Hello, Powers,
My experience may be helpful to you. I got my Chenin in early December. It had the stock Sovtek 5AR4. From the recommendations in this thread, I bought the Bendix 6106. Huge improvement. Break in is slow, but not too bad. I later bought a NOS Miniwatt GZ34 (got a good deal, $225). The bass is super deep and tight. But something sounds constrained. It may be break in related, so I'm running it a while to see if it opens up. Then will compare to the Bendix.
Meanwhile, I don't think you can go wrong with the Bendix to start. Slowhand, Ecclectique and the other seasoned tube rollers here have been super helpful and won't steer you wrong.
My experience may be helpful to you. I got my Chenin in early December. It had the stock Sovtek 5AR4. From the recommendations in this thread, I bought the Bendix 6106. Huge improvement. Break in is slow, but not too bad. I later bought a NOS Miniwatt GZ34 (got a good deal, $225). The bass is super deep and tight. But something sounds constrained. It may be break in related, so I'm running it a while to see if it opens up. Then will compare to the Bendix.
Meanwhile, I don't think you can go wrong with the Bendix to start. Slowhand, Ecclectique and the other seasoned tube rollers here have been super helpful and won't steer you wrong.