Anyone received a new Supratek from Mick lately?
I am waiting as I know several others are. |
Stevem,
If you can't remember, it's already to late! Ask your wife, she'll remind you :) |
When I spoke to Mick about the price of the Suprateks, he said the exchange rate is 2 to 1 for the American dollar. So double the price if the pre amp is made in the U.S. and then add another 50% if it was retailed in audio stores.
In other words, the Chardonay would have to sell for around $6000 if manufactured and sold in retail shops in the U.S. |
Timchen,
Don't be such a cynic. How do you trust anyone that posts here? And you probably can't audition 75% of all of the equipment that is reviewed here anyway. Some of it is way to expensive to audition, much of it is probably unavailable in your area and yes, some is available only online.
You have to learn to read between the lines. Read here, read at AA, do a Google search, etc. Gather all of the info you can find and then make a judgement call. I ordered a Supratek site unseen. I simply read all of the posts at AA, emailed some of the posters personally and then talked with Mick himself. Several of the AA Supratek owners have been around AA a long time and are very respected members.
But in the end, it still boils down to a judgement call, just like buying equipment you "can" audition. How do you know that the equipment you audition is not going to blow-up in 90 days. You don't. You just make the best decision you can and then you live with it.
And no one is trying to force you to buy a Supratek. But if you don't, it may very well be your loss! |
I am waiting on my Chardonnay. I ordered it the middle of February. Mick said 8 to 10 weeks at that time. It has been 10 weeks so I hope it is not too much longer. I will report as soon as I have a chance to give it an initial listen. |
Tim, my suspicions are yes and I don't know.
But I don't want to speak out of school and post any erroneous information. Send Mick an email and he usually responds within a day or two.
Warren |
Just got an email from Mick. He said my Supratek should be done within a month, but no guarantees. He is just taking them one at a time in his order book.
That's okay with me. I think Mick is double and triple checking things to eliminate any problems. Being a one man show I am sure the temptation is there to knock them out as quickly as you can to maximize your profit, but quality always suffers as a result.
I had rather wait an additional month and not have problems than to get my pre right away and deal with any fixes.
Anyway, I have many other tweaks I am in the middle of to keep me busy. |
Just got an email from Mick. He said my Supratek should be done within a month, but no guarantees. He is just taking them one at a time in his order book.
That's okay with me. I think Mick is double and triple checking things to eliminate any problems. Being a one man show I am sure the temptation is there to knock them out as quickly as you can to maximize your profit, but quality always suffers as a result.
I had rather wait an additional month and not have problems than to get my pre right away and deal with any fixes.
Anyway, I have many other tweaks I am in the middle of to keep me busy. |
I ordered mine in the middle of February. I am hoping to receive it soon. I'm sure Mick is swamped though.
Warren |
I just emailed Mick yesterday to ask him if the Supratek came with an IEC or a hard-wired power cord. He said IEC. (That's what I had hoped as I want to use one of my Virtual Dynamic power cords with it)
I did not ask him what the status of my unit was and he didn't mention it in his reply. I am just trying to be patient.
I had rather wait a little longer and not rush him and receive a first-class preamp.
Believe me, as soon as I receive it, I will post here and give my initial impressions and will follow-up with a second post after break-in.
Warren |
Anyone had any feedback from Mick lately on a timetable for your preamp?
I ordered mine Feb. 15th and haven't received it yet. I don't know if it is in the works or if Mick has even started it yet. I don't want to bug Mick, but I am curious if anyone else has received info on their order.
Warren |
Aloha Tennispro,
Mick is definitely for real. I have spoken with other people in Australia who sell audio equipment and Mick is well known and for real. You have to understand that this is not a company per se in the usual sense. It is one guy making all of the products himself.
Several of the guys who have received their Suprateks already have corresponded with me and they say their units sound phenomenal.
I am not concerned about Micks credibility, I was just curious if anyone else had recently been in touch with Mick and had been given a new updated timetable.
Aloha,
Warren |
Would love to, but don't need phono and the Cortese would be considerably more expensive. Otherwise I would snap it up in a heartbeat.
Warren |
Just got an email from Mick and he said he thought he would have my Supratek ready in 2-3 weeks. I will keep you guys posted.
Warren |
Last email from Mick said 2 or 3 weeks. That was on the 15th. Today is the 27th, 12 days later, no word, but I can feel it, I'm close. Will let you know.
Aloha,
Warren |
Patrick,
There are a couple of ways I look at this situation.
Mick apparently keeps a book on orders and builds them in the order they come in. The extended wait could be due to Mick slowing down production to make sure there are no QC issues with any new units.
Another possibility is since Mick builds several different preamps and amps, the more expensive units (read: more profitable units) may get pulled out of line and built first. For our sake I hope not, but as a businessman, it would be very tempting to make the most money as fast as you could. And I am not sure there would be anything unethical about it as long as no promises were made to anyone about a specific delivery time. Mick has always been sufficiently vague about delivery time and I can't fault him for that. He is a one man band and delivery promises are often difficult to keep, especially when there is great demand for your services.
But for all of us who are waiting, I just hope the wait is worth it. If I receive a first-class preamp with first-class sound and no QC issues, the wait will be no big deal. And if I didn't have confidence that my expectations would be met....eventually.... then I wouldn't have ordered anything from Mick in the first place.
Aloha,
Warren |
Aloha Jewel,
I wouldn't expect your Chardonnay anytime soon. I ordered mine on Feb. 15 or 16 and I still haven't gotten mine. If you get yours before I do, I am going to be mighty pissed !
Aloha,
Warren |
Aloha,
I have emailed Mick several times recently about options on my Chardonnay. Mick said production had slowed, but the preamps were sounding really good.
I didn't even ask him about an ETA. At this point, I figure why bother, I'll just be patient and I'll get it when I get it.
But it is getting somewhat frustrating.
Warren |
Aloha All,
Just received this email from Mick on my Supratek:
"It is just about ready- about another 3-4 hours tomorrow and it will be done. A day to run in and it will be ready for a life in Hawaii."
I will keep you posted.
Aloha,
Warren |
Aloha All,
Mick sent me an email last week saying my Chardonnay was completed and running in, but he was waiting on the chrome cans from the platers. He said it would only take five minutes to fit them when they come in.
I am a little peeved that Rmml received his unit before me when I ordered mine well over a month earlier. Life's a beach.
I will post an update when I have one.
Aloha,
Warren |
Not yet Ozzy.
I will report when I do. Should be this week from what Mick indicated.
Aloha,
Warren |
Aloha All,
Just received an email from Mick stating my pre has been shipped.
I checked the FedEx tracking # and it is still currently in Western Australia.
Will keep you posted.
Aloha,
Warren |
|
Aloha Brian,
Listening and tube rolling.
So far, mighty impressed.
Want to spend more time to really flesh things out, but this pre is everything you said it was.
BTW, my pre was held up in some customs snafu. It took much longer to get here than it should have.
I will report back.
Aloha,
Warren |
Aloha Patrick,
Trust me, you haven't built your expectations to high!
Get some NOS tubes and wait to be initiated.
Aloha,
Warren
BTW, the Auricaps sound interesting. Might fire an email off to Mick. |
Aloha Slowhand,
I am using Svetlana 6L6GC's instead of the 5881's. Several guys on the Tube Asylum have said that the Svet's are really good. I have to agree so far. I had ordered RCA Black Plates, but the consensus on the Tube Asylum is that they are over-rated especially for the price, so I cancelled them.
I am also using a Mullard 5AR4 rectifier.
So far I have rolled the Syl 6SN7GT's and the Ken Rad VT231's (also in military boxes). Actually, I just sent an email to see if he has anymore.
The Ken Rads are awesome, but the difference I heard between the Syls and Ken Rads could also be attributed to break-in of the preamp. I put the Syls in from day one and just switched to VT231s yesterday. I also tried a couple of tweaks to my system last night that really elevated the sound, so if I were to stick the Syls back in they may sound just as good now. Will try them again in a month or so.
But I gotta tell ya, this thing is really singing. I never listened to it with stock tubes, but with the tubes I just described, this pre is simply amazing.
Aloha,
Warren |
And BTW, this thing is drop-dead gorgeous. I ordered mine in Chrome/Piano Black/Gold knobs.
I know the gold knobs sounds strange, but they really set things off. I felt like chrome knobs would have been too much of a good thing. I like the way this looks a lot.
In a couple of the posts above there were concerns about the build quality, but it far exceeds what I expected. The Piano Black finish is as good as the grand piano in my business. And you can't even begin to see a joint line in the corners of the boxes.
Well done, Mick. You have allayed any and all of my fears.
Aloha,
Warren |
Hey, I think I read a post here some time ago about the suggestion to start a Supratek forum somewhere.
It could be done easily in Yahoo Groups and the information on tube rolling and tweaks would be great. I would be very curious to hear what tubes everyone has rolled so far and the results.
What are the best 5881/6L6GC's that anyone has tried. Did they make much of a sonic difference? If I remember correctly, Mick told me that the 5881/6L6GC's don't make much of a sonic difference, but my memory may be faulty. I have used Svetlana 6L6GC's since day one and I also have a NOS pair of Sylvania's I haven't tried yet. I cancelled an order for NOS RCA Black Plates after reading many guys in the Tube Asylum said they are over-rated and over-priced. Anyone here try them?
And can anyone comment on whether you have heard any difference in 5881/6L6GC's. Obviously, the 6SN7's can make a huge difference and btw, how about the 5AR4 rectifier tube?
Does anyone know if the KT66 can be substituted for the 5881/6L6GC's? I know I can email Mick, but I thought someone here may have already asked him. I am sure he is busy and the last thing he needs is for me to bug him about tubes. However, if no one has the answer, I will shoot an email off to him.
BTW, I remember Todd Krieger said his Supratek power supply ran really hot with NOS Ken Rad VT231's, but that is what I am using and both units are only mildly warm.
I did place my Chardonnay on a big block of Styrofoam and the isolation definitely enhanced the clarity. (I recently put all of my components on thick Syrofoam bases and the difference was very obvious.) Each time I isolated another component with Styrofoam, I could hear a difference. Most passages that were unintelligible before the Styro became discernable after everything was placed on the foam bases. (This has been much more effective than other isolation devices I have tried.)
Oh yeah, another thing that helped immensely was to get my cables up off the carpet. Came up with a really good tweak for that!
Anyway, I have rambled enough, but it would be great if someone would take the initiative to start a Supratek group. (And don't suggest that I do it, I don't have time!)
Well, wait a minute let me think about this....
hold on... let me go over to Yahoo and see how long it will take to set the group up.
Oh, awh right. I did it. I guess I can't ask someone else to do what I am not willing to do. Here is the address, just go to the group and join, then begin posting.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SupratekOwners/
Aloha,
Warren |
For those of you experiencing noisey tubes, you might want to try Hal-O tube dampers. I read about them in the Tube Asylum and ordered them for all of my Chardonnay tubes (they are cheap), as well as my DAC tubes.
They made a tremendous difference. The clarity took a big leap forward, the weight of the music increased (the strings especially have more body), imaging is more specific (massed strings) and the background is much, much blacker.
The best money I have spent in a long time. This is a very audible tweak. It seems that my system lost a little air, but after listening, things sound more real with much more detail. I much prefer this sound by far. I think the air was simply high-freq hash disquised as air.
Not affiliated in anyway with these Hal-O things, just a "shocked" and very happy owner. |
Slowhand, sorry for not responding. I have been out of commission with oral surgery (still am actually). TWL pretty much took care of it though.
Be back in a few more days. |
Now try Herbies Tenderfoot isolation feet. They are just as amazing. I put them under every component and the clarity increased dramatically. |
David, I agree. I have been through all of the regulators and the WE 350 B's are the cats meow. |
Ken, I have questioned the same thing.
I have wondered myself if the umbilical cord could be limiting the Supratek at all. After hearing what power cords and great IC's can do, I am very curious about what gains a replacement for the stock umbilical cord would produce. |
Tubegroover, do not overlook the regulator tubes.
Yes, the Ken Rad VT231's and 52 Syl's are great, but NOS regulator tubes made more of a difference in the sound than the NOS 6SN7's in my Supratek.
There are a couple of others here who tried some NOS regulators based on my experienced and they were floored at the difference. |
Noble, if the Syrah was close to the First Sound with only Ken Rads and Tung Sols, then you didn't hear 50% of what the Syrah is capable of producing. Rolling 6SN7's made the least difference in my Supratek.
A change in the rectifier to a NOS Mullard 5AR4 (or a Bendix 6106 ?) and WE 350B's as regulators and I suspect the Syrah would have been considerably ahead of the First Sound.
However, I am sure if you rolled NOS tubes in the First Sound it would also be an improvement, as well. Both are excellent preamps and I don't think you could go wrong with either one. I suppose it is simply a matter of which flavor one prefers. |
BWite, I feel your pain. If I had the previous version I would want the upgraded unit myself. But in reality, we are talking about progress here and it ain't never gonna stop. Actually I applaud Mick for continuing to push the envelope with his designs and trying to constantly improve them.
As the old saying goes, "Change or die". |
Jsujo, wake up and smell the coffee. The Supratek that is advertised is not one of the units Mick was referring to in his post. Actually, he said the Syrah (advertised) was not affected by the changes! |
Hey BWhite, maybe I missed a post on the power cord that you referred to in your post to Mick. If not, come on man, spill the beans, inquiring minds want to know!
But then again, if you start another thread that runs into 600 posts I am going to be pissed if I have to read all of them too! |
BWhite, once again your points are well taken, but AA is full of posts complaining about manufacturer upgrades. Cable companies (especially power cords) seem to be the worst offenders.
I suspect that Mick thought his products were the best he could build at the time, but with continued testing and computer modeling, he discovered better circuits.
I wish everything I have purchased in audio was the last and greatest, but it ain't gonna happen. I know you are pissed, but look at Levinson, Krell, CJ, Plinius, MF, etc. They are constantly upgrading and last year's model drops like a rock.
Mick's products have held their value very well and I suspect they will continue to do so. They have consistently out-performed other gear in the used market because of the hype (justified), long wait and reputation. Will used Suprateks continue to sell in the used market for nearly 100% of the original purchase price? I doubt it, but they will still probably beat the averages.
I guess I am not upset because I never buy any audio gear as an investment. I figure going in I will lose 50% of the original purchase price when I go to sell it. If I can eventually sell Mick's gear for anything over 50%, I figure I am ahead of the game.
Good luck and happy listening. |
|
Waltersalas, extremely well-said.
And beyond that, I am not sure why anyone here is wasting anymore time with Khrys. He obviously just wants to hear himself talk even if no one else does. |
Hey Khrys, just give it a rest.
Everyone is now fully aware of your sentiments, so why not just move on. You are contributing nothing here.
You remind me of MikeCH in the whole Newform controversy. |
I would echo much of what Bwhite said.
I love the WE 350B's. Far and away the best regulator in my opinion. I like the RCA Metal 6L6's next and then the GEC KT66's.
Both the Ken Rad and the 1952 Syls are excellent 6SN7 variants.
Mullard 5AR4 (GZ34) is outstanding. I had the timing and pace problems with the Bendix that Bwhite described, but others have loved this rectifier. If you are interested, let me know, its brand new.
The good news is the Supratek is so transparent that you can mix and match tubes until you find the combo that you like. Believe me, you can find any sound you want if you play with the tubes enough. |
Asa, I will happily disagree with your advice to Granny. I hate to look back on all the time I wasted listening to inferior tubes, pc's, isolation footers, etc. I wish I had arrived at my current combination of gear and ancillary products in my sytem from day one. I enjoy listening to my system at it's best rather than taking some sort of hit or miss journey along the way. Many here on the 'Gon and at AA have helped me enormously and I can't believe how much better my system is now. It is night and day.
When I make my next upgrade, I will again ask for advice from owners on how to achieve the optimum sound of my new gear right from the start. Maybe its just me, but I have never understood the rationale, "No, don't listen to the best yet, try some inferior tubes, pc's, ic's, etc. so you will have something to compare the best to."
I think experimenting is fine, especially if you are talking about fine tuning. But I'm one who had rather ask for a consensus on what is best and if there is general agreement, that's the way I go. I don't want to re-invent the wheel. If enough people tell me a certain tube sucks or is simply inferior, I don't need to find out for myself. Experience has taught me that a number of guys here know their stuff and I don't need to hear mediocre tubes or whatever just to say I heard them.
I think I may have been the first or second Supratek owner to try WE 350B's in their Supratek. Looking back, I wish I had put them in the day I received my Chardonnay. Instead, I listened to several other good (and sometimes expensive) regulators only to eventually try the WE's. The 350B's are the cat's meow for me.
Most of what we post here is subjective, but in my opinion if Granny wants to get the best out of his Supratek, especially with the world-class JC 1's, he should use WE regulators, Ken Rad, Syl or Tung Sol (round plate) 6SN7's and a Mullard GZ 34 rectifier.
I am sure there are others that will disagree with my choices, but I have tried many other combinations and for me, there is no going back.
I will admit that at times I have enjoyed hearing the "step up" in sound from tube rolling, adding power cords, isolation, star grounding all of my equipment, etc. However, I wish I had known from day one what I know now because it would have saved me a lot of time, money and crappy sound. |
Bwhite, I have several Mullard/Amperex 5AR4 vintages (so technically not GZ34, but the equivalent) and they all sound the same. Very consistent from tube to tube.
I have tried the stock 5Z4GT, the GZ 32, the CV5745/GZ33, Bendix 6106 and the Mullard 5AR4's and I much prefer the 5AR4/GZ34 to anything else. |
Asa, after reading your post three times I'm still not sure what your point is.
Grannyring, trust Bwhite and many others who have rolled numerous tubes through the Supratek, the WE 350b's are excellent, along with the Mullard rectifier and the 6SN7's that were previously recommended. That is not to say that some other tubes aren't good, but none are "superior" to any of the "class-A" tubes, IMHO.
Considering your associated gear and experience, I simply don't see any need for you to listen to inferior tubes as has been suggested here just for some ethereal learning excerise.
And concerning the reliability of the Supratek, I can speak from first-hand experience. My Supratek arrived with a problem not directly attributed to Mick. However, he had me send it back to him at his expense, he repaired it in one day and immmediately sent it back to me at no charge. It doesn't get any better than that. And it has been perfect ever since. |
Asa, so let me get this straight.
A guy goes to sell his Chevy - so he should buy a Buick before a Cadillac and the Cadillac before a Mercedes and the Mercedes before a Porsche 911 Turbo...so, "his mind, can go way "deeper" through progressively receptive states, and such states, or their "allowing," necessarily requires a PROGRESSION of experience."
That is the biggest crock of baloney I have ever heard. Have you been reading Dianetics!
If we were talking about cloning humans it might be important to take baby steps to learn as much as one could along the way, but tubes ain't a life or death proposition.
Or if one was a tube "seller" it would be important to listen to as many tubes as you could to advise customers, but in your rebuttal here you are simply trying to defend your convoluted logic.
Had you taken the time to read Grannyring's posts more carefully before you decided to interject your "learning" dissertation, you would have realized that Grannyring is not trying to learn how to crawl. Take a look at his associated equipment, "Opus 21 CD player directly into my Parasound Halo JC1's monoblocks...Khorus X11 speakers which go down to 17hz." I don't think he is interested in half-assed tubes for his Supratek!
Once again your advice to Grannyring to seek some sort of "ethereal" (read: "other-worldly"....perfect context!) learning experience borders on the absurd given the context of his system and his early posts.
My recommendations to him were not about, "greed for the next experience; to get there faster and faster". Instead, my reply was based on reading Grannyring's early posts and trying to recommend the best choices of tubes to compliment his associated equipment.
Using your rationale I guess I should suggest to him that when he buys his Porsche 911 Turbo he should run it for a while on regular gas versus premium so he can, quote: " notice the difference, in quantitative terms and in qualitative terms, but not in qualitative terms TO THE DEGREE THAT MAY BE POSSIBLE without SUFFICIENT EXPERIENCE."
Asa, I appreciate your tenacity to defend your clearly untenable position, but let's move on. |
Bwhite, my 350 B's are WE's but I suspect the NU's are exactly the same tube. You might want to ask in the Tube Asylum. I am sure someone there can give you a definitive answer.
Grannyring, I know that Bryan isn't as big of a fan as I am of the 6L6 metal tube, but I liked them even better than the GEC KT 66's. And they are about $35 a tube. If I wasn't running WE 350 B's I would use the 6L6 metals.
I know the isolation issue was debated here earlier, but in my system I found a solution that worked wonders. I ordered the DH Labs large cones and put them under my Supratek on top of a piece of 12 x 12 slate - not tile, but a cheap slate from India that I found at Lowes. When you tap this slate there is no ring, just a dead thud. I thought what the heck, I'll try it. Under the slate is another layer of material I also found at Lowes. It is an inter-locking mat that is sold for garage floors, weight rooms, etc. I cut a 12 x 12 piece of this material, which has a 1/16 inch thick hard plastic outer shell laminated to a tough 1/2 inch resilient foam. Under this foam I put a 12 x 12 piece of Sorbothane with another piece of the foam under the Sorbothane and another piece of slate under that with one more piece of foam under the slate resting on the MDF shelf.
The resolution and soundstage is amazing when the Supratek is resting on this sandwich. A deaf person could here the difference. As clear as I thought my system was before, it is laughable how big the difference is since employing this combination. And the most expensive part is the sheet of Sorbothane.
I now have all of my components on this same sandwich and I am thrilled with the results. Only my transport is not sitting on this combo, resting instead on a Neuance shelf which is even more amazing.
Since I plan on over-hauling my entire system in about 9 months, I haven't ordered more Neuance shelves, but I highly recommend them. My home-made shelf seems to be very close to the Neuance shelf, but I suspect it adds some color to the sound that the Neuance shelf doesn't. But I can happily live with whatever color my home-made solution may be adding.
I did not find cones and an isolation sandwich for the power supply section as beneficial as the linestage, but the PS does sit on one of my DIY isolation sandwichs. If you don't have your Supratek isolated yet, you may want to try it. It made this giant killer even better for me. YMMV
When I upgrade my System, I suspect I will seriously consider the Grange or Cabernet, but after reading about the H-Cat, I would love to hear one. If it as good or better than the Suprateks, I would probably go with the H-Cat to avoid the hassle of tubes, but I am skeptical that the H-Cat will better the Grange. Just a guess, but as good as my Chardonnay is with NOS tubes, I can only imagine how good the Grange must be. |
Tubegroover, I am excited about your discovery of the 6F6g and much of your experience with tube rolling seems to mirror mine with the exception of the Ken Rads. But I think your comment about taste and synergy is often grossly overlooked. I personally believe this whole journey is about taste and synergy, otherwise we would all be listening to the same thing. I applaud your comments.
Regarding the 6F6g, help me overcome my jitters about this tube. I would love to find another regulator as good as the WE 350B, especially at 1/10 the price!
However, when I looked up the 6F6g online I couldn't find anywhere that it is a drop-in replacement for the regulator tubes. I didn't take the time to research the operating specs, but I didn't see it mentioned anywhere as a replacement for any of the usual Supratek regulators. I have great respect for your help and experience here and I am foaming at the mouth to try the 6F6g. I just need a little reassurance that the tube will perform within acceptable operating points for the Supratek!
I apologize if this has been addressed in an earlier post as I have not read all of the posts lately.... realizing this thread continues to be the "Mother of All Audiogon Threads".
In fact, we should all agree to a virtual toast to Slowhand for making us aware of the Supratek to begin with and also for establishing an Audiogon record that will probably never be broken!
Here's to you and yours
And to mine and ours.
And if mine and ours
Ever come across you and yours,
I hope you and yours will do
As much for mine and ours
As mine and ours have done
For you and yours!
|
Jyprez, I think most of us got the point that Artar was giving his impressions of these two preamps after "reading" the posts in this thread. He simply was presenting a synopsis which succinctly described the differences between these two units.
Too bad you didn't get it! |
