Preamp Deal of the Century

Tom, ya' ever been in a Turkish prison?

Joe, I suspect there is a good reason why Mick made a change to the phono stage of the Syrah and left the line stage alone.

I do not own the Supratek Syrah but I have heard it on more than one occasion in different rooms and with different amplification. Once was with the Berning and Merlin VSM speakers. Another was in my own home with both the Joule VZN80 and the Berning amp and my own Merlin VSM speakers. If a preamp can keep up with those components/speakers then it is pretty good. There is no doubt the Syrah is all it is cracked up to be. No way are you going to find anywhere else the performance, build quality, looks, and a phono stage in an all tube preamp for $2,500. If anyone knows of something better for the money please let me know. It is an absolute no brainer and based on what I have heard, makes spending a lot more money on a preamp a lot harder to do. Personally I am going to try the Joule LAP 150. Mostly because I expect (and hope) it will be better. It may not be. And I am very partial to the Joule equipment because it's works so well with my Merlins and sounds so good. And partly because I know of one available for a great price. If everyone were lucky enough to hear the Syrah they would have a much better frame of reference for performance and would likely save themselves a lot of money. Of course, Mick would also be backed up for years with orders...

Jim

Will do. Tubegroover is nearby and has the Berning I mentioned as well as Merlins. We'll be comparing them for sure. Don't tell him I told you this but I will probably let him use it for a (little) while.

Jim

Theaudiotweak, I suspect most of the people here have gotten past the stage of mistaking better for different. Although sometimes it can be hard to tell. With equipment quality such as this it is easier to discern the difference... if the rest of the system is up to the task of revealing it. Which I guess goes to your point. But I am aware of at least one other user here who's system definitely is up to the task. These guys aren't swapping tubes just because they can.

Jim

Tubegroover, I was going to kid Audiotweak that he may have some reflection problems going on... but you beat me to it.

Linkster, if you look on the Supratek website www.supratek.biz it has info on the # of inputs/outputs for the Cortese. According to the website it does come with a remote.

Can't say that I have. I have toured the inside of a US jail though. What that would tell me about what a Turkish prison is like, I am not sure, since that is probably a unique experience. And for that matter, I am not sure that a seasoned prison guard in the US could tell me what a Turkish prison is like either.

Surely, I am serious.

Harness, go here: www.supratek.biz