Preamp Deal of the Century

Cottection, the main unit has all 4 smaller front tubes the same,

6C45N-E,

I incorrectly thought two were (-L) however they were (-E) rubbed out a little.

Thanks,

Bill

Hi Grannyring - sounds like you've got the stock tubes so almost anything you do will be an improvement. Many of the Supratek users on the board here use the Tung Sol 5881 in as regulator tubes and Mullard GZ-30-somethings as a rectifier. That is a very nice combo but I'd be willing to bet you can find something you like better - experimentation is the key to finding what fits your taste and synergizes best with your system.

One tube you left out is the 6SN7 tube.... That's the KEY to the Supratek sonics. I recommend Raytheon VT-231, Tung Sol Round Plate 6SN7GT and Ken Rad Black Glass VT-231's as great choices for the Syrah. I'd say the Raytheon is the least colored followed by the Tung Sol and then the Ken Rad.

Sylvania VT-231's and the 6SN7WGT (metal base) are good choices for the most open sound you can get out of the Syrah. The 6SN7WGT's are expensive and sound like all sylvania's sound slightly metallic to me but if you're into music like Enya, there is nothing better.

My favorite 6SN7 is the Ken Rad Black Glass VT231.

More on Rectifiers:

The Bendix 6106 is great. Good strong bass... nice mids, nice highs. Overall, I'd say this is the best choice for use in the Supratek but.. there are situations where the Bendix will absolutely not work. Some tube combos just clash with the Bendix and the pace / timing of the music goes crazy.

The old GEC/MO-Valve/Cossor/Genalex/etc U54 is nice. Very nice! These are pretty rare.

Regulator tubes:

Any 6L6 variant will work and they all sound tremendously different. The best of the best are the GEC/Genalex KT66 if you want the ultra seductive liquid mids.. The WE or NU 350B for more brutal honesty - superb bass - a real "you are there" type of sound. Almost too much for me but its what I'm using now.

The Sylvania 5932 - three types - and they are all very good. The most common, black plate with holes variety is the most neutral and/or accurate / realistic sounding tube I've heard in this application except... neutral is boring.
The rare dual black plate version is almost as good as the GEC KT66 for liquidity and seductive sound but mixes in some of that accuracy for a nice blend. The black plate without holes version - I haven't spent too much time with but as far as I can tell, its similar to the "holed" version but offers a little more personality, character and as such is not as dull as the neutral holed version.

RCA Metal 6L6. Cheap & ugly. Wide soundstage but a bit thin & somewhat see-through.

As for the Syrah phono tubes - I do not have any experience rolling those so I cannot comment.

Ecclectique has in the past made some awesome "tube related" posts to this thread. Scan through his posts to get more insight on tubes.

Hello Grannyring. Congrats on the supratek choice and welcome to the forum.Regarding Nos tubes: Not much more to add on my behalf as Mr Bwhite's assessment of the nos tubes choices for the supratek is really very accurate. He has pretty much "dialed in" the sonic signature of those tubes.{Kudos to Bryon and very well said!}Regarding phono Tubes: I personally preferr the Amperex 5842 gold pin over the Western Electric 417a [most WE 417a's tend to be a little more microphonic]I also use the mullard GK5's in the phono but the nos RCA's are great as well and their influence have never really been an issue with me.I use a Koetsu Roewood mc,mind you I do preferr the RCA's with the Shelter 501.The voice of the cartridge used in the phono may very well dictate ones choice of tube here as the RCA's are a tiny bit brighter in the treble region. I am really quite certain that any of the nos tube choices mentioned in Bwhites post will literally mesmerize you. Enjoy!

I would echo much of what Bwhite said.

I love the WE 350B's. Far and away the best regulator in my opinion. I like the RCA Metal 6L6's next and then the GEC KT66's.

Both the Ken Rad and the 1952 Syls are excellent 6SN7 variants.

Mullard 5AR4 (GZ34) is outstanding. I had the timing and pace problems with the Bendix that Bwhite described, but others have loved this rectifier. If you are interested, let me know, its brand new.

The good news is the Supratek is so transparent that you can mix and match tubes until you find the combo that you like. Believe me, you can find any sound you want if you play with the tubes enough.

For Granny:

Guys, no good in going WE 350 right off the bat...nothing is ever as good as we think it is, and this increases in effect when you look at from when, well, someone is looking at it. Look at where someone is, the curve, and make the recomm from there.

Go, for now:

Tung 5881 for Sovteks, no doubt

Hold off on the Ken blacks on the 6SN7's. Coming from Resolution CD and SS Parasound amps, regardless of their SS harmonic complexity, its, remember, a SS context (Crump would venture, agree on the context qualifier). As such, Kens might alienate with its, um, distant depth (the bass on the Kens is so good because it dissipates so naturally into the depth field, but from SS perspective this is a lost perspective, at least intitially, in a search for "lost" dynamics, and particularly in the bass octaves). Go Sylvania VT 231 circa 1940 era for now. If still too "vague" in bass, then Brimars, then later to Ken blacks. Stay away from metal base; over rated, at least in this application, ie no use going brittle to get the semblance of quickness.

Get Mullard GZ 34 - experiment from there if the mood moves you.

Do line stage first, then move onto phono NOS tubes.

Don't do all at once; get one, listen, for SUFFICIENT time, then, if need be, something else. Listen to others, become enthused, but don't move too fast, or the listening ear will be left behind. The mind needs time to aclimatize to each change, especially when from one "kind" of emphasis to another, ie from SS emphasis (no matter how good the SS) to stuff like the Supra.

Good luck! Very glad you are happy, much ahead...