Preamp Deal of the Century

I think you missed my point: my guess is that you will have a longer wait than 2 months. Mick builds the Chenins in the order that they come in. If you just ordered yours, it isn't going to get built before those of us who ordered earlier. I ordered in March and am still waiting...

Longho68,

Caveat the waiting period (as painfull as it is!), remember that those of us who bought the units brand new went trough the same agony. The only difference is that us who have the units now, ordered them earlier than you do. Nothing else, same pain, same anticipation, same wishfulthinking for the day the unit will arrive.

Having said that, the rewards are great my friend. I too was considering the Hovland preamp when I stumble on this thread. I am very glad I did!

My take is that I never heard a tube preamp that delivers as "hard" and as "pure" bass than the Supratek. The praises you heard about how great the midrange is, the delicacy of the midrange when it is called for by the source, IMHO is very much true. The highs compliments the two region very well as well. In short, I really believe that you will be happy!

Aesthetics? Man, if you like the picture on the gallery, you will be shocked how exotic the preamp really looks like in person with woods and all. In fact, I may be crossing the line here, I never wipe my preamp with regular cloth but with 3M static linth free ones . I use compressed air as much as possible to preserve the looks. It commands the room to say the least. Impressive? I can let you ask my friends who wants to buy the preamp from me on the spot by just looking at it! When they heard it, they were floored! I told them the waiting period and I guess some if not all are now in line like you for Mick's wonders.

Sit tight my friend! You made a very "musical" and wise investment.

Cheers!

I owned a Syrah before and now I have switched to Chenin. It is no doubt that the Chenin sounds more superior than the Syrah especially on the phono stage but there is a problem on the choice of rectifier. I can't use Bendix 6106 nor Mullard GZ32 anymore because they provide a lower current output. Unlike Syrah, Chenin has no tolerance on this and it produces a hugh humble noise if not using GZ34 or 5AR4 as the rectifier. Any suggestion on this?

Amandarae,

I ordered the upgraded High Black gloss finish for the Chenin. This otta be really pretty......But I have to admit that when I heard the Hovland and saw in in real life, I feel in love with it....but after reading this thread and recommendations of my audiogon consultant friends, they all told me to go with the Supratek.....and that the Chenin sounded way better in their systems.

I'll let you all know how it goes when my Chenin gets here..:-)

Long
p.s. I lied, I didn't really read all of this thread, it is way too long..:-)....

Ecmlee,

Yep! I too have the same "noise" when switching to a Bendix 61006 tube. As for a different tube rather than a 5AR4/GZ34, have you tried RCA 5V4GA? I found this tube "pleasing to the ear" as well when use as rectifier comparing them to my Mullard Metal Base 5AR4.

Just a suggestion.