Preamp Deal of the Century

Bwhite:
I guess I won't know until trying it out with the Elrod in my system. Thanks for the suggestions, if that combo doesn't work out I would probably go with the Electraglide next.

Wow, what a thread! I've read some of it, but unfortunately not all. I have a Sauvignon coming from Mick, and wonder what Powercords people have played with that works well with it. I'm currently holding on to an Elrod Sig 2 from my previous pre. Has anyone tried that with the Sauvigon or found something better? Thanks.

I received my Cabernet yesterday. Even in the first two hours, I couldn't help but grinned and thought how wonderful this preamp is. I will reserve from going into details, but simply put it brings life to the music and exceeds all my expectations.
A question for Supratek owners who are also using Berning amps. At what settings do you set the amp for optimum sound. I have mine at normal and 12 o'clock for volume setting. At that level there's no noise or microphonics. I would like to turn the volume (amp) up more, but then it gets very noisy. The Berning manual cautioned about overloading the high level stages in the preamp. Am I running any risks by not turning the volume all the way up on the amp?

Slowhand, the tubes have quiet down a lot since the first night. The noise was probably also in part due to the regulator tube not being seated properly. The norm setting with volume all the way up now seems to work for me too, thanks.
The soundstage has opened up quite a bit, and lifeless recordings now have a natural presence. I'll report back after 300 hours or so. Hard to imagine it will get better, and I'm still in the first 30 hours/stock tubes.
Also, a thanks to Jazzdude for taking the time to answer my questions when I was going through the purchasing decision. Boy, am I glad I did.

Hello,
My remote control isn't working. Mick says the volume pot needs to be centered. Can someone go into details as to how I would do this? I've opened up the preamp but having no luck centering the volume pot. Thanks.

Hello,
Just to chime in on the hum issue, my Cabernet hardly makes any noise at all at my listening level. Unless cranked up to a very high level, there's hardly any hum at all. I run all stock tubes except for two Ken-rad black 6sn7.
A question about "tweaking" that I would like to ask/share with others, did you replace the umbilical cords and did you notice any sound improvements? I replaced mine with a 15" pair from Mick. The pair has silver sleeves and looked better constructed than the stock ones. While I haven't done any extensive comparisons, I got the impression that the sound is fuller, more dynamic, and tighter than the stock cords. This is in part due to the better construction, less cable contamination, and less emi/rfi intervention. Mick charges $45.00 per lead for the replacement cables. I thought it was a worthwhile improvement.