Preamp Deal of the Century

Powers,
Welcome to the club. I'm a relatively new Chardonnay owner myself (since Sept 2006), and yes, the sound will get better and better with burn-in. Give it at least 200 hrs before you start tube rolling. I have since swapped out the stock 5881s for 6F6Gs recommended by ecclectique (thanks, bro') The Chardonnay is such a revealing preamp it will amaze you when you start rolling tubes. Have fun!

IKKyu2, I have noticed the same image problem you mention with my Chardonnay. There do seem to be an emphasis to the right, but the funny thing is that I do not notice it when playing my tuner, just cd. I checked my speaker position, but that was not it, so I have been thinking it was my Jolida 100a.
Maybe some adjustment is needed inside, I did see two adjustable pots on the inside when I opened it. Maybe someone can say what they are.

Anybody else have Customs issues like this coming into the US?? Is this not the norm?

Colink04,
Thanks. What a wonderful community. It is nice to see all of the enthusiasm, exploration, and sharing of ideas. I have always had a place in my heart for tubes but have been on sabbatical (kids, work.. etc) from the hobby/passion for sometime. Supratek was a new name for me and I stumble across them (strangely enough) while googling for a tube preamp with HT bypass. At first sight, I was quite enamored by the form, style and grace of the Supratek product line and, after reading this tread, was pushed (maybe a leap of faith) to buy a yet un-auditioned preamp from a distant time zone.

So here I am with a new Chardonnay, patently waiting for the burn-in and perhaps going through a similar process many of you have experienced. As so many on this thread have said...be patient. So I will be patient before touching the rectifier tube:).

One thing is for sure, this ‘looker’ of a preamp does a great job at differentiating recorded music. There sure is a lot of poorly recorded/produced music out there! I'm wondering what impact the mp3 generation will have? I began my journey with the album, then came the promise of CD, and now I have MP3s on my phone music for the masses .

A topic for another thread Alas, this thread is for Supratek and all it captures excitement, fun and exploration.

The 6H23N-EB tubes only cost $49 a pair here https://www.gcaudio.com/cgi-bin/store/showProduct.cgi?id=243

The 6N23P-EV and the 6H23n-EB are the same.

As for the Gold Pin EH6SN7, you can try here http://thetubestore.com/6sn7types.html On the pull down menu next to the "Add to Basket" button, select match sections.

I am not affiliated to the stores whatsoever.