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In Reply to: Phono Stage recommendations posted by Spiral on April 22, 2007 at 11:22:52:
I'm using a Wright WP 100 right now, and it's a good preamp. But I have to change the 6ER5 tubes about every 8 months. The nice thing about trhem is that are are pretty cheap. Last week I took delivery of one of Fran VanAlstein's phono stages (his best one), and from what I can see the build quality is excellent. Mine is not the way they normally build them in that it has two pairs of inputs instead of one (for a twin armed turntable). Anyway you can pick the WP100's up for about $450 to $500, and you'll have to spend a lot more money to get something better. The AVA sells for about $899 (maybe a bit less), is tubed, and made in the USA.
gary
Follow Ups:
I have the WPP 100 also and it is very nice. I change the tubes about every year to 1 1/2 yrs. They are cheap and the preamp is worth it IMO. The tubes in the 200 were changed because of the finicky nature of the 6ER5's which were in the 100. He may get one for $500, but that is a little on the low end I believe. A new wright sells for $825 and has a 30 day $$$ back
Life has lots of trials and lots of music to help us through them.
What goes wrong with the 6ER5's that you have to replace them? Noise, rolled-off highs, outright failure or what? Also, have you contacted George Wright about it and could this indicate a problem elsewhere in the preamp?I have a WPL11 with 6ES5's that has worked fine for a couple of years. I may pick up some spares to see if the present ones are going downhill (the ES are even cheaper than the ER most places) but I have not noticed any problem.
The tubes tend to get noisy. This usually happens after about 1 1/2-2 yrs for me. According to Geo Wright, this is a problem with some of the 6ER5's but not all. But my track record shows a life span of 1 1/2-2 yrs. Interestingly, the WPP 200 uses a different tube. Even with the tube life problems of the 100, it is still a great phono preamp. I highly recommend it to all.
Life has lots of trials and lots of music to help us through them.
in my WPP 100 and have some backups. Can't yet comment on tube life, but these were cheap to buy, quiet, and I've had them in there for about 4 months now. I'm really enjoying it.
the longest lasting of the 6er5/6gk5 are a set of Hitachis I put in a couple of years ago. Still not a hint of noise and I like their mellow sound. I've got a matched set of Sylvania's in reserve.The shortest lived were the Zeniths that came with the unit. I went through a set of RCA 6er5's in about a year before they got noisy. Btw, all the other tubes in the unit, including a pair of 12ax7's and those that are on the power supply are still original for me.
for what ever that's worth.
user510's system
I'm using Sylvania 6ER5's now. There was a thread about tube rolling for the Wright a few yrs ago. The Sylvania's along with Gold Ei 12AU7's were supposed to be real nice. Problem is that the EI's were noisy. I traded them for JJ's I think. So far so good. They have been in for over a year now.
Life has lots of trials and lots of music to help us through them.
... in a CJ Premier 1inestage, I tried a bunch. The Hitachies were the best and the Mullards were the worst, at least for reliability.
nt
or another vendor that screens their tubes but perhaps I should have. I bought a dozen Hitachi 6gk5 tubes (very cheap) and threw 8 away because of excessive noise, leaving me with only 4 that worked. On the flip side perhaps I was lucky with the Mullards I got...but I'm only 4 months into their use.
I bought mine on Ebay, never had a noisy one. Either I got lucky or the CJ Prem 14 isn't susceptible. Hardly any of my Mullards lasted 4 months in the same unit; tended to flare brightly on start-up which I assume (maybe wrongly) shortened their life.
Hi Dave....a preference for sound?
-Steve
user510's system
It was the Hitachi all the way, despite its being much the cheapest 6GK5 I tried --including the US and Brit GEs, the Mullards under various names, and (I think) the Sylvanias. A real winner.
I haven't tried the 6GK5's. This is the only piece of tube gear (for now) so I am not familiar with what is permissible as far as cross matching. The 12AU7's have given me no problems at all. And given that the 6ER5's are generally about $5 apiece, it doesn't break the bank to replace them.
Life has lots of trials and lots of music to help us through them.
Agreed. I still have the original RCA 6er5 and 12au7 tubes that came with mine (I bought it used on a'gon, with the Wright SUT) and they still sound good to me. After spending a few hours scouring the archives I found some recommendations that I thought I'd try. I'm holding one NOS set in reserve, along with the originals and the others I tried, so I should be fixed for a while!
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