Preamp Deal of the Century

Hi Simon,

I have reading this thread and learning from it for quite sometime. I have my Chardonnay about 1 year ago, purchased from Mick. After a year of listening and tube rolling, I think I can give a bit of my humble opinion for those interested. Firstly, I think Chardonnay is not the last word of resolution (who need that?) but a very enjoyable preamp. Secondly, I think it does not have a sound of its own, but it is a playground of tube rolling (my previous preamp was Nagra PLP, which I have tried tube rolling only a couple of times). You hear the sound of different tubes, not the sound of the preamp itself. I am using a Emmlabs/ DAC6e front end, a 300B SET mono amp and Kharma 1.1 at the moment. My speakers were Watt/puppy 6 two months ago but Kharma is a notch better in terms of mid/ high resolution so that I am hearing more difference in tubes now. I have tried certain 6SN7 including Slyvania, tungsol, RCA red base 5692, CBS hydron 5692 etc but I am now using the stocked EH 6SN7. For this position, I think the EH does a very fine job in providing a well balanced sound with reasonable refinement. It has better bass than most tubes I have tried. Some may have a more refined high but none have a more balanced sound except the GE side-getter which I think is the best buy NOS. If you use EH 6SN7 with the stocked Sovtek 5881 (in my Chardonnay), you will get enlarged focus, coarse sound with diminished air. It will be fun to fiddle with the regulators then. I have tried differnt brand of 6F6G recommended in this thread and they are fine in this position. I personally prefer Visseaux to Sylvania for better high frequency performance but I am sure if your can find one. I have tried Miniwatt 6F6G but they are inferior to Sylvania. For the moment, I am using Sylvania 5881 for this position for a more solid bass performance and more realistic texture (especially piano), sacrifying a little air comparing with Visseaux 6F6G. I have also tried some KT66 in this position but they sounded superficial (brilliant but without a solid ground). Forget to mention, I am using a Fulmusic mesh plate 274B in place of rectifier. It improves the resolution of the preamp a lot (don't use the gray plate Fulmusic 274B, the resolution is much inferior). But I have to admit that I have not tried WE 274B or Philips metal base 5AR4. I have tried Mullard 5AR4 which seems to have a floppy bass and too syrupy for my liking.

Lastly I must say sound is very much system dependent and personal taste is very personal. You can only try it in your system to see whether it suits you or not.

YWLee

Hi Ywlee,
thanks for that pretty full description.
My feeling is to try the EH, more for peace of mind
over reliability matters than out & out sound.
I like most of the RCA, CBS & Sylvanias more than the tubes
I'm presently using.
Probably get shot down in flames but I find far bigger differences can be had with power cords than tubes on 'my' pre in 'my' system.
The Harmonix Studio Master is a revelation on my Syrah - how I'm not sure - take it out & replace with all manner of Shunyatas, Electraglides, PS Audio, Z-Squared etc, etc and they just don't sound as 'right'.
Shunyata - 2 organic - Electraglide - smeared ad finitum.
The Harmonix allows the Syrah to differentiate layers of depth, harmonics, hall ambience and macro dynamics that none of the other power cords seem to allow it to show.
Seriously thinking about taking out the rear gain control, doing away with the remote and fitting a better volume control and some 100 ohm resistors directly on the phono inputs - or rather having my mate who knows all this stuff inside out to do these mods for me.
Strange days indeed for someone who till recently could not live without at least a remote volume!
OK - I own up, my new rooms so small, I can just reach over and crank it up, it will have to be retro refits if I ever have to move my ass of the couch again to reach it.
Si :-)

Simon74,

Which Electraglide did you try with your Syrah?

Hi Fiddler,
tried the Mini Khan Plus & the Ultra Khan rev2.
The Mini Khan beats all on my cd player but neither comes close to the Harmonix on the Syrah (imo)
Not happy with no grounds however,may be ok with 120V but a bit dangerous with the voltage here in the UK so I wouldn't contemplate any of their more expensive cords.
Also tried Shunyata Taipan Alpha and King Cobra V2.
A pair of Python Alphas enroute but doubt the Harmonix will
be dethroned at least on the Syrah !
Cheers Simon

Hi Simon,

Just want to share my experience of power cord as well. Power cords make a big difference in sound, that's certain, and I had been through that game before. I must say I had spent more than a little fortune in experimenting with power cords and interconnects. I had been a Shunyta fan for sometime and I still own a original Hydra which is corian made and gorgeous looking. I had used two king cobra 2, 2 vipers, and 1 taipan at one time. Finally, at least in my system, I found them excellent in most aspects especially ambience and high frequency performance. It is as silky as you can imagine. But there is a severe drawback with them in my system, that is sound without a backbone. They softens the transient and attack such that a piano never sound right. I had tried PS audio, various NBS (including monitor 0), siltech, VDH, Taralabs, MIT and some others. Finally, I found that I likely most the raw sound with big gauge solid core copper power cord which preserves the transient and harmonics with the least addition or subtraction effect. I am using some cheap Acrotec 4050 (50amp) power cords through out my system, taking from a set of Exactpower EP15A + SP15A balance transformer system. I had use the Harmonix studio master also, long before the Supratek time. My humble impression is that it has an elegant sound, plus a golden colour on top. Its bottom is very clean and tight, its high beautiful but inadequately extended. It is not as transparent as I prefer (personal taste again, and system dependent, of course).

Lee