Capacitor and tube upgrade for Von Gaylord Lad L-2


I recently purchased a new Von Gaylord Lad L-2 preamp and the owner told me that this preamp can be improved with upgraded NOS tubes and capacitors. Has anyone with a stock Lad L-2 had this upgrade done? Can you tell me what was done( what brand tubes and caps) and what you thought of the sound improvement after the upgrades?
sherod

Showing 2 responses by sherod

So far, I'm liking the overall tone and timbre, but it still
hasn't opened up for me. I also bought from Ray a 7000s
power cord, so that also needs to break in some more. I have
the power cord hooked up to the fridge to speed up the break
in. The box in the preamp that contains the caps, etc. has
two screw heads deliberately stripped by the manufacturer to
prevent any viewing. Ray told me that in order to upgrade
caps, one must upgrade to next higher preamp in the line. I
just ordered a pair of Psvane CV181T-II tubes so I'm anxious
to hear if they improve the sound. The current stock tubes
are Ruby 6sn7 (I think these are made by Shuguang)
One tweak that I did do and highly recommend is I replaced
the 1-amp slo-blo fuse with a Hifi-tuning gold slo-blo of
same value...huge improvement in clarity and dynamics. I
have an extra pair of both Eichmann and WBT that I might
replace inputs and outputs. I have replaced the inputs and
outputs on my Cdp, previous preamp and tuner with these and
noticed marked improvements.
Addendum: Another tweak just done: replaced male AC plug
on 7000S(Hubbell 8215c with Wattgate 330i)...much better
tonality and timbre.
Thanks, Mechans. My ultimate 6sn7 sound is flat frequency
response, yet with great dynamics, palpable realness, superb
tone and timbre. I don't care for any exaggeration of bass,
treble or mids. I prefer neutral naturalness, without
excessive warmth or coldness. Of course, the room, amps,
source, speakers and cables make up all that in the scheme
of things.
I have my eye on a pair of the famous '52 Sylvania
"Bad Boys). I'm seeing prices on these anywhere from
$85/pair to $165/pr. The round, black plate Tungsols are in
the $300-$600/pr. range. I have also read that some people
have been raving about the Psvane CV181T tubes. These are
not actual CV181spec tubes, but supposed drop-in
replacements for a 6sn7.
This is a first time preamp for me that uses the 6sn7. My
previous preamp used the 6922, so that is the sound that my
ears have been accustomed to for many years.
By the way, I was told by Ray at Von Gaylord, that he
doesn't recommend trying upgrades of caps in the Lad L-2,
only the tubes. The higher models in the VG line do have
upgraded oil-filled caps, but there are other changes as
well to accomadate these caps.