Preamp Deal of the Century

goatwuss:

i think the best you can do is plug your ht processor into an unused input on the syrah. when you want to use your ht, switch the syrah to the input your processor is on and turn the volume on the syrah up to 12 o'clock. this way you can use your ht processor's volume control, but mostly you'll be using it to attenuate the volume of the signal. i can't think of any way you can do without the syrah's volume control being in the signal path.

Kgturner - Thanks for the reply. Would it be an easy modification to change the tape loop into an HT bypass?

goatwuss:

i can't honestly answer that. contact mick and see what he thinks. if you live in the USA, you could ship it to kevin covi in NY if it's doable.

Hi Supratekers,

I have just received my Chardonnay,taking the plunge after reading the posts here and the reviews on 6moons and can say that it's the best "blind" buy that I have ever made.
As I am in the UK I think we Supratek owners are bit thin on the ground here but it's really great to read about your experiences with these fantastic products.
Mick supplied my Chardonnay with Sovtek KT66 regulators and EH 6SN7's and the lowly Sovtek 5AR4 rectifier.I have barely got my Chardonnay warmed up let alone burned-in but as I had some 6L6 types and a bunch of 6SN7's I thought that I would try a valve (tube) change as I thought that it sounded a tad bright. So in went a set of Brimar 6L6G...... dull and lifeless........Sylvania 6L6GA.......a bit better so the KT66's are back in at the moment. I have a couple of New Tung-sol 6L6G replicas on the way so I will see if they can match the Sovtek KT66. I have also replaced the EH 6SN7's with Sylvania GTA chrome domes and these are a big improvement. I think I will leave things as they stand until I get some more hours on this unit but I am also waiting delivery of a Mullard GZ33 for the power supply.
I am really interested in the mods that you guys have done such as the attenuator and changing some of the caps. As I am new here I would like to ask if someone would tell me what caps to change in the Chardonnay and what the uF values are and voltage. I realize that this has probably been posted somewhere but it would make it so much easier if you could post it in a response.

V21:

you might want to consider a bendix 6106 rectifier in the chardonnay. that's what i used when i owned a chardonnay and i thought it was much better than the sovtek 5AR4 mick provides. alas, i'm having to sell all mine on eBay as mick stated that the cabernet cannot use a 6106. c'est la vie.