Preamp Deal of the Century

Stiltskin,
You are right to a certain degree- I made my decision solely based on this thread, when I first bought Chenin.
Then the whole sibilance issue became my reality. I tried to deal with it by all possible means- NOS tubes, room treatments, support system, new speakers- NO LUCK.
Then I (wrongly) decided, that Cortese might be a better preamp with regards to sibilance, and combined with Supratek power amps ( I was blaming poor synergy with my then BAT-75SE), will give me the sound, I was looking for.That's how I've made that decision.
Soon after, I happened to find Doshi up for sale, and decided to try it.
What exactly is in my post from 11-24-07 conveys "a totally different story"? I did say Cortese was more dynamic, and served music ina different fashion, which is absolutely true, and I stand by that statement today. What to the sibilance- not one of the subsequent preamps in my system, Nagra, BAT exhibited a slightest trace of it, being equally as musical, expressive and resolving, as Cortese.
I think I still have some of Mick's e- mails, and I post them later.
Arkio,
You are right, all of them are more expensive retail, but when was the last time, you paid a full retail price at a dealer? There are two Nagra PL-Ps for sale now for $5300 and $5900, as we speak. And don't forget, Mick sold direct, with no dealer network.
If you are happy with your Supratek,and like the way it colors music, that doesn't make it the best out there by any means.
I'm not saying, that there is anything wrong with somebody liking certain colorations. My point is and was, that I could not listen to it in my system.
I have no doubts in my mind, that everybody has different level of sensitivity to this particular type of coloration.
So your comment to the absense of coloration in Supratek cannot possibly change my own extensive experience with it, and actually bears aquestion:'WHAT ELSE IS IN YOUR SYSTEM???"

Goatwuss, Arkio,
There is no need for an argument about coloration. Here is my explanation why.
Nature didn't create us all equal, as you know, some of us are white, some black, some are brown, some are tall, some are smart, and there are some, who are less so.
The same goes for our hearing apparatus. Being a physian and an educator, I feel compelled to give a short anatomy and physiology lecture here, which I feel is long overdue.
Our hearing apparatus is strictly analog mechanical device.
Our external ear is simply a horn, designed to amplify sound.
The other part of our internal ear is a membrane, consist. of a different lenghts fibers, designed to response to a different frequencies of the audible spectrum. It looks not unlike xylophone.
With some stretch of imagination, one can assume, that that part of our internal ear differs from one person to another.
To stretch our imagination even further, it's safe to assume, that being different lenghts and thickness, they would resonate at different freuencies, causing different amplitude of the electric signal, generated in the corresponding receptors to go to our auditory cortex, to be percieved as a sound of different loudness.
So, all of us, hearing the exact same signal at specific frequency, will have an electrical signal od different amplitude generated in their receptors, and will hear it at different loudness levels.
All this said, I don't really understand, how come we still having an argument about a sound signature of a certain component(s). The simple truth is- we all hear differently, and that explains why Goatwuss and Arkio do not hear sibilance and Tvad, Mrjstark, myself and many others do.

That should put an end to all arguments of this kind, hopefully.
Most likely it won't though.

Tvad,
Got you. I know you didn't discuss sibilance. I'm not even sure that's the right term to use. But it was colored.
My subjective impression was, that no matter, what I put in front, or after Supratek, the whole system sounded like Supratek, it had it's sonic imprint on every recording also.

Whoah,
Fiddler, I expected nothing less, than just such a response.
Before I comment any further, please, refer to page 57 of this very thread, post, initiated by Opus88 on 03/13/07, and the following discussion.
Pjwd is disrespectful in dismissing other's opinions as invalid, based on his personal experience with Supratek, and that's is disrespectful.
What he said, in essense means this: "I'm a better audiophile, than you are, because you hear things, I don't"
let me make one comment, though.
It's a well proven fact, that different people, listening to the same system, at the same point of time, will come out of that listening room with different impressions.
Is that something so difficult to understand???????????
Please, read posts about any of the audio shows, CES, RMAF, when people, after being exposed to exactly the same system, and sometimes being in the same room at the same time, expressed very polarizing opinions about it.
Why is that you and Pjwd question my personal experience with my personal system?
I didn't question yours, I just said, that your experience is likely to be different.
And what me being a doctor has to do with anything????
It never fails to puzzle me, how many of the A-gon members have such rigid and limited understanding of simple facts of life. What are you, a member of holy Supratek church?

Opus88,
Glad to hear from you, and that you are happy with your current preamp. I moved on, as well, with no regrets, just $2000 lighter, and a little bit wiser.

It's interesting to hear Supratek is taking orders.
Maybe there is a hope, Mick will pay me back from the proceedings.
I have to admit- my hopes have faded quite a bit.

It always amazes me, when somebody like Ralph (Atmasphere), who makes amplifiers for a living, makes a statement regard. proper building technics, in this particular case about why one should NOT use glue to secure parts to the chassis, there always be the other guy, with no professional experience of building anything, who would argue the opposite point, and will support his argument with a ridiculous and irrelevant statement, like " I do it all the time (use glue), and haven't had problems yet".
Puts other opinions of that same guy into a certain perspective, doesn't it?

Fiddler,
I didn't believe my eyes, when I saw you using words "glare" and "Supratek" in the same sentence.
I thought you knew not to use "glare", speaking of Supratek.
I've learned my lesson awhile ago.
It's a miracle, Supratek watchdogs haven't awaken yet.

Sorlowski,
I do have a MkII Chenin, that I got from Mick a few months ago, which is the same generation, as your Cortese. Actually, Mick told me, that MkII Chenin schematics are identical to MkII (SE) Cortese, wth the only difference being "less robust power supply, and no XLR outs".
I have NOS RCA 5AR4 rectifier tube, not Bendix.
I do agree with you- this new generation Chenin is much better, that the first one, and I did have Chenin and Cortese before.
I have to admit, that I did replace this Chenin with a much more expensive ($20 K) linestage (Joule Electra LA-450 ME), so Supratek is for sale now on A-gon.
I actually don't undestand, why people here are not fighting
each other to buy it !:), it's rediculous value at it's direct retail price of $3500.