Markus, I have the Supratek Pinot stand alone phono. It's the same phono pre and power supply thats in the Cortese pre. I have yet to wear out a tube but I have done a bit of rolling.
This pre uses a quad of 6688/E180F up front, 6SN7 drivers, 6L6 regulators. And a 5 volt rectifier in the power supply.
6688 matched quads are not easy to find, but TubesUnlimited has them, as well as Mick Maloney. I have used the Phillips SQ's and Mullard. I prefer the Phillips, resolution and clarity is excellent.
6SN7, right now I am enjoying the Sylvania 52 Bad Boys. They do everything well in a Supratek. Next choice is 6F8G with adaptors. Bought 2 pair of adaptors from a guy in Poland who sells on Ebay. Excellent product made with first rate parts. No china junk here.
Favorite is the Ken Rad 6F8G.
6L6, I have used GE 6L6, and they do everything well also. Right now I'm using National Union 6F6 and they are amazingly good as well as cheap, probably as good as WE 350B. I cant tell a difference. Learned about these from the original Supratek thread ( which I participated in).
As to the 6DJ8, my phono does not use them, butty Finale Audio 300B amp does. However I run Russian 6N6P OTK Nevz gold grid. They are so good I have no need for 6DJ8.
Rectifier. You can use almost any 5 volt rec you prefer in the Supratek, and I have. The exotic and expensive to a lowly RCA 5V4GA, they all do well surprisingly. I finally got down to 2 favorites. Bendix 6106 and 1940's RCA 5U4G with smooth plates. Bought mine new in the box from Andy at Vintage Tube Svcs. After those two I like the Mullard GZ32.
I do not leave anything on all the time, but I do give my gear a 20-30 minute warm up.
You can use your tube gear more than once a day, but let tubes cool completely before switching things back on.
As far as grade goes, you do want "phono grade" which translates to "the most quiet". But that only applies to signal tubes.
This pre uses a quad of 6688/E180F up front, 6SN7 drivers, 6L6 regulators. And a 5 volt rectifier in the power supply.
6688 matched quads are not easy to find, but TubesUnlimited has them, as well as Mick Maloney. I have used the Phillips SQ's and Mullard. I prefer the Phillips, resolution and clarity is excellent.
6SN7, right now I am enjoying the Sylvania 52 Bad Boys. They do everything well in a Supratek. Next choice is 6F8G with adaptors. Bought 2 pair of adaptors from a guy in Poland who sells on Ebay. Excellent product made with first rate parts. No china junk here.
Favorite is the Ken Rad 6F8G.
6L6, I have used GE 6L6, and they do everything well also. Right now I'm using National Union 6F6 and they are amazingly good as well as cheap, probably as good as WE 350B. I cant tell a difference. Learned about these from the original Supratek thread ( which I participated in).
As to the 6DJ8, my phono does not use them, butty Finale Audio 300B amp does. However I run Russian 6N6P OTK Nevz gold grid. They are so good I have no need for 6DJ8.
Rectifier. You can use almost any 5 volt rec you prefer in the Supratek, and I have. The exotic and expensive to a lowly RCA 5V4GA, they all do well surprisingly. I finally got down to 2 favorites. Bendix 6106 and 1940's RCA 5U4G with smooth plates. Bought mine new in the box from Andy at Vintage Tube Svcs. After those two I like the Mullard GZ32.
I do not leave anything on all the time, but I do give my gear a 20-30 minute warm up.
You can use your tube gear more than once a day, but let tubes cool completely before switching things back on.
As far as grade goes, you do want "phono grade" which translates to "the most quiet". But that only applies to signal tubes.