Preamp Deal of the Century

I just finished an extended listening session, and a few things stood out with the NU 7193s.

The highs are extraordinarily detailed and sparklingly clear. They might be fatiguing if it wasn't for the total lack of glare - these tubes are clean, clean, clean. This probably has to do with the anode and grid connections being through the top caps, a design feature which was adopted specifically to improve high frequency performance in radio frequency applications, according to several on-line sources I have found.

The mids are very natural and warm, but not as warm as those from the RCA Grey Glass 6SN7s, which some might consider overdone. The harmonies on the Beatles "Love" CD were thrilling.

The bass is about the same as I had with the 6SN7s, maybe a bit tighter. I'm looking forward to receiving the Ken-Rad 7193s (which should have been here by now...) as Ken-Rads are well-known for their prodigious bass. Stay tuned.

Does anyone have Kevin Covi's most recent contact info.
His email address @attglobal.net bounces back.

Please send me a PM.

Thanks in advance

Hello,

First of, thanks Ait for sharing your findings. I appreciate the time you took to explain to us what you did.

After reading the post of using 7193 in place of the 6SN7's, I have a few quetions.

1.) Does the change in sound could be accounted for using a 7193 with the 6SN7 Operating Points? For example, if Mick is using around 240V at the plate (max for 6SN7 is 250V), then it means that the 7193 will now be bias soft (300V at the plate max) or quite in a conservative region. If so, will it be safe to assume that when you do this, you changed the original Supratek OP already and instead, what you have done is using the PSU of the Supratek to run 7193 tubes?

2.) Does anyone know if both triodes in each 6SN7's on the Chenin are being use as voltage gain stage or one as a CF (Cathode Follower ) only?

3.) Would it be too much if the original poster can post a clear pic of his preamp.

Apologies for my inquiries but I have an access to a 7193 preamp and I remember that the OP that sounds best in that specific circuit is around 275 to 280 volts on the plate with the Grid V around 8~9 volts. Just wondering and wanted to learn, that's all.

regards,

Abe

The anode of the first 6SN7 triode stage is connected to the grid of the second stage in the Chenin. The output wires in the stock version are connected to anode II and cathode II.

I did not change any operating voltages in my Chenin. The only thing I did was move the two output wires from II to I, and plug in the adapter with the 7193s. From what you say, maybe varying the voltage might produce even better results, but my aim was to keep the Chenin as close to stock as possible, yet still able to run 7193 tubes.

Sorry, but I hesitate to pull the Chenin out of my system, open it up and take internal pictures at this point, since the only internal change is moving the two wires.

Okay thanks! So it means that the triode in the 6SN7's are Directly coupled and both seems to be voltage gain stages.

No, I was not asking for changing the OP of the Chenin. Apologies if somewhat my statement sounded like that. All I am saying is, the preamp now run the 7193's using the Chenins 6SN7 designed PSU. So, it is possible that the change in sound is from variation of the operating voltages typical for a 7193 like changing its PD (Power Dissipation) due to different bias levels from that optimized or selected by Mick for the 6SN7.

Apologies again, I am not asking for a pics of the internals, just the outer layout. I just want to see what tubes were use in your Chenin since as far as I know, there are three versions (not sure but two I am pretty sure) of the preamps phono section and can be distinguish by what tubes being use in conjunction with the 6922's.

Thanks!

regards,

Abe