Great thread guys, very informative, friendly and with lots of great info and advice. Took me 5 nights to read through it all!!
l took the plunge today and sent of my deposit for a Cabernet linestage. l am fortunate to be in the 1% of Aussies that has bought one of Mick's amps, its remarkable how nearly all of them find their way to appreciative audio nuts elsewhere around the world.
Jazzdude > How are you getting on with your Cabernet, how has it settled in to your system? Tried any tube rolling?
Cheers Simon |
Thanks Jazzdude.
Did you order your Cabernet with NOS WE 101D's? Have you past experience with these valves and knew they were superior to the TJ's?
l am really looking forward to getting this amp. As l have upgraded my system the shortcomings of my ARC SP-9 have become more and more evident.
Cheers |
Woohoo, email from Mick leting me know my black/chrome Cabernet is 2 days off finished. Looking forward to recieving it l can tell you. Just hope my power mp is repaired in time!
Cheers |
Hi Kenji,
l ordered a Cabernet several months back that is now ready for shipment. In Micks email from last week he said "it is sounding superb- we just had another creative burst with it and it is even more involving". l am guessing my unit will have the PX4's as a shipment of these held up delivery of my amp.
Hopefully next week l will have it.
Cheers Simon |
Thanks guys, your making me really anxious to get my hands on this pre! Does anyone have info on the new and mysterious PX4? l must admit to being a valve gumby. Are these things a variation on the 101d's or a different family all together? Not many on ebay so l am guessing they are pretty uncommon, they certainly look huge, wont need lights in the listening room by the looks of it.
Cheers |
Thanks Ongkaku,
Mick emailed me today to say the pre is on the way and that it definitely has the TJ PX4's. Just got my power amp back from repair today too after being 4 weeks without music, there is some serious listening to be done next week when the Cab arrives. Mick in his latest email said the PX4's were - "Better sound, quieter,lower output impedance- they really are fantastic"
What more could you want :^)
Cheers |
No Cabernet yet Ongaku, but hoping to have it in 3-4 days.
Dont worry, you'll hear all about it!
Cheers |
l received my Cabernet last week with the PX4's revsion and am blown away by it. Like Slipknot l upgraded from an ARC SP9 Mkll and cannot believe how much difference this pre has made to my system. Music has never been so natural, involving and relaxing. It looks dead sexy to. Believe the hype!
Its so good its got me wondering what Mick's power amps are like, anybody here heard or own one?
Cheers |
Hi all,
l am so impressed with my Cabernet l am wondering what Micks power amps are like. Could they be as good, even half as good will do? l have started another thread here;
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1101532226&read&3&4&
Please post your experiences.
Cheers Simon |
Thanks Tom for starting this thread, and merry Xmas to all.
l hope to get a litle present of my own in the new year, the loan of a pair of Merlots from Mick. Hope they are as good as my Cab, may be not need for another upgrade, ever !!!
Cheers |
Kevin,
l recently upgraded from an SP-9mk2 to a Supratek Cabernet. While the SP-9 is probably not in the class as your pre, the improvement was immense. To use a local analogy, l traded in my Ford Falcon for a BMW M5. Everything the others have said is true, the Cab is a revelation. l doubt you could go wrong.
Have a great new year everyone.
Cheers Simon |
Congrats Ongaku.
Great to see you got your problems sussed. l had a similar experience with mine, no sound initially until l dicked around with the toggles and got it working. Havent touched them since!
How much did the Genalux KT-66's cost? Sound like a nice upgrade.
Cheers Simon |
Kevin,
l am not sure what happened to the Grange, it must have disappeared only in the past few days. Its my understanding that the Grange utilised the same phono section as the Cortese. Mick has done a small redesign on the Cabernet, it now runs PX4's in place of the 101D's as shown in the pics. Not sure if that change has anything to do with the vanishing Grange.
l am sure he could build you a Grange if thats what you wanted.
Cheers |
Tom,
l am not sure if the prefix (011) is the correct international prefix for calling from the US. If you have a phone where you can call + 61 8 9757 9786 then that may work. The number is right, spoke with Mick yesterday enquiring about when he may have a pair of loaner Merlots available. Sounds like l am in for a long wait :(
Thanks for the info on the KT-66's Kenji, l will have to keep an eye out for a pair.
Cheers |
Hi Larry, l thought l would post my repsonse to your other thread here before it gets lost in all the possum vs Coon and red wine chatter!
Cheers
_________________________________________
There wouldn't be many around that have heard both, myself included. l bought the Chardonnay so l didnt have to wonder.
l would call Mick. l find him honest, he will tell it like it is and not just try and sell you the more expensive pre. He will explain the circuit differences etc and the sound differences, you can then decide if its worth it to you.
Cheers |
My Cab has an intermittent problem :(
After about 10 mins warm up the right channel starts to drop out radnomly and only for a split second. Some times l get some static and noise too, even the occcasional subsonic thump. Even when its not dropping out something doesnt sound right from the right channel, like some freq's are compressed, kinda hard to put my finger on what's missing.
Amps off to Mick today, hopefully its a quick fix because l am ecstatic with my system which for the time being is collecting dust!
Cheers Simon |
Thanks for the suggestions guys.
l did swap the tubes around but didnt have any spares to try. Made no difference, problem is always with the same channel.
Packed it up yesterday and shipped it off. Mick should have it by the end of the week. |
As some of you know, l have been the very happy owner of a Supratek Cabernet pre amp now for about 4 months.
Prior to purchasing the Supratek l was close to buying a passive pre amp. Not the traditional stepped resistor type but a transformer based system. The one that seemed to garner the most consistent praise is the Bent Audio NOH. Its made in Canada and in the end l lost my nerve on tking a US$2k chance and went with the Supratek. l am enjoying my Supratek immensley but after it developed an intermittent cut out in the right channel neseciating a return for repair l got to wondering about the NOH. Not much to go wrong there
Bent Audio have recently ceased production of the NOH so l placed a WTB on an owners forum and within days had located a unit for sale in Hong Kong. l have decided to take the plunge and decide for myself once and for all if TVC is for me. My system has way too much gain so is ideally suited.
Expecting the NOH in the next week. Within a month there will either be a mint near new Supratek or Bent NOH looking for a new home
BTW the Supratek was only suffering from a loose wire, be interesting to see if thats its downfall!! |
Reveiw; Supratek Cabernet vs Bent Audio NOH TVC
l have been the owner of a Cab now for about 6 months and enjoyed it immensly in that time. At the time of purchase it was the Cab or a NOH. l went looking for a used NOH a few weeks ago because l wanted to know once and for all what was possible with a good passive. l am glad l did : )
l have had the NOH 3 days now in my system and find it stunning. l have never gained so much enjoyment from listening to music, so much so that l tingle with excitement everytime l get to the opportunity for a listen. Everytime l find switching back to my Supratek lowers the fun factor, the naturalness disappears to a significant degree. Its like the Supratek is adding a level of coloration and unnatural drive, l don't know how else to explain it. On some tracks l find the lower octaves softer and more natural through the NOH and on others l find them to be deeper and more extended. l have no way of explaining that other than to say that whatever the Supratek is adding to the sound manifests itself differently on different recordings and frequencies. In all other areas the NOH is simply way superior.
l have only owned the Supratek for 6 months and remember the huge step-up in performance over my ARC SP-9. l think l have gained almost the same level of improvement again. For anyone who has experienced the entrancing vocal reproduction capabilities of a pair of Lowther horns, well l have moved a step closer to that IMO holy grail except l also have the bass, dynamics and visceral impact that Lowther's cant manage. l am a convert!
DISCLAIMER; There are many who claim the Supratek Cabernet is up there with the best pre's available and that may very well be the case. Passive only works in the right system. You need a high gain source and good impedance matching between source and power amp if you are to have any chance of success. l am sure in 90% or more of listeners systems they would much prefer the Supratek for these reasons. The fact that l am feeding such a high gain signal to my Supratek and needing to use its built in attenuator to lower this signal is far from ideal and no doubt in my system the Supratek is not giving its best. Mick from Supratek recommends having this attenuator at either position 1 or 2 for best performance, l have to have it at 6 (maximum cut) or else my system distorts. That gives you an idea of just how many volts are coming out of my modified AudioNote DAC. The only way to fix this is get a different DAC, not an option as l love the AudioNote and now having experienced the NOH, l doubt l could even get close going that route. The bottom line is, do you research before spending the money to have a go at passive as its not for every system.
The Cab is on the markt if anyone is looking for a bargain.
Cheers Simon |
