Cary Audio SLP-5 Preamp Tube Replacement.

I have dozens of pairs of 6SN7 tubes and the LinLai's have become my tube of choice

@pinwa  , just a few questions for you as I am also a SL05 owner/operator who is always interested in better living through electronics:

1) how have you configured your SLP05 as far as the Linlais go?  Do you have the Linlais in all six sockets, or only the balanced inputs, or only in the four left and right + and - phase buffers sockets?

2)if you are only running a pair of Linlais in the left and right balanced input sockets, what are you running in the other four sockets?

3)I was looking at Viva's site earlier today and there sem to be a few different grades or models(?) of the Linlai 6SN7; which are you using?

I do not have the Golden ear but I do have a SLP05. If you are using RCAs and NOT using your balanced inputs, you will get absolutely nothing by replacing the two balanced input tubes. As a matter of fact, the reviewer who reviewed the SLP05 for Stereophile wrote that the preamp will atually operate fine without any tubes in those sockets (3 and 6). I have not tryed that so I am not confirming that. If you are not using the headphone out of the SLP05, no need to replace 7 and 8.

I, personally, am using the balanced ins and outs of my SLP05 and I have heard significant differences by only rolling tubes in those sockets (3 and 6). I have had the good fortune of a couple of very generous people giving me a pair of NOS tubes and also one who sold and gave me several pairs of slightly used vintage 6SN7s and VT231s and 6F8Gs that I have been rolling in those sockets, but since you are using your RCAs, I won’t go into that yet.

I would suggest that you try your SLP05 using balanced cables and see what you think, and if you like it, then consider rolling tubes in 3 and six.

As far as 1 through 6, I only recently pulled the EHs and put in JJs 6SN7s. I started by running all six tubes with JJs (with no vintage tubes) and I felt I heard more life with the JJ 6SN7s than with the EHs. Then I put a pair of ’52 Sylvania "Bad Boys" in front of the four JJs and it was one of those oh-em-gee moments. As I put more hours on the JJs, began to enjoy the experience any more.

(Tonight I actually replaced the ’52 Sylvanias with a pair of National Union 6F8Gs and adapters, but I never got beyond verifying that I had a signal from both left and right channels tonight, so I cannot report on that just yet. The NUs did come highly recommended.)

As far as the Psvanes you listed, I have no experience with them. A member who goes by @xcool (if I remember correctly) has a SLP05 and again, if I remember correctly, he put in some expensive Chinese 6SN7s called "Linlis"? But I am not positive about the brand name. I got the impression that he liked them.

As far as the power supply, did yours come with a Sovtek 5AR4 rectifier tube? You may actually hear an improvement by upgrading that, although not everyone agrees that the rectifier tube will have a noticeable sonic effect. Regardless, it would probably be a good idea to at least keep a spare on hand.

Yes:  3 and 6 are for your left and right balanced input buffer and 7 and 8 are for your left and right headphone amplifier.

. . . and if you think of it, give us a follow up on how you feel about those Psvane CV181-T MKII (6SN7)s in 1 through 5 after you've had them in for a bit.

@couger4u  , I meant to ask you who you ordered from?  (I may want to upgrade in those four sockets myself.)

I have read somewhere that all tubes interact with each other in the circuit so the sockets has to have tubes in them

I have read the exact opposite. And although I realize that this discussion applies to the SLP05 preamp, back in late 2017 (which was back when you could actually get tech support via the telephone from Cary) the Cary tech guy suggested that I run my Cary V-12 amp (which uses a total of 12 EL34s) with only two EL34s perside and set each side’s bia at 80 to 100 mA and see how I liked it. I actually did try that and when I ran it in that configuration I covered the empty sockets with electrical tape to keep dust and foreign objects out. (At the time I didn’t feel it was enough power . . . but I might give it another try as my tastes have changed).

But as far as the SLP05, as far as the balanced input sockets, if you are not hooking interconnects in to the balanced inputs, I truly cannot see how those sockets would interact with the + and - phase buffers. And since I have read nothing at all about leaving the two headphone amp sockets empty if not using headphones, I will not comment on those.

However, with all that typed, IF I was running my equipment into my SLP05 with RCAs, I would still leave the cheap tubes in the balanced input sockets, and in my SLP05 I am NOT (yet) running headphones (although that may change) and I still have the stock EHs in those sockets.