Preamp Deal of the Century

When I first bought my Supratek Grange, I was a little concerned about what might happen if my preamp needed a little work, but Mick's website said he would forward schematic to tech, so that served to allay my fears...Wonderful preamp, and the most georgeous piece of equipment I have ever owned....
Well, the time came when I experienced a problem with the system, and I THOUGHT I had it narrowed down to the preamp, so I contacted Mick with questions, one of them being would he recommend anyone in California to take a look at my preamp. He said to contact Kevin Covi in the eastern U.S. I called him on the phone, and he spent an HOUR with me talking over my perceived problem, Supratek design philosophy, etc. Wow! Having been in audio for 25 years, this was quite a suprise that he spent so much time with me, and assured me he would troubleshoot my preamp, and make it right. He also volunteered to set up my preamp to use PX4, 45, AND 300B tubes. Well, long story short, he checked out my preamp, and it was fine. He changed the switches for the tubes, readjusted bias, gave it the once over...Perfecto....AND he turned it around within days, and charged me about 1/2 to 1/3 what any tech would charge (in my opinion). SO! Hope you don't have a problem with your Supratek, but if you do (or think you do) know that there are people like Mick and Kevin Covi who are dedicated to their product and high quality service...A+++

Who has rolled PX4, 45, and 300B in Grange preamp? I have been running the PX4's that came with my Grange (bought on Audiogon) and am now wondering about tube rolling. Kevin Covi has told me that a lot of folks are using the WE 300B and loving it...He says this is the hot ticket...I would hope so, at the price per pair...Anyone tried RCA 45's, Cunningham 45's, TJ Mesh Plate 300b's, Sophia Electric Princess 300b's? Trial and error tube rolling in this price leauge is expensive, so would love to hear the experiences of others. System is Cain and Cain single horn Ben's with Bailey subwoofer, TNT/SME 4/Koetsu, Opus 21 cd player, Welborne 300b monoblocks. Should I bite the bullet and just get the WE, or...?

Stevem 1960: thanks for the response...your experience sounds like mine...I did some tube rolling, and sent email to Kevin Covi outlining my results. Here is copy of text sent to him:

"Tried RCA 45's: bigger, rounder, fuller...less focused than PX4's.
Tried Cunningham 45's: but had problem with right channel tube making really weird noises...this must have been my problem before, when I had the Korneff 45 mono amps in the system.
Tried Electro Harmonix 300b: nice. good bass, detail, vocals, better dynamics than PX4 or 45's.
Swapped TJ mesh plates from Welborne 300b's into Grange, and ran EH 300b's in Welborne monos: best yet...best vocals, detail, soundstaging, bass, dynamics etc. May have to pick up another pair at $279 pair new....
Don't know if I will swing the WE300b's...sure would like to try though..."
Based on the above, I went ahead and ordered another pair of TJ premium mesh plates...life is good...