Preamp Deal of the Century

Agreed Fiddler, and a lot what you say makes sense and different tubes *do* sound different. However, you'll notice that what Mick proposes with tube swapping is changing the type of tube to alter the sound, say from a 45 to 300B rather tube rolling within the same type.

That said, I suppose it is common knowledge that some tubes within the same type are better than others, the Western Electric 300B being a good example of a universally praised 'best of' 300B. With Mick's preamps all I'm saying is that they leave the factory sounding pretty good, and a lot of us have found for example that his chosen EH-6SN7 seems to sound just as good (if not better) than the drawful of expensive Kenrads/Sylvania VT231's some of us have ended with!

In the end, I do agree with you that you need to trust your ears and if tube rolling or cap swaps give a perceived better result - then thats all that matters.

Regards,

Steve.

To be clear, just because I happen to share Mick's personal preference for the Auricaps now that I have compared them to the VCaps doesn't mean (nor should it be inferred to mean) that those who prefer the VCaps are off their rocker -:)

Nor would Mick make them available if people didn't like 'em. Just as you pointed out, tube rolling (and cap rolling) are simply after-the-fact voicing options for the end user and Mick's hard-wiring scheme makes experimenting with cap swaps a lot easier than circuit board mounting -;)

06-26-07: Amandarae
Hello Sorlowski,

My Chenin is #238 and it has an Auricap (1uF) at the output for both channels of course. Are you sure you are looking at the output caps? Maybe Mick change it who knows but just want to be sure you are looking at the right caps.

As for the teflon caps, after installing mine (Sonicap Teflon) for two weeks, I conclude that in my system although it produces additional "details" or maybe I am just expecting it to happen, I have to put the Auricap back. I do not know but for me, I noticed something regarding the "weight" of the presentation as in different "ambience" on the recording I am very familiar with. Hard to describe! Maybe it is not for me. Maybe my set up is not on par with "Teflon caps" capability.

BTW, the caps have atleast 400 hours on it since I used it on my SET amp before.

regards,

Abe

Same here! As I posted way back(see above), the Teflon cap is not my cup of tea. I really want to like it, but when listening to live recordings on vinyl, the ambient noise, venue noise if you will, sounds different to me. Not good! Life is too short not to be honest to yourself....

regards,

Abe

I just hooked up a new Cabernet Dual, all's well except I can't get the remote to work. I emailed Mick but in the meantime does anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

you could try reprogramming it. according to the manual:

"hold down the code key and press power, the red light will flash, enter 1 1 4 1 4 and the red light will go out if correctly programmed."

be sure you're aiming the remote toward the center of the cabernet as that's where the IR "eye" is. i've heard that sometimes the volume knob sticks due to the tight tolerances mick uses. good luck.