Hey Asa - have a Supratek Syrah question

Asa, you out there ??

- Ken

Since Asa is not responding, I will try to give you some idea of my similar experiences.

When I had my Sony 9000ES CD/SACD player, I started out by going direct into my Berning amp. I did this for awhile and it seemed ok. But then, when I made the move into vinyl, I bought a full function tube preamp. The one I got, the MFA Magus, is similar to the Audible Illusions Modulus. I think the Syrah is likely to be even better. When I plugged my 9000ES into this preamp, I got to hear the difference, compared to the direct-in that I was previously running.

The result I got was less harsh, and more open. The tonal qualities were better, and more natural. There may have been a small loss of information, due to the longer circuit path, but very minimal. Soundstage was better in all 3 dimensions. Things became more "liquid". I preferred it. I am generally a "short signal path" kind of guy, but in this case, I liked the active tube preamp better than direct.

I know this is not exactly what you asked, but at least I had a Berning amp, and a Sony SACD player, so results may be similar for you. In any case, if you get the Syrah, then you will have the phono section that comes with it. If you ever get a TT, you will quickly forget about SACD. I sold my digital player and went back to all-analog.

This is all simply my experiences with my system in my room. YMMV.