Hi Ray,
Yes, I am in Fla. and I do know about good Cuban food. I am glad to hear you are so happy with your Supratek. I just ordered a new TT for my system. The old upgrade path seems to be never ending. Well sure is great fun. Let me know how the NOS tubes work out. After a few months I would like to try a few out. My Cortese should be here in a few days. I am trying to contain my excitement. It is difficult after such a long wait.
I thought about posting my system in the Virtual system section but I really could now see the benefit. I will try it out. I am not sure my skin is thick enough to take the criticism.
I guess we should try and keep this thread on topic so message me by mail any time.
Doc |
Slowhand, I believe that one of the two preamps Mick is doing now is mine. I can barely stand the wait. I started this process many months ago. Hope it is worth it. |
Larryrosen,
I ordered my Cortese about the same time as Slowhand. |
My Cortese is in transit. Finally. This weekend should be fun. |
Thanks Cello,
There is certainly a ton of info in this thread on rolling tubes in Supratek preamps. I hope a can make some sense of it all. Going through all the posts seems dificult at best.
I will break in the Cortese with the supplied tubes for several months. After break in I would like to try a few NOS tubes. The thing is my Cortese is one of only two SIGNATURE models Mick is making. It has two regulator circuits in the power supply. One set of tubes for the line stage ans one for the phono stage as I understand it.
This should be fun if I can figure out which tubes to try and where to start. Although I have an all tube system I have limited knowlege on this subject. |
Hi Simon,
Its me down in hurricane country. I lost your address as well. I am not familiar with HT CYBERLINKS. Could you enlighten me?
Good to hear from you again.
Doc |
Hi Ray,
Yes, I am in Fla. and I do know about good Cuban food. I am glad to hear you are so happy with your Supratek. I just ordered a new TT for my system. The old upgrade path seems to be never ending. Well sure is great fun. Let me know how the NOS tubes work out. After a few months I would like to try a few out. My Cortese should be here in a few days. I am trying to contain my excitement. It is difficult after such a long wait.
I thought about posting my system in the Virtual system section but I really could not see the benefit. I will try it out. I am not sure my skin is thick enough to take the criticism.
I guess we should try and keep this thread on topic so message me by mail any time.
Doc |
Good question.
I have a Cortese. It finally arrived last week. This pre is amazing. Worth the wait.
My question is the reverse: Can the HT bypass be used as an output to a reel to reel?
I am using balanced IC's to my amps. Balanced and unbalanced outputs can not be used at the same time with the Cortese. |
This thread appears to be dying out. Well, I will add my 2 cents to keep it going. Received my new Cortese about 2 months ago and it really is what most posts on this thread say. The phono stage is amazing. I have not started tube rolling yet but look forward to trying some NOS tubes.
Any agreement by Supratek owners as to tube changes that seem to provide even better sound? Just too many threads to do a search.
Thanks in advance. |
Thanks all, looks like some tube rolling is in order soon. Mustang, I find the phono stage to be very quite. I do at times play the tunes a bit on the loud side but only at severe levels do I hear a bit of hum between cuts. Actually, several other phono stages I have used had much more noise. I know that the general consensus on this forum is that the gain levels should be set to max output. I have been puzzled by this. I don't believe Mick would include so much control if he thought it would not be beneficial given individual system requirements. I find that backing off the rear panel setting a bit and placing the top switches to low gain sounds much better in my system. I will be doing much more experimenting with these features. I must say that "out of the box" this pre blew me away. Even after reading many posts here, I was not prepared for such a dramatic change. By the way I do not post very often. I did want to get the thread going because I have learned so much here on this subject. I know the tendency is to tout ones own equipment but in this case it really is that good. |
Ecclectique,
At the moment I am using a VDH Black beauty Special X.
I am awaiting a new TT and Schroeder arm and considering an ZYX Universe. I just have to make sure it is a definite upgrade worth the money. Expensive! I hope the new set up will be with me for a very long time so it may make sense to make this final cart. purchase |
Ecclectique and Mustang
Hi, I located the 1957 Philips Mini Watt metal base GZ34. I am looking forward to giving that a try. Expensive but it seems it may be well worth it. Also located a set of 6SN7
Tung-sol round plates. This should be fun. I researched this topic for quite a long time. They appear to be great suggestions.
Have you guys tried out any 7308's in the phono stage?
I was also advised that the 6F6 tube works well in the regulator position? Mick built my Cortese with 4 regulator tubes so it gets a bit more difficult.
Ecclectique, I will revisit the hum issue I raised. I hope I did not make too much of it. It is not there under most db levels. It may in fact be more of a tube rush noise but only at very high levels. I do run an all tube system.
Atma-sphere amps. I will check this out. Overall I think this is a very quite pre.
Thanks for all the great info. |
Thanks Mustang.
I am surprised about your use of contact enhancer. I thought the conventional wisdom on that was not to use anything on tube pins. I use the SST product on connections with some success.
I appreciate the 6F6 tube info. I do not fully understand tube swapping. Ex. 6F6 for 5881. Nomenclature is so different. Foremost, DO NO DAMAGE.
Yes, I am a bit ambitious. I caught this disease about 40 years ago with my first purchase at the old "Lafayette
Electronics" store. I have never found a cure. I guess this gives up my age. I wish my ears were as good today.
I am possibly seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I am sure I will always try out a new tube or set on IC's but my equipment purchases are nearly at the end. (I hope)
At least until the "next great thing" comes out.
The Cortese is so good that I find it hard to believe that it can get better with NOS tubes. I must hear for myself and in that light I may as well go for the best tubes I can find up front. I don't want to make tube swapping a full time job.
Doc |
Thanks Slowhand. The music is always first. Now playing Van Morrison "Enlightenment" I will definitely check out the Lucinda Williams LP. Thanks for the tip.
Doc |
Mustang is absolutely correct on tube position for the Cortese. The 180 tubes are in front.
Mustang, I picked up the Lucinda Williams lp per your suggestion. Very good.
Also I thank you and Ecclectique for tube recommendations. Very helpful. Definite improvement. Great fun.
Mustang check out Amiee Mann if you get a chance.
Doc |
Did changing the fuse solve your problem? |
Mustang, I am also using the Phillips Miniwatt in my Cortese. It was a big improvement. I have had little success on the 5881's. I appreciate the tip on the 6F6GT's. |
No response for a while. I guess everyone is sitting back and enjoying their Supratek preamps. I just upgraded to a Grange and am very pleased. If anyone is interested in my 6 mo. old Cortese Signature please let me know. Black and chrome. |
I just sent a deposit on a set of Monduese amps. I am an OTL fan but I have to try Mick's amps with my Grange. I am hoping the combination is special. |
I have had exactly the same experiences with Mick and Thom Mackris.
Both are totally accessible and a pleasure to deal with. Thom's table with the Grange phono stage is very special. |
Ray, I run stats so the extra power of the Monduese is needed. Needless to say I am excited about these amps. Slowhand, I also went with the black Grange. I am now very happy I did. I had been looking into the Berning and Walcott amps for my stats but when I found out Mick had something in the design stage I waited.
I hope the wait really pays off. |
