Preamp Deal of the Century

Thank you for the first review of the Malbec, Kgturner.
Out of curiosity, how do they compare to the AES Sixpacs you previously owned?

the sixpacs are effectively a cary amplifier so they exhibit much of the same sonic characteristics as other cary amps. syrupy is the best way i can describe it. the malbecs are much more dynamic by comparison. of course, it's hard to make an accurate comparison as all my other amps were used on the gershman speakers while i'm using the malbecs on a new and relatively unfamiliar speaker (dB99 SE).

Kgturner, have you tried with the KT88s? Do you get the buzzing with KT88 also?

yes, the KT88 tubes buzzed as well. i don't think it's my cheap interconnects as the tweeter continues to buzz even when the cables are unplugged.

I finaly took a look under the hood of my Chardonnay.I decided to change the feet for some Bright Star Isonodes, so first I open up the power supply, did some damping and Deoxit spray the power switch, made it feel much better, not as dry and cheap.
Then on to the preamp, as I opened it I was pleased to see two huge Auricaps looking at me. Everything looks nicely soldered with silver solder.
I bypassed the HT switch, which I don't plan on ever using. I did make it easily reversable incase the next owner needs it however.
Everything looks good, all quality parts, nicely laid out.
However there was one surprise that I am not sure how I feel about, those big silver domes were empty.
Now I do not remember reading anywhere that said they had something inside, but I figured they were transformer housing of some sort. So I was really surprised to see that they are just two empty cans, I guess for cosmetics.

Thats the only conclusion I could come to, or maybe they are tuned to some special frequency, as they do ring when you tap them.
Are the ones on the higher models empty too?
Just curious.