Preamp Deal of the Century

Amandarae,

They are the regular black base.

I know they make a gold "pin" version, but I have heard that the gold pins are actually the "standard version" with the pins just painted gold. After inserting the pins into a tube socket once, the gold is supposedly scraped off.

I purchased the tubes from Upscale Audio. I paid for the "Private Reserve" (which might be complete BS), but they are very quiet at the moment. Only $10 more per tube for the "Private Reserve", so why not?

http://www.upscaleaudio.com/product.asp?itemid=53&catid=46

Let me know your impressions. I will be very curious.

I am stunned at how good this pair sounds in my Supratek. Assuming they hold up, as I said before, I have purchased my last pair of NOS 6SN7's. (Well, I haven't heard the Tung Sols yet.)

fiddler:

my chardonnay shipped with eh 6sn7. from what i recall, the sound was really good. my cary monos are also using 2 eh 6sn7's. i am currently running some black glass ken rads in the chardonnay. your post reminded me that i haven't actually done any critical listening between the two.

Fiddler,

The last time I spoke with Mick he highly recommended the EH6sn7's. He said the has hundreds of pairs of NOS tubes, and he like the EH6sn7's better. I was going to order a pair. Guess I better do it.

Thanks Fiddler,

I live about 15 miles away from Kevin (Upscale Audio). As much as I want to avoid it (I can't help myself buying more than I intend to)I guess it is time to visit the castle of Mr. Deal.

Ola Kevin! Here I come......

Mick asked me to pass on a message to everyone. I was talking with him about the EH6sn7's which he is putting in all the new 6sn7 based preamps. Long story short, he says he is building and voicing the preamps to the tubes that he is putting in them. He is not fond of the NOS tubes that most of us use, and he does not recommend many of the non-standard tubes that are being used in the Suprateks. He said he is considering making the warranty void if damage is done to a preamp from using non-standard tubes. Mick wanted me to pass on to everyone that his feeling about NOS tubes is that they do not sound better, only different than the tubes that he ships the Suprateks with. He feels that the only people that are really benefiting from NOS tubes are the people that are charging outrageous prices for them. If the NOS tubes are not perfectly matched, he feels we are degrading the sound of the preamps. Mick really likes the EH6sn7 tubes and feels they are every bit as good as NOS tubes at a much more reasonable price.
Mick asked me to pass this on to everyone, so I am following his wishes. I also asked him if he had tried the Welbourne labs attenuaters and he said he has recieved them, but has not put them in a unit yet as they are very large and he has not yet figured a way to fit them in the Cortese.