Preamp Deal of the Century

twclark:

i would suggest you just order an extra long umbilical cord and move it out of the way where you have room. once you go modifying the chenin's power supply to fit into a small case, you've basically thrown it's resale value out of the window.

That's a valid point but if this piece is as good as everyone says, I am a buy and hold kind of guy and it will probably be in my system for so long it won't be worth anything when it is time to sell.

So back to the original question, any idea about how much circuitry is actually in the case?

I suppose another option is to approach Mick about buying an additional power supply or just the guts of it sans case and fancy chrome plate.

My alternatives are the one case solutions from Cary (SLP 03) and Bat (vk-31se)

TWC

I have been trying a few different 6SN7's in my Chardonnay and contacted Mick on his recommendations and he replied saying that he has tried many NOS 6SN7 types and would suggest that I should stick with the supplied tube the Electro Harmonix as this is better than most NOS.
I tried Ken Rad VT231 (smoked glass); Sylvania GTB chrome domes and Brimar military CV1988 and I have to agree with Mick as only the Brimars matched the EH. I had one other type to try and they were GE 6SN7GTA, short bottle, side getter and they just blew everything else away. Nobody appears to have mention these.
Can anyone give me info on the capacitor upgrade. What caps have you replaced and what values would I need for the Chardonnay. I also asked Mick about this and he said that he also did the V-Cap upgrade and waited months for something to happen........"nothing" so he would not recommend them over the Auricap and neither would Srajan of 6moos, apparently.

As much as I respect Mick's work, my ears strongly disagree with him on the V-Cap upgrade. The difference was immediately apparent the instant I fired my Chardonnay back up. And I don't mean by a small margin. I think there are others here who installed the V-Caps after I posted my results and I think they had the same impression I did. I went from the Auricap to Mundorfs which was a nice improvement, but the improvement from the Mundorf to the V-Cap was substantial. There is no doubt in my mind that the leap from the Auricap to the V-Cap would be huge, unless the Auricaps have been changed since I used them. V-Caps are now used in many of the highest-end crossovers, amps, preamps, etc. and the reports from listeners and manufacturers alike are all the same. The V-Caps are stunningly better.

To be honest, I think Mick simply tries to discourage owners from modding his preamps because I am sure they can be easily screwed up. I have read anecdotal reports of modded Suprateks for sale that apparently sounded like crap. Ultimately, the blame falls on the Supratek name and not on the person or modder who screwed things up. So if I were Mick I would also recommend leaving the preamp in it's stock form.

As far as which caps and what values to change, the coupling caps are the ones to change. Sorry I can't give you the values in your particular preamp because Mick may have changed the values in the Chardonnay since I purchased mine several years ago. It should be easy enough to look on the Auricaps and discern the values.

As an aside, Audience is now making a Teflon cap that they advertise here on the 'Gon as the "fastest cap ever made".

Either Audience realized that the V-Caps are far superior to their own Auricaps and they were getting killed in the marketplace or they just wanted to make more money on a new Teflon cap from knuckleheads like me who think they can here a big difference in the Teflon V-Cap :)