Options to replace Supratek Chennin Pre

Hi Braro. Regarding the voice of the EH6sn7: Yes, it does seem like the general conscensus over in the Supratek thread however, I do not concur with the analogy and just don't buy into it. I can guarantee you that many other supratek owners do not buy it into it either,particularly the user that are privy to the diverse flavours of the 6sn7 family and have a collection of the better nos tubes to roll. Yes sir,I will certainly agree with the fact that the eh 6sn7 is clearly a superior sounding tube than the crappy sounding sovtek 6sn7 that Mick was originally supplying with his preamps. However,that said: literally any 6sn7 type will stomp the sovtek... mine went straight into the trash can about an hour after I received the preamp as I didn't have the heart to pawn them off to someone else. After reading the favourable comments regarding the EH6sn7 I bought a new matched pair and gave them a whirl. Used them for about 40 hours of seat time....Sorry gang...nope, nyet,nadda, just not in the same league as the nos Kenrad vt-231,tung-sol round plates or even the inexpensive RCA grey glass 6sn7gt, nope.. not even close for that matter. Yeah I know, those examples can be rather pricey and I am sure many won't want to pony up the cash for them. Sure, many will head over to the Fleabay crapshoot and take their chances at acquiring a good low noise pair that are supposedly closely matched. Franky,I don't like your odds there unless you know what you are looking at and own a tube tester. Far to many recylcled noisey rejects, duds and tired pulls floating around over there! Find a good dealer that will allow you a rebate and pony up for a pair or at least work with a friend or acquaintance with some knowledge about nos tubes and a calibrated tube tester.I am certain many have done just that and formed an opinion by comparison [or would that be an uninformed opinion]. Like any other company making vacuum tube equipment,the designers hands are tied behind their backs. The reality to this dilema is: to offer tubes that are currently being manufactured in quantity and "voice" their stuff as best they can with the tubes that currently available. Not to mention other considerable liabilities like reliabilty, rejection rates,quality control etc,etc,etc. How many companies do you think are offering nos tubes as an option with their gear? None that I can think of, wonder why? To be candid here: Most any tube design can be voiced for any tube in a given tube family. It would make no sense whatsoever to do otherwise from any marketable business platform. These companies have NO other alternative and must choose an "available equivalent" to work with. However, you are just kidding yourself if you think you can't kick it up to a whole higher level by employing nos tubes in their circuit toplology. Yup,the EH 6sn7 is WAY superior to the sovtek.... far more even handed tonally, it's also a very quiet tube and void of the noise and microphonic tendencies that many nos 6sn7's are prone to. The EH example is very well focused and does possess a certain sparkle up top. All good things here however,that said: The best of the current production tubes are still a far cry from some of the better nos examples. In my gear.... the cortese, the syrah, a home brew line stage preamp,as well as a host of amplifiers employing the octal 6sn7, the eh 6sn7's flavour is still rather lean in the midbass/lower midband in most every application, particularly in high gain stages. Furthermore, when compared to the nos tubes mention above, the eh6sn7 is rather dry sounding, somewhat shallow in the depth retrieval department, whereby the sound field is focused slightly forward from the plane of the speakers. Hey,some may actually preferr this artifact, however the depth of the stage is focused more toward the centre. You will get a reasonable facsimilee of depth preception in the middle of the soundfield but will not hear the same depth perspective in the same focus at the back corners of the soundfield...almost like a triangle per sey with the point aiming down the middle between the speakers. Try quiet pair of Kenrad Black vt-231 and it's immediately obvious as to what I am alluding to. A huge soundfield,incredible depth retrieval that's layered all the way back to each corner of the stage.It posses's a bass response that is "far and away" the best in the 6sn7 family, those with a speaker system that will capture the bottom octave will surely agree as the Kenrad will capture that bass power in that same layered depth perpective as the rest of the soundfield. The 1952 Sylvania "Bad Boy" comes close but still can't match the majesty of the Kenrad black in the bass. Extremely liquid and coherent with a transparency from top to bottom. Percussive instruments seem to float in the soundfield, tiny instruments that are struck[triangles,bells etc] will pop and decay in space,seperate and above the louder power instruments playing together. Hey...I getting carried away here gang. Braro... try some Kenrads, tungsol round [plate versions] or the very least a pair of NOS RCA grey glass examples first and save yourself a boatload of cash and aggrevation. Best of luck!

Wow! Ecclectique you really know your stuff. You have described EXACTLY what my system sounds like with the EH tubes. I could not have described it better myself. I will definately pick up the tubes you have suggested. Thank you so much. I have been struggling with this issue for a couple of years now and am very excited at the possibility of fixxing this issue without more gear changes.

Thanks

I Agree with Ecclectique, Changing 6SN7 tubes is a BIG difference, bigger than changing cables!
I recently went all around tube rolling 6 different pairs:
RCA grey plate is good and will let you know what you are missing but not the best, Sylvania Crome tops are kinda aggressive, I have some flat plates with some brand I forgot which are horrible even if they are NOS....watch out!

How about the Pope 6SN7s? I asked a very well-respected tube seller in the U.S. for the best NOS 6SN7s in his opinion and this is what he sold me.

Don't have the preamp yet to try them.

I agree that Kenrads are great for bottom end especially. The Tungsol round plates are overvalued according to a few tube experts I know. The RCA VT231s are another good suggestion. You can get used ones on ebay for low cost, decide what sounds best and then buy NOS later if something floats your boat. Cheers,
Spencer