Preamp Deal of the Century

Mhu,

I own the Berning ZH270. I use the normal setting and run the volume wide open. This effectively eliminates both volue controls being in circuit. I find that the music has much more dynamics to it this way. Yes it does limit how far you can turn up the volume on the preamp and you may get a little more background hiss, but I find this to be a small tradeoff for the increase in dynamics.

Can't say I have heard the Supratek with the Pass labs gear, but I would think it would sound great together. As for the theater pass through on the Cortese, Mick hand builds all preamps to your needs.

Cello,

I will e-mail you about the Moray James cord. Thanks for the response Cello, and BWwhite.

Has anyone tried the 5Y3 tube in the rectifier postion on your Supratek? My niece's husband Carl bought an old tube radio at an antique store to gut it and turn it into a speaker cabinet for his guitar amp. Inside the radio were some old tubes covered with dust. One of the tubes was a Tung Sol 5Y3. Carl cleaned the tube up and brought it over thinking maybe I could use it. I put it in the rectifier position along with 6f6g's as regulators and Sylvania VT-231's in the line stage. WOW! I was blown away from the first note. This tube tested good in my friends tester, but has probably not been played in 45 or 50 years.

I played the remastered cd of Brian Bromberg's It's About time first. The speed at which Brian is playing the upright bass is amazing and this tube compliment really brought that forward. Freddie Hubbard's Flugalhorn on track 6 has the most beautiful tone. Brian's bass is very articlulate and very deep. Next I played Johnny A's Get Inside CD. The sound from top to bottom is the best I have heard form my Syrah! I have not even put in my Tung Sol round plates. This tube combo is better than the 6f6g's, Tung Sol round plates, and Bendix 6106 combo that I have been using. A big thanks goes out to Carl for bringing this tube over for me to try. KILLER SOUND! ABSOLUTE KILLER!

That's a "bummer" guys. I really love the sound of this combo of tubes. David, when you talk about "quickly" subbing in the 5y3, do you leave the preamp on and pull out the GZ34 and put in the 5y3? Can you clarify that for me, and does it harm the preamp or tubes? I thought I heard somewhere that the Supratek can be ran without a tube in the rectifier position, although it is not recommended. Thanks for bringing this to my attention Jazzdude.

If any of you guys know where I can get a Morey James model 1.5 PC please let me know.

Hi David,

How would you describe the sound of the single triode tubes compared to the 6sn7's. I know that you have stated that you like them better, but what do you hear as the difference in the way they sound. I am still on the fence as to having Mick set my Cortese up for dual single triodes or 6sn7's. Mick seems to prefer the 6sn7 setup. He thinks it has a sweeter sound.

By the way, I am trying my friend,s 1621 metal tubes in the regulator position now. First impression is that they have a crisp sound with good bass, but a little too bright on the top end for me. I will have to use them more to form a better opinion.

Can anyone tell me if there are other options as to the inputs on the back of Supratek preamps. I would not use tape inputs or home theater bypass. All my music consists of LP's and CD's. Would another phono input with 4 more phono setting be a better idea? What other things have some of you guys had Mick do as far as inputs on the back of your Suprateks?

Hello Lugnut,

Good to hear from you. Here is my favorite tube compliment in my Syrah.

Tung Sol 6sn7 Round Plates
Rogers 6f6g's or Genelex KT66's
Amperex 5842's
Mullard 6GK5's
Bendix Redbank 6106 or Tung Sol 5Y3's

The 6f6g's have a more dynamic sound, the KT66's have a more laid back sound with a fatter bass (good for the Jazz I like).

Hope this helps.

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the post. I was the guy who said he liked the sound of the 5Y3 rectifier. This sounds like an interesting alternative. Do you feel that this tube sounds pretty much like other 5Y3's?

I tried a GZ37 in my Syrah and did not like it at all. I experienced the same thing Fiddler did. My favorite rectfiers are Bendix 6106, Metal base GZ34, and Tung Sol 5Y3 (I know it will shorten the life of the other tubes). When I use it, I take David's advice and put in a GZ34 to warm up the pre and then turn it off, switch to the 5Y3 and turn it right back on so that the other tubes are already warmed up. I only do this on weekends when I will leave the pre on all weekend. There is something magical about the sound of that Tung Sol 5Y3. I will try the Mazda 5Y3 soon.

Hello Simon74,

The Bendix 6106 in indirectly heated.

Fiddler,

The last time I spoke with Mick he highly recommended the EH6sn7's. He said the has hundreds of pairs of NOS tubes, and he like the EH6sn7's better. I was going to order a pair. Guess I better do it.

Fiddler,

Are you sure you have round plates and not just tung sol 6sn7's? My tung sol round plates sound fantastic from top to bottom. Smooth in the top end, great midrange and solid, deep bass. Mine sounded this way from the day I got them. BWhite once posted pictures of the Tung Sol round plates on this thread, but I doubt if I could find it. I will try. If I do, I will let you know where to find them. Guess I need to get a pair of the EH6sn7's to see how they stack up.

Mick asked me to pass on a message to everyone. I was talking with him about the EH6sn7's which he is putting in all the new 6sn7 based preamps. Long story short, he says he is building and voicing the preamps to the tubes that he is putting in them. He is not fond of the NOS tubes that most of us use, and he does not recommend many of the non-standard tubes that are being used in the Suprateks. He said he is considering making the warranty void if damage is done to a preamp from using non-standard tubes. Mick wanted me to pass on to everyone that his feeling about NOS tubes is that they do not sound better, only different than the tubes that he ships the Suprateks with. He feels that the only people that are really benefiting from NOS tubes are the people that are charging outrageous prices for them. If the NOS tubes are not perfectly matched, he feels we are degrading the sound of the preamps. Mick really likes the EH6sn7 tubes and feels they are every bit as good as NOS tubes at a much more reasonable price.
Mick asked me to pass this on to everyone, so I am following his wishes. I also asked him if he had tried the Welbourne labs attenuaters and he said he has recieved them, but has not put them in a unit yet as they are very large and he has not yet figured a way to fit them in the Cortese.

Fiddler,

Please let us know how the EH6sn7's stack up against the Tung Sol when you get them. I will be very interested.

Sandro,

What are your first impressions of your new Cortese? have not heard from you. Guess you are too busy listening to post. Mick said he has 2 preamps to do and then he will build mine. Yahoo!

Larryrosen,

I ordered my Cortese in late October of last year. I have 2 preamps in front of me, them Mick does mine.

Hello Simon74,

I asked Mick if he was putting the Mundorfs in the new Cortese. He said he has not figured a way of putting them in because they are so large and the Cortese is pretty packed inside (not much empty space).

I too have been doing a lot of praying for the many people affected by Hurricane Katrina.

I just got word that Mick is finally started working on my Cortese!!!

If there is anyone out there in the USA that has bought a Cortese recently, can you tell me how much the shipping and customs fees were?

Thanks,

Tom

Thanks Larry.

Thanks Wc65mustang,

I am sorry. I did not see your post letting me know your shipping cost. Thanks also for the tip about giving Mick my social security number to avoid custom delays

I am really excited about getting the Cortese. It has been a long wait! But I know it will be worth it. This brings back memories of recieving my Syrah.

Kgturner,

This is the first I have heard about the KT-88 amp. When Mick answers your questions, please share the info with the rest of us. I do know that Mick was talking about building a more affordable amp that could mate with the Chenin.

Docsavage,

Glad to hear you love the new Cortese. Mick sent me an e-mail telling me that mine is almost done. I can't wait to get it. To be honest, I don't see how it can sound better than my Syrah! Man, do I love that preamp. The sound I am getting from my system right now is just amazing. I know the Cortese will be even better. Ever since I got my new ZYX Yatra cartridge (thanks Lugnut), I have barely turned on my Sony SCD-1. Mick really does magic with his phono stages. Docsavage, do you find the phono stage to be quiet? Because Micks preamps are such high gain, noise in the phono stage has been a problem for some people (I am not one of them). Mick told me that the newest Cortese is much quieter in the phono stage. Just wondered what your thoughts are. I am using the Electro Harmonix 6sn7's that Mick likes so well in my Syrah. A guy sold me a pair for $10 and I think they sound fantastic. Tung Sol rounds are better, but when you take into account the price difference, I'll take the EH6sn7's.

Fiddler,

I agree with you completely on your findings of the EH6sn7's. I bought mine used and I believe they are broken in. I think they sound fantastic. Plenty of body and weight to the music with great dynamics. On CD's I feel they are just as good as my TS rounds, on phono the TS may be a hair better, but not enough to worry about. I have had my EH6sn7's in my Syrah ever since I got them and fell I am missing nothing at not having my NOS tubes in. Doc, you have my mouth watering when you describe the sound of your Cortese. These last few weeks of waiting will be the worst.

Docsavage,

Don't get so caught up in tube swapping that you lose track of the music. After the Cortese is broken in, try some of the NOS tubes that the guys have mentioned. Just make sure you enjoy the music above all else. I am playing Lucinda Williams double LP "World Without Tears". KILLER MUSIC!

Thanks guys,

Mick forgot to send and instruction sheet. Do the 6922's go in the front position and the E180's behind them, or do the E180's go in the front with the 6922's behind the E180's. They are both 9 hole pins. I would have guessed the 6922's go in the front, but the picture on the website looks like shorter tubes in the front which would be the E180's. I turned it on for about 10 seconds with the 6922's in the front and then shut it off, because I was not sure if this was correct. I did not play any music though.

If you check Mick's website and click on amps, he explains about the amp in more detail. He says they will sound like a single end triode amp.

Slipknot1,

I would have guessed the E180's in the front. The picture of the Cortese on Mick's website looks like the shortest tubes are in the front position which would be the E180's.

Tom

I am using a Sony SCD-1 with VSEI mods. Sounds great, but still not the equal of my analog setup. I hope to send it in to upgrade the VSEI mods from level 2 to level 5+.

Hi Raytheprinter,

I thought Mick said the KT-88 amps were going to be 100wpc.

Hi Gang,

I just recieved my new Cortese yesterday. This thing is beautiful! A true work of art. I got the Sheoak with black top and gold knobs. The black top really shows off the Sheoak wood. It has a beautiful "lace" look to it. The pictures on Mick's website don't do it justice at all. I will be installing the tubes tonight. I took the bottom off and no wonder it is so heavy! Mick put the Mundorf Supreme caps in for me. He said they will take a long time to break in.

Here is my question for anyone that recently recieved a new Cortese. There is a toggle switch on the front right side which I assume is the play/HT bypass. Another toggle between the 2 towers. I think this is the stereo/mono switch. What has me stumped are the 2 toggle switches to the outside of the 6sn7 tube sockets. I have no idea what these are for or what position they should be in. Can anyone help me? I have an e-mail in to Mick. He forgot to send me and instrucion sheet. I will keep everyone informed as to the sound. My computer bit the dust, so I am just catching up on the thread. I know how you feel David.

Hi Kgturner,

How much are the Malbecs? They sound like some great amps.

Thanks guys for getting me straight on the setup of the tubes. I got them in last night. When I first played the Cortese last night I was kind of unimpressed. It sounded hard and brittle with no bass. I let it play overnight and it did seem to sound better this morning. My nephew came over today to hear it. He is a guitar player, and he was playing with the gain switches. I had the 2 toggle gain switches on the top a low gain. When I would adjust the gain knob in the back it seemed to make no difference in the sound. When we moved the top gains to high, and adjusted the gain knob on the back I could hear the differences. All of a sudden there was tons of body and slam to the music. It took on a whole new life. Now I can't turn it off! I am getting a slight ground loop hum on phono. I have a ground wire from the ground post on the pre to the ground post on the back of the tonearm plug. Any ideas? If I take the ground wire off I still have the same slight hum. It is not bad and cannot be heard if music is playing. I know this thing will continue to get much better over time. It is going to be a fun trip!

Hi Guys,

It is tough to pull myself away from the Cortese. It is sounding better everyday. I have about 50 hours on the line stage, less on the phono stage. Now that I figured out the gain swtches, it sounds fantastic. I do not recommend playing in the lo gain position. No life to the music. With the toggles in the hi gain and the rear gain 1 notch down the sound is very dynamic (even at low volume). I really like this because I can listen at low volume and still feel all the power of the bass and the inner details of the music. I plan on doing a lot of listening to LP this weekend. I can already tell the phono stage is going to be great! I plan on comparing the Cortese to the Syrah this weekend, before I sell my Syrah. I will let you know my thoughts on the comparison. I have a CD by Mino Cinelu. He is a French percussionist. This CD is extremely dynamic and will really test your system. Mino plays many percussion instruments. On one song he is playing a udu and the sheer depth of the sound just shook the room! I cannot recommend the CD highly enough. I use it to test all new equipment that enters my system. Well, I gotta get back to listening. I waited close to a year for this and it was well worth the wait!!

My amp is the Berning ZH270. It has a volume control of it's own, but if I dial back the volume on the Berning the music is not as full or dynamic. By running the volume all the way up on the Berning you take that control out of the circuit. This sounds better, but the gain is very high on the amp. On Cd's I can only run the volume of the Cortese up to about 9 o'clock and on LP's I can only run the volume up to about 8 o'clock. That is not much room for volume, but using the low gain switches really hurts the sound of the music in my system. I agree each person has to use the gain swiches to their advantage. I spoke with Mick about this and he says the problem is that so many amp designers run the gain up on the amps to allow for use of a CD player straight into the amp, or for other reasons. This is why Mick is trying to give the gain choices he does.

Thanks Steve,

Mine has the Mundorf caps too. Mick told me it will take a long time to break them in. I hope to have most of the weekend to do some serious listening to LP's

Thanks for the offer David. I have a friend here in town that has the cardas sweep record. I kind of like hearing the changes in the sound as the Cortese breaks in, so I guess I will let it break in on it's own. It will take longer, but that is ok. Thanks also for the explanation of the Mundorf Supremes. Sounds like I have a lot to look forward to.

Hello Larry,

I am enjoying the Cortese very much. The power supply on the Cortese gets much hotter than the power supply on the Syrah. It is also much heavier. Mick says I should be able to use the Bendix 6106 in the Cortese, but he said ther have been a couple of failures. I am not ready to put in NOS tubes yet, but I sure hope I can use the 6106.

Well guys, I remember when I first got my Syrah I was very impressed at how good the line stage sounded. As I remember it, others that got the Syrah were also impressed with the line stage being as good as it was.

The Cortese is a whole other beast. The line stage is still very good, but the phono stage, ooh that phono stage! I don't know if it is the direct transformer coupling or what, but this phono stage is stunning. I don't think I will be listening to that many CD's with a phono stage like this. The soundstage on LP's is already very big. Once the Mundorfs break in it should be HUGE!

I thought the 6106 was indirectly heated. I remember someone telling me that I needed to wait at least a minute after turning the pre on to play music because the 6106 takes longer than most tubes to come up to full power.

Hi guys,

I was speaking with Mick about the new KT-88 based monoblock amps he is working on. He plans on offering a 50wpc version, a 100wpc version, and a intigrated amp version (sounds interesting). He thinks the price will be around $3000. That would be nice, but we will have to wait and see.

I just found out the Pat Malone (lugnut) died last week. I am very sorry to hear this, but I know he is in a much better place now. Pat taught me a lot about life and how precious it is. I will miss him very much.

Hello Larryrosen,

You will be glad you hung in there and waited for the Supratek. I have been busy listening to my new Cortese. I have not done any tube rolling yet. I want to wait until the pre has plenty of hours on it. I am amazed how good it sounds with the stock tubes! Enjoy that new Cabernet, and let us know your impressions.

Does anyone own any of Micks Amps? We all talk about how good the preamps are, but I would like to hear from some people that own a Supratek amp. What are your impressions? Is anyone out there interested in the new KT-88 based amp that Mick is working on? I own a Berning ZH-270 amp that I use with my Cortese, but owning a Supratek amp that would perfectly match my preamp in both looks and sonics sounds pretty cool.

Hello Steven1960,

I know you live near Mick. What can you tell us about the KT-88 amp that is on Mick's website? Has he built one yet? I would love to own a Supratek amp to go with my Cortese, but the Merlot does not have enough power for my system.

I would not count on the $3000 price. I hope he can come in near that price, but I remember when he was in the planning stages of the Burgandy amps. Mick was hoping for about $3500 and they ended up being $9000!! I spoke with Mick about building an amp in the price range of the Syrah/Chenin. He said he was working on one. I hope this is it. If he can keep the price down as he did with the Syrah/Chenin, then Mick is going to be a very busy man!

These Mundorf caps most be coming around. The past few days I have heard a marked improvement in the sound of my Cortese.

Hello Larry,

I waited almost 1 year to get my Cortese! Was it worth the wait? Absolutely! I know it seems to take forever, but the music coming from my Cortese is pure pleasure. Once you hear your pre for the first time you forget about that long wait. Hang in there. I think part of the long wait is because Mick is coonstantly experimenting with ways to improve the sound of his products and he is developing new products as he builds preamps for people.

Phil 1 and Tvad,

What cdp do you have?