Hi to all Supratekies ...
About 4 years and a couple thousands posts back I bumped into this thread and was grabed by the enthusiast, knowdledge and camaradery of most of it's posts to the extent that I read throughout the whole thing, when still it was somewhat feasible to do ...
At some point mid through it I decided that it was worth the risk so I became a Supratek owner. Now on my third unit, a full 6SN7 Grange, I am happier than ever that I came aboard Mick's train, not only for the sonic and visual attributes of it's products but for the quality of Mick's support.
Several months ago I read Fiddler's post about the V-caps and Dact attenuator. I had in my agenda some minor mods. I needed to do in my unit like adding a 2nd. phono input and changing some loading values on the phono stage to better fit my cartridges. I was able to find a local technician with a long tube expertise and plenty of high-end sensibility. After discussing the project with Mick and following his advise and considering all his words of caution I went ahead with it.
I ended up changing the output caps, in my case a pr. of 9uf 200v Auricaps for 6.8uf OIMP V-Caps and the 2 phono stage .56uf Auricaps for teflon .68uf V-Caps. Mick approved the value changes. In the case of the output caps I was forced to go with the oils (OIMP) from the V-Caps because the teflon's value (and price) were not available. After studying the V-Caps site and a couple of emails with Chris Ven Haus and considering the much lower price of the OIMP I went with them. I also changed the Alps for the DACT attenuator.
To this point I have put short of 200 hrs. on the unit. I can tell you without any doubt that this has been the greatest improvement from a modification to my system I have experienced. The improvement in clarity and detail is very notable but also in weight, punch and air without any detriment to the tonality of the presentation. In my case both changes(capacitors and volume control) were done at the same time so cannot separate their individual contributions.
The Teflon V-Caps cost was $314 and the OIMP were $112; the DACT was $190, pluss the corresponding shipping and about $100 for the whole labor. To me it was very much worth it.
I would also ask the tube experts on this thread about a rectifier substitution. I am considering a Western Electric 422A NOS which I am told can be a sustitution for the GZ32/5AR4 rectifier used by this unit. Is this a valid substitute? Any comment as to it's sonic attributes? Not a cheap alternative, so any comment will be greatly appreciated.
Keep in touch.
About 4 years and a couple thousands posts back I bumped into this thread and was grabed by the enthusiast, knowdledge and camaradery of most of it's posts to the extent that I read throughout the whole thing, when still it was somewhat feasible to do ...
At some point mid through it I decided that it was worth the risk so I became a Supratek owner. Now on my third unit, a full 6SN7 Grange, I am happier than ever that I came aboard Mick's train, not only for the sonic and visual attributes of it's products but for the quality of Mick's support.
Several months ago I read Fiddler's post about the V-caps and Dact attenuator. I had in my agenda some minor mods. I needed to do in my unit like adding a 2nd. phono input and changing some loading values on the phono stage to better fit my cartridges. I was able to find a local technician with a long tube expertise and plenty of high-end sensibility. After discussing the project with Mick and following his advise and considering all his words of caution I went ahead with it.
I ended up changing the output caps, in my case a pr. of 9uf 200v Auricaps for 6.8uf OIMP V-Caps and the 2 phono stage .56uf Auricaps for teflon .68uf V-Caps. Mick approved the value changes. In the case of the output caps I was forced to go with the oils (OIMP) from the V-Caps because the teflon's value (and price) were not available. After studying the V-Caps site and a couple of emails with Chris Ven Haus and considering the much lower price of the OIMP I went with them. I also changed the Alps for the DACT attenuator.
To this point I have put short of 200 hrs. on the unit. I can tell you without any doubt that this has been the greatest improvement from a modification to my system I have experienced. The improvement in clarity and detail is very notable but also in weight, punch and air without any detriment to the tonality of the presentation. In my case both changes(capacitors and volume control) were done at the same time so cannot separate their individual contributions.
The Teflon V-Caps cost was $314 and the OIMP were $112; the DACT was $190, pluss the corresponding shipping and about $100 for the whole labor. To me it was very much worth it.
I would also ask the tube experts on this thread about a rectifier substitution. I am considering a Western Electric 422A NOS which I am told can be a sustitution for the GZ32/5AR4 rectifier used by this unit. Is this a valid substitute? Any comment as to it's sonic attributes? Not a cheap alternative, so any comment will be greatly appreciated.
Keep in touch.