Preamp Deal of the Century

I've read most of this tread in the last three days. So glad I stumbled upon it. Have been thinking of introducing a tube pre into my system to mellow it out (reduce brightness) and generally improve the sound. Was considering Audible Illusions but from what I've read the Syrah must be better. Would a Syrah work well with a Musical Fidelity A3.2cr amp? Speakers since July will need to change soon too (Monitor Audio 9i} but they were a big improvement over what I've been using the last 15 years. So much so that I listen to music just about every day now.

Hello all. My Syrah will arrive in a week or two (ordered 6 months age, I don't mind the wait). First tubed component for me, very excited. Also I'm currently listening to two channel music (what I prefer) through an HT processor so the change should be phenomenal. Now comes the education into tubes. I found a place where I can buy KenRads at $125/pair and Sylvania 6SN7 metal base for $250/pair. Are these prices in the ballpark? I have no idea. This is more $ than I expected to be paying for NOS tubes. I assume NOS tubes are not in production anymore; what do when they are all gone? :)

My major confusion at this point is what about the rating letters after the 6SN7. Like GT, GTA, GTB, or WGT. How do I know which I should use? Do tubes like Tung-Sol VT-231 or RCA VT-231 also come with these letters on them? BTW, all these designations I’m using in this post I’m getting from a website as I write this; they mean nothing to me at this point, its like a new language I’m learning. When my pre arrives, will the stock tubes have one of those designations, and all I need do is make sure that’s on the NOS tubes I buy? I read on a tube seller’s site that these designations refer to a tube’s voltage and plate dissipation ratings, and to ensure good tube reliability you should probably run a tube at 70% or less of its maximum plate dissipation. Wow, this tube rolling is technical! :)

So anyone willing to help me out, maybe suggest the complete tube designation I would buy in a Tung-Sol Round Plate (VT-231 or 6NS7), RCA VT-231 black plate, Sylvania 6SN7 black plate, and Sylvania VT-231 black plate. In other words, do I need to buy a Sylvania 6SN7W black plate, not a 6SN7WGT black plate?

Also, anyone willing to share where they buy NOS tubes? Maybe those are well-guarded secrets since good prices on NOS tubes are hard to find?

Thanks Tonnesen and Jazzdude. So one path would be to find some used tubes first to discover what I like, then buy new for greater cost. Does it look like the site I quoted prices from (www.tubeseller.com) is reasonable?

Any suggestions out there for a resource (website or book or maybe in your own words if it can be put into one paragraph)that would get me up to speed on "rectifer tubes", "power tubes", and any other types of tubes in the Syrah, and that would give me an understanding of Jazzdudes sentence "...rectifier is set to output 370 volts. The voltage-regulator tubes burn 70 volts etc." This stuff sounds interesting.

When you say most agree that the 6SN7GT and VT-231 sound much better than everything else, do both Sylvania and KenRad make a 6SN7GT and a VT-231?

I just finished sending Mick a message with some tube questions before reading your posts. He has been very willing to answer questions along the way, looking forward to what he has to say on these questions.

Mike, back on 9-29-02 Bwhite indicated the TMC cables are so stiff as to make them difficult to deal with. Do you find them to be stiff but managable?

Would a Shelter 501 cartridge be a good match with the Syrah? I'm considering a Nottingham Spacedeck and Space Arm and have seen that cartridge used with that arm. Am I correct in jumping to the conclusion that this arm and cartridge work well together? Thanks for you help.
Jeff