In Reply to: Re: The Ultrapath Linestage on the Electra Print site posted by Rick C on December 24, 2000 at 19:57:07:
Hello! I've been running my Ultrapath now for almost 3 years. I've stuck with the single 6SN7GTB and absolutely love it. I've had it over to several other setups, and it's smoked some multi-kilobuck preamps, hands down. The sense of ease, space, and inner detail is amazing. It provides a depth to the music that a regular anode loaded stage or cathode follower output can't touch.Regarding the gain, unless your amps are REALLY insensitive, you won't have a problem. With my Direct Reactance Drive 300B amps, which are about 1.4VRMS for full output, I've got plenty of gain from either the phono or line inputs. With my 1625 SE UL amp, which is about .7VRMS for full output, I've got LOTS of gain. It's hard to turn it down low enough. Granted, I have 103dB efficient horns, so that makes a difference.
The big trick to the Ultrapath is a quiet power and filament supply, and you have to keep the OPT's away from any magnetic fields (power transformers, chokes, other amps with big power trannies, etc.) if they are not potted in cans. My setup is dead quiet, but I have to watch where I put the preamp. It will pick up a Weller soldering gun from 15 feet away when it's on.
Have fun!
Chris Beck
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