Preamp Deal of the Century

Docsavage,

Glad to hear you love the new Cortese. Mick sent me an e-mail telling me that mine is almost done. I can't wait to get it. To be honest, I don't see how it can sound better than my Syrah! Man, do I love that preamp. The sound I am getting from my system right now is just amazing. I know the Cortese will be even better. Ever since I got my new ZYX Yatra cartridge (thanks Lugnut), I have barely turned on my Sony SCD-1. Mick really does magic with his phono stages. Docsavage, do you find the phono stage to be quiet? Because Micks preamps are such high gain, noise in the phono stage has been a problem for some people (I am not one of them). Mick told me that the newest Cortese is much quieter in the phono stage. Just wondered what your thoughts are. I am using the Electro Harmonix 6sn7's that Mick likes so well in my Syrah. A guy sold me a pair for $10 and I think they sound fantastic. Tung Sol rounds are better, but when you take into account the price difference, I'll take the EH6sn7's.

Hi Gang. Doc... congrats on the new cortese... it truly is stupid good huh. I can only re-iterate to what mcmustang is alluding too, as the benefits are immediate upon first listen. Start with a good nos rectifier first.The early philips metal based GZ34 that mcmustang is using is about as good as it gets if you can locate one. They can be a little pricey but will also last longer than you or your equipment, pug it in and forget about it! Actually... Any of the vintage mullard gz34's are light years better than the stock rectifier thats supplied with your preamp and all of them are built like tanks and will last just about forever. For those with the 6922/6dj8/ecc88 tube family in the phono stage, there are many different flavours for voicing with but most of the 60's vintage tubes of that family will stomp on the stock tubes mick supplies as long as they are quiet and non-microphonic. I too,think the pre-70's siemens cca is the best of the family, although the white labell amperex e88cc's [d getter versions] present a musically compelling alternative. Line stage??? For those with suprateks employing the 6sn7 dual triode in the line stage.... many flavours here as well. I did try the eh6sn7 in my syrah and was pleasantly suprised, I found it to be very quiet and a tonally well balanced tube overall, but the tung-sol round and kenrad black are certainly in another league altogether....far more organic, with superior dynamic contrast,depth of stage,and the ability to resolve that fine micro detail and nuance that seems missing in action with the EH. Both the tung-sol round and the kenrad black possess a certain decay to percussive notes that's akin to a real instrument in the room. As usual... your mileage may vary. Enjoy!

Thanks all, looks like some tube rolling is in order soon. Mustang, I find the phono stage to be very quite. I do at times play the tunes a bit on the loud side but only at severe levels do I hear a bit of hum between cuts. Actually, several other phono stages I have used had much more noise. I know that the general consensus on this forum is that the gain levels should be set to max output. I have been puzzled by this. I don't believe Mick would include so much control if he thought it would not be beneficial given individual system requirements. I find that backing off the rear panel setting a bit and placing the top switches to low gain sounds much better in my system. I will be doing much more experimenting with these features. I must say that "out of the box" this pre blew me away. Even after reading many posts here, I was not prepared for such a dramatic change. By the way I do not post very often. I did want to get the thread going because I have learned so much here on this subject. I know the tendency is to tout ones own equipment but in this case it really is that good.

Hey Doc. What cartridge are you using?

Ecclectique,

How long did you leave the EH6SN7s in? I thought they were berry, berry good right out of the box, but they really bloomed after a month.

I have numerous NOS 6SN7s: Tung-Sol Round Plates, 52 Syls, etc. among others and I prefer the EHs to all of them. They really came into their own after a hundred hours or so (I'm just guessing here, but they did take quite some time to really become outstanding.)

I know you are far more experienced than I am when it comes to tubes, but I thought I would just offer you my experience.