Options to replace Supratek Chennin Pre

Hi Braro. A very good suggestion by Spencer. What gain tube[6sn7] are you currently using? Many flavours of the 6sn7 can sound a little lean in the chenin, particularly in the upper bass/lower midband area.

Hi Braro. Regarding the voice of the EH6sn7: Yes, it does seem like the general conscensus over in the Supratek thread however, I do not concur with the analogy and just don't buy into it. I can guarantee you that many other supratek owners do not buy it into it either,particularly the user that are privy to the diverse flavours of the 6sn7 family and have a collection of the better nos tubes to roll. Yes sir,I will certainly agree with the fact that the eh 6sn7 is clearly a superior sounding tube than the crappy sounding sovtek 6sn7 that Mick was originally supplying with his preamps. However,that said: literally any 6sn7 type will stomp the sovtek... mine went straight into the trash can about an hour after I received the preamp as I didn't have the heart to pawn them off to someone else. After reading the favourable comments regarding the EH6sn7 I bought a new matched pair and gave them a whirl. Used them for about 40 hours of seat time....Sorry gang...nope, nyet,nadda, just not in the same league as the nos Kenrad vt-231,tung-sol round plates or even the inexpensive RCA grey glass 6sn7gt, nope.. not even close for that matter. Yeah I know, those examples can be rather pricey and I am sure many won't want to pony up the cash for them. Sure, many will head over to the Fleabay crapshoot and take their chances at acquiring a good low noise pair that are supposedly closely matched. Franky,I don't like your odds there unless you know what you are looking at and own a tube tester. Far to many recylcled noisey rejects, duds and tired pulls floating around over there! Find a good dealer that will allow you a rebate and pony up for a pair or at least work with a friend or acquaintance with some knowledge about nos tubes and a calibrated tube tester.I am certain many have done just that and formed an opinion by comparison [or would that be an uninformed opinion]. Like any other company making vacuum tube equipment,the designers hands are tied behind their backs. The reality to this dilema is: to offer tubes that are currently being manufactured in quantity and "voice" their stuff as best they can with the tubes that currently available. Not to mention other considerable liabilities like reliabilty, rejection rates,quality control etc,etc,etc. How many companies do you think are offering nos tubes as an option with their gear? None that I can think of, wonder why? To be candid here: Most any tube design can be voiced for any tube in a given tube family. It would make no sense whatsoever to do otherwise from any marketable business platform. These companies have NO other alternative and must choose an "available equivalent" to work with. However, you are just kidding yourself if you think you can't kick it up to a whole higher level by employing nos tubes in their circuit toplology. Yup,the EH 6sn7 is WAY superior to the sovtek.... far more even handed tonally, it's also a very quiet tube and void of the noise and microphonic tendencies that many nos 6sn7's are prone to. The EH example is very well focused and does possess a certain sparkle up top. All good things here however,that said: The best of the current production tubes are still a far cry from some of the better nos examples. In my gear.... the cortese, the syrah, a home brew line stage preamp,as well as a host of amplifiers employing the octal 6sn7, the eh 6sn7's flavour is still rather lean in the midbass/lower midband in most every application, particularly in high gain stages. Furthermore, when compared to the nos tubes mention above, the eh6sn7 is rather dry sounding, somewhat shallow in the depth retrieval department, whereby the sound field is focused slightly forward from the plane of the speakers. Hey,some may actually preferr this artifact, however the depth of the stage is focused more toward the centre. You will get a reasonable facsimilee of depth preception in the middle of the soundfield but will not hear the same depth perspective in the same focus at the back corners of the soundfield...almost like a triangle per sey with the point aiming down the middle between the speakers. Try quiet pair of Kenrad Black vt-231 and it's immediately obvious as to what I am alluding to. A huge soundfield,incredible depth retrieval that's layered all the way back to each corner of the stage.It posses's a bass response that is "far and away" the best in the 6sn7 family, those with a speaker system that will capture the bottom octave will surely agree as the Kenrad will capture that bass power in that same layered depth perpective as the rest of the soundfield. The 1952 Sylvania "Bad Boy" comes close but still can't match the majesty of the Kenrad black in the bass. Extremely liquid and coherent with a transparency from top to bottom. Percussive instruments seem to float in the soundfield, tiny instruments that are struck[triangles,bells etc] will pop and decay in space,seperate and above the louder power instruments playing together. Hey...I getting carried away here gang. Braro... try some Kenrads, tungsol round [plate versions] or the very least a pair of NOS RCA grey glass examples first and save yourself a boatload of cash and aggrevation. Best of luck!

Hi Braro. Yes sir, the grey glass RCA vt-231 is a fine example of one of the better sounding nos 6sn7's and hopefully will demonstrate what I was trying to describe in my last post. Paulfolbrecht....Congratulations and well done sir! If they are the black glass bottles... you are now the owner of a rare pair of Tung-sol 6sn7's roundplates relabelled for Pope! Many believe the tung-sol round is the best overall tube of the 6sn7 family .

Hey Ckorody. Nice post, haven't had the chance to read through it and digest it all but it should give the supratek crowd a little insight and direction into how they might find the right voice and synergy in their systems. The supratek preamps are a very high resolution, high gain preamplifier and choosing the right 6sn7 can have a profound effect in ones system. In my books: tonal balance is the main ingredient in any high resolution rig. Get the "tone thing" right and the other pieces in the puzzle become so much easier to put into perspective. There are so just many more flavours to be found in the 6sn7 family of dual triodes, far more diverse than any other tube type. Using the wrong spice can spoil a very fine meal. In my own experience, and as I mentioned in my previous post, the current crop of new 6sn7's are a far cry from a many of the better nos examples. That said: and not to complicate things even more here, there are also quite a few nos examples that are down right crappy in the supratek's as well. When employed in the Supratek, I am not a big fan of the Sylvania 6sn7 family nor the much sought after Rca redbase 5692. Go figure! the RCA 5692 is "far and away" the best of the best in my MFA Luminescence and the majority of nos Sylvania versions are superb in the Lumi as well. By contrast here, in the Supratek most of the sylvania examples can seem to be more extended up top but also tend to highlight this area in the mix. They can be a liabilty in many applications. When ones speaker system isn't tightly balanced "tone wise" in a given room, the utter clarity and resolution of the supratek will only serve as a magnifying glass, highlight and ultimately distort the perspective of the portrait. Braro: You have a very fine system to work with sir. The good thing here is the tonal balance aberration in your room is much simpler to to work with and far easier to get dialed in. The vast majority of rooms that many people have to deal with have the exact opposite effect, whereby too many of us have a big bump or boost in the upper bass/lower mid area. Usually a far more difficult exorcise to correct. Best of luck!