Preamp Deal of the Century

After one day of listening to the dual Grange Linestage (using the DHT output, not the 6SN7 output) with 6 out 7 tubes being new and the unit obviously not broken in, either, I can only say ’wow’. If this is any indication of what’s to come, I can only tip my hat to Mick (despite the color issue...). My system sounds out of this world - tonality, spaciousness, texture, detail, and 3-dimensionality are far above and beyond anything I have heard in my living room. This is definitely a step up from the Chardonnay and I thought that preamp was amazing. I will play with the 6SN7 output over the next few days and compare. My system is fully balanced so it is a drag the 6SN7 outputs are only RCA, hence it is not that easy to swap back and forth. I had asked Mick if all outputs could be XLR, but he said that’s a major re-design. I am currently using EML 300B Mesh, EML 274B Mesh, Gold Lion KT 66, and Linlai 6SN7 Elite tubes. Also, for full transparency, I use the Revelation Audio umbilical power cord. I have other new and NOS rectifiers (Sophia Electric Mesh, USAF 596 with adapter from Woo Audio), 300Bs, NOS 5881, and 45s I will try out over the next few days and report back. I hope to hear from Mick tomorrow.

Btw, the picture of the black unit above shows the 'full' Grange including phono. I ordered a line stage only, no phono. Mick builds this into the Cabernet chassis, hence it is smaller than the full Grange. Less tubes, too, obviously. 

I heard back from Mick. He says he is sorry about the color mix-up, but in his humble opinion wood looks better anyhow and that I should not worry about the socket being a bit loose..... Hmmm. I guess we are all blessed to be able to buy from him. I have to consider my next move, maybe a PayPal dispute will wake him up. 

@deutscherhififan 

Is the 300B socket loose in the chassis or is the tube wobbly in the socket as if the pins are too small? If the later that's a simple adjustment.

It's both. Right side is perfectly fine and tight, left side has a loose socket (I am sure I can tighten that), but the tube wobbles in the socket.