Preamp Deal of the Century

Just received my tricked up Grange last week. Order was placed in late November. Be patient; it is well worth the wait.

Hi Slowhand. No.......without a rectifier, the preamp would not power up. No rectifier = no power. The rectifiers's duty is to convert the AC voltage[ 115-120 volts alternating current] from the wall plug to 6 volts DC [direct current] for operating the other tubes in the preamp. The regulator tubes[6L6,6f6 etc] are used to smooth the residual ripple in the dc voltage "after" the rectifier has converted the ac to dc. If you want to use the preamp with the 5y3 for rectification duty, there is a proceedure you can use to prevent or minimilize any cathode stripping of the other tubes. It's a bit of an inconvenience but it can be done. Power up the preamp for at least 5 minutes with the stock rectifier,this allows the other tubes to slowly turn on and stabalize in the circuit.Then turn off the preamp and quickly insert the 5y3 in place of the gz34 and turn it back on "immediately". "NOTE" Please understand that I am "not" recommending substitution of the stock rectifier with the 5y3 or any other directly heated rectifier for that matter! Warming the cathodes or heaters of the 6sn7's and the regulation tubes with the recommended rectifiers will minimilize the cathode stripping of those tubes. Cathode stripping is caused by the tubes being subjected to a blast of full voltage before they have had a chance to warm up and stabilize themselves in the circuit. Man...O... man.... Mick would surely be rolling his eyes if he reads this post!

Hello WcMustang, Congrats on your new acquisition. Tricked up? Can you elaborate. Did you order it with the px4 directly heated triode? I too am considering buying one myself. I have never heard the tube in a preamp stage however I have played with the a few px25 triodes over the years. These directly heated triodes, when used in an output stage of an amplifier have an incredible purity to them,amazing resolution of very fine micro detail and nuance that most output tubes only hint at. Hope you will post your thoughts after break in.... really looking forward to it!

About a year and a half ago (or so), I emailed Mick and asked him what upgrades he had done to the Chardonnay. He told me that the biggest upgrade he had made was switching to Auricap capacitors. He told me which two caps would make the biggest difference to change in my pre and I switched them for Auricaps. Noticeable improvement.

Well, I have been hankering to try Mundorf Silver Supremes in the Auricap position for at least six months. Well, I finally put them in this week. &%*#@$$! What a difference.

The Mundorfs simply blew the Auricaps away. There was a nice improvement when I put the Auricaps in, but to say there is an improvement with the Mundorfs is an understatement. These caps sound like a component upgrade!

The 3D palpability is greatly increased, great clarity overall, turned my subwoofer down due to increase in bass resolution, considerably deeper soundstage and greater separation of instruments. One of the best changes I have ever made.

Some time ago, I bypassed the selector switch and I am now going straight from the CD input to a DACT (highly recommended). The DACT and the straight input made a big difference in clarity. The Mundorfs made a bigger difference everywhere! The music just flows now.

I highly recommend taking 30 minutes to change a couple of caps if you are so inclined. My Chardonnay doesn't even sound like the same pre.

Ecclectique,
Yes PX4 direct heated triodes plus 76 in place of the standard 6SN7 (huge difference) and a few other minor tweaks. It is the only Grange of its kind in the world.
Audio has been a hobby of mine for 42+ years and words cannot describe the sound but perhaps this does:

(UFB)2
Gotta go and listen