Preamp Deal of the Century

Clipsal,

The 101 stage of the Cab Dual is best voiced for midrange and above while the 6H30 stage is optimal for low frequencies. (The right tools for the right job when biamping.) The 101 is not a stellar tube at low frquencies and maybe what you are experienceing is the 101's bass weekness. The 350b is a very linear tube and perhaps it accentuates the 101's inabilities in the bass department. Try the swapping the 350b with the KT66 and the EH 5881 while listening to the low frequency with the 6H30 stage. Any differences??

You can also try a Kenrad VT-231 in the driver seat...they always give something special to the bass. (at least in the Chardonnay)....Then of course maybe all this does not translate to the Cabernet Dual circuit (I hope not). Have fun and find what you like!

As a former Sauvignon owner, I would love to hear your impressions of your new Cab. How does it compare? What prompted your move up the 'food chain'?

BTW, Santa brought a Cab Dual and its burning-in as I write. The stock Sovtek and EH tubes will be the first to go!! ... you beat me to the punch. :)

Enjoy the Magic!

I like the new Cabernet Dual. It's quite different to the Sauvignon. The 101D imparts a holographic image which outclasses the Sauvignon and the top end is simply sublime.

I decided to go for the Dual, simply because I felt I had hung on too long with the Sauvignon. I had the old one for about 3 years prior.

I tried the Ken Rad Black Glass VT-231 JAN CKR-6SN7GT VT-231 in the Dual and am very impressed. This baby packs a large wallop in the bass department and is not at all wolly and flabby in my current setup. The Ken Rads also have a little more body in the mid-range.

One of my friends was commenting that he felt there was a small hole in the mid-range that shut out some parts of the vocal frequency range and made many of the vocals to sound a little recessed (eg. similar depth in presentation to the instruments). This could be due to the room I think, but the Ken Rads may have rectified this issue somewhat for the time being. I'll let you know when my Audiophile buddy comes over again.

My current set of speakers is the WHT PR-1 (http://www.whtspeakers.com), which are a pair of 2-way horn loaded ribbons. This explains why I'm only running one half of the pre-amp at the moment. The 101D section is connected to PR-1 completely. Even though the speakers are bi-wireable, it would not make sense to connect the ribbon tweeter to the 101D and the mid-range/woofer to the 6H30.

I'm planning to pick up the matching WHT active subwoofer and connect that directly to the 6H30 section using the RCA inputs/outputs. This should hopefully rectify the situation, and will keep my fingers crossed.

Clipsal,
Nice set of speakers!
I'm glad the Kenrads are working out for you.

Cheers!

Has anyone tried a KT63, this is supposed to be a 6F6G equivalent.

How quiet is the Cabernet Dual? I plan on using it with high efficiency speakers. I heard awhile back the Dual is more noisy than the Sauvignon or Chardonnay. Does the Dual compare with SS preamp in background noise? Thanks.