Preamp Deal of the Century

Frankiealverti,I would'nt worry about the rest of the tubes lighting up so soon on initial start up using a GZ-34.This is normal operation. The GZ-34 and Bendix 6106 are indirect heated rectifiers. A directly heated rectifier like a 5y3 would eat your tubes up pretty quick on intial start up.Ecclectique has written about this and many other tube types indepth. Overall you will get alot of musical mileage out of your tubes in a Supratek pre,especially agood GZ-34 ,in fact many years. Periodically I test the tubes in all my equiptment. As for the problem you are currently experiancing with your Syrah. I would'nt use it until your tech guy has sorted things out......Artemus5 thread of 12-17-06 here to Amandarae reponse got me thinking about a Chenin owner with a Walker Audio Proscenium Turntable. A bit of a disproportionate gap in cost between the two including the other components and speakers in his system. This is quite the testimony for Micks phono stages and preamps. I'm sure this Walker Procenium owner would not tolerate the Chenin for a minute if it did'nt perform. No dought someday he will move up the Supratek line or to another preamp manufacture.I hope he chimes in.

Ooslik,

I would have ordered a Chenin if I were you. The phono stage in Mick's preamp will be much better than the Phonomena you are using. I keep telling people that order Supratek preamps that they should order the pre WITH the phono stage. This is what Mick is famous for. As good as his line stages are, the phono stage is PURE KILLER! My recommendation would be to change your order to a Chenin and get rid of the Phonomena.

Stiltskin, thanks for your reply. With the Mullard brown base GZ-37 the other tubes light up in 9 to 11 seconds. With the Valvo (Mullard code) GZ-34 the other tubes light up almost immediately and that cannot be good for them. Am I wrong?
Additionally there is a soft one second thumb coming out of the power supply (not the Quads, since the amp is still off) every time I push the button and power the Syrah up with the GZ-34 in place. That is not a good thing, is it? So I think I will stick to the GZ-37 and buy a Bendix when I get back after Jan. 10th.
Best,
frankiealverti

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Ooslik,
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I would whole heartedly second Slowhand's recommendation and change your order to get the Chenin and therefore Mick's phono stage. It is a terrific phono stage and will makeit a good deal more resaleable when you decide to sell it so you can upgrade to the Cortese :>)
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This will be one of your better audio moves as you look back ten years from now. Do whatever you must to get Mick to change your order (even if you have to wait a good bit longer).
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Rgds,
Larry
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Thanks for your support of my recommendation to go with the Chenin Larry. I recommend getting the built in phono stage with any of the Supratek preamps even if you are not playing LP's. The reasons are, as Larry said, better resale, the additional cost of the phono stage is a steal!, and if you hear what the phono stage sounds like, you will be buying LP's.