even in the same model of preamp. He has in past,used the 6gk5 and 5842/417a combo in the syrah as well as the cortese.His web site states he is using the 6J6 in combo with the 6922/6dj8 family. After reading some of the threads here,evidently he has used the 6c45, the 6j6 or equivalents in combo with the 6922. That said: All of these tubes are electrically similiar and are considered to be in the same family electrically speaking. Although some of these tubes may not be direct subs,they would be considered electrical cousins. There is good reason why Mick has elected to employ this family of tubes. As most of you know,his phono stage has extremely high gain and can drive even the lowest output mc cartridges available today without the use of a transformer or step up device. The 417a or equivalents,the 6j6 or equivalents,the 6c4 or equivalents or the 6c45 are all tubes with very similiar electrical characteristics. All have high GM, a high mu of around 50,low rp and high current. The 6c45 for instance, is a super tube choice for duty here, with it's closest american equivalent being the WE 437. His phono stages must be considered "World Class" by anyones standards regardless of what tube he has employed. Geez... A tubed phono stage to drive a .2mv cartridge was simply unheard of no less than 10 years ago! Don't get caught up or confused with Mick's choice of tube here gang,trust me.... he KNOWS what he is doing here guys...................... Sandro.... Order the Cortese and you will surely be unloading your ARC ls5 mk2 the very next day. As a long time and former ARC preamp owner, I have been a fan of ARC preamps since the ARC sp-3a from the mid 1970's right up to the Sp-10 mk2[ which I still own today] I have owned the SP-3a, Sp-6a, SP-8a MK2, and the SP-10 mk2 and enjoyed my time with all of them immensly. Furthermore, the ls5 mk 2 is "far and away" the best sounding line stage preamp ARC ever produced! Always musical,warm and engaging... a beauty to be sure. Unfortunately... It's not in any where near the same league as any of the supratek preamps, not even close for that matter. My Syrah simply stomps on the line stage of both the SP-10 mk2 or the SP-8 mk2 [which is basically the same line stage of your LS 5 mk2]. The Cortese is even better sir! Like killing two birds with one stone and looks like a win,win situation to me.

Hi Gang,

On the subject of noise in the phono stage with 6922 tubes, Mick told me in a recent e-mail that in the 2nd and 3rd stages of the phono that this is not a problem and that much of the problems with noise in the phono stages of preamps has less to do with noisey tubes and more to do with poorly designed phono stages. I agree with Ecclectique, when he says we need not be concerned with the tube choice that Mick uses in the phono stage. He is not about to design a phono stage that is noisey due to tubes or design. His phono sections are truly world class! I feel that my Sony SCD-1 SACD player is a top notch player with the Allen Wright mods that are in it, but with the Syrah's phono section, my VPI mk4/JMW/Dynavector combo stomps all over it! Man, I can't wait to get my Cortese!!!