Capacitor and tube upgrade for Von Gaylord Lad L-2

Thanks, Mechans. My ultimate 6sn7 sound is flat frequency
response, yet with great dynamics, palpable realness, superb
tone and timbre. I don't care for any exaggeration of bass,
treble or mids. I prefer neutral naturalness, without
excessive warmth or coldness. Of course, the room, amps,
source, speakers and cables make up all that in the scheme
of things.
I have my eye on a pair of the famous '52 Sylvania
"Bad Boys). I'm seeing prices on these anywhere from
$85/pair to $165/pr. The round, black plate Tungsols are in
the $300-$600/pr. range. I have also read that some people
have been raving about the Psvane CV181T tubes. These are
not actual CV181spec tubes, but supposed drop-in
replacements for a 6sn7.
This is a first time preamp for me that uses the 6sn7. My
previous preamp used the 6922, so that is the sound that my
ears have been accustomed to for many years.
By the way, I was told by Ray at Von Gaylord, that he
doesn't recommend trying upgrades of caps in the Lad L-2,
only the tubes. The higher models in the VG line do have
upgraded oil-filled caps, but there are other changes as
well to accomadate these caps.

I would still try the bottom getter Sylvania GT 1940s thru early 50s, Often referred to as the Bad Boy type. True Bad Boys are three rivet plate bottom getter GTs made from late 51 to early 53. Those tubes are special but not a requisite for the flat response you want . The Military version of the Sylvania bottom gettered GT is the VT 231.

I use Shuguang Black Treasure CV-181z in mine and love them. Regarding caps, it didn't look like they are easily replaceable as the circuitry is enclosed in one or two black box(es), which are apparently filled with some kind of compound to prevent resonance, according to Ray. I never really tried to get in there so if you are able to swap out the caps please report back! I would love to get some Duelunds, Audyn True Copper, or Rike S-Caps in there.

For other upgrades I swapped out a pair of input RCAs for WBT 0210-CU and output RCAs for WBT 0210-Ag. Also replaced the Alps volume pot with a Goldpoint Mini-V stepped attenuator with Bent Audio IR kit for remote volume control. The changes made for a pretty significant improvement in clarity, transparency, image definition, and some added treble liquidity, but perhaps at the expense of a little warmth.

What do you think of the preamp so far?

So far, I'm liking the overall tone and timbre, but it still
hasn't opened up for me. I also bought from Ray a 7000s
power cord, so that also needs to break in some more. I have
the power cord hooked up to the fridge to speed up the break
in. The box in the preamp that contains the caps, etc. has
two screw heads deliberately stripped by the manufacturer to
prevent any viewing. Ray told me that in order to upgrade
caps, one must upgrade to next higher preamp in the line. I
just ordered a pair of Psvane CV181T-II tubes so I'm anxious
to hear if they improve the sound. The current stock tubes
are Ruby 6sn7 (I think these are made by Shuguang)
One tweak that I did do and highly recommend is I replaced
the 1-amp slo-blo fuse with a Hifi-tuning gold slo-blo of
same value...huge improvement in clarity and dynamics. I
have an extra pair of both Eichmann and WBT that I might
replace inputs and outputs. I have replaced the inputs and
outputs on my Cdp, previous preamp and tuner with these and
noticed marked improvements.
Addendum: Another tweak just done: replaced male AC plug
on 7000S(Hubbell 8215c with Wattgate 330i)...much better
tonality and timbre.

Thanks, I'm going to try a Synergistic Research SR20 fuse. I've had good results with Hifi Tuning and Furutech in other applications, just never occurred to me to put here!

I'll have to try the Wattgate plug too. I like the 7000s cables a LOT and would love to see them perform at an even higher level.