Preamp Deal of the Century

Hi @jaymark 
Another Don Sachs owner who lives not terribly far from me and I were going to get together to compare our preamps last year. But we were never able to get our schedules lined up. I hope it can happen this year. 

How do the supratek preamps compare sonically to Don Sachs preamps?  I have a Sachs preamp and it is excellent.

That is great to hear - I will send him an email.

I think someone on the other Supratek thread said it was short and Mick is currently advertising the Chardonnay and Cortese on Agon, which means he's probably caught up. Ask him.

Any one order a Supratek as of late?  Wondering what latest lead times were of newly delivered units.

@markusthenaimnut,

Yes. Indeed waiting for my Cortese LCR . Delivery on early April. No thought of any upgrade or even to ever bring it up for the ordered unit. i was just learning the different opinions and thoughts.
i'm confident that my reflections will be along your valuable review Markus. joseph - Sydney

The correct website for Supratek preamps is   Supratek.com.au

Scot

Hicham/Joseph -
You're still waiting on your preamp, right?I think you're gonna love it as Mick has built it. IMHO no real need to upgrade the caps.

This is really a valuable information and from a practical experience. Interstingly the one that  is being replaced here is the very one many would use for an upgrade!
@ t_ramey. Thank you.
Joseph
Sydney

Hi hicham
I had no idea a cap could make such an audible difference until recently I changed out the Mundorf silver caps in my preamp to Vcap ODAM. I was pleasantly surprised by the added clarity and increase in overall musicality and enjoyment I was hearing. The ODAM caps from Vcap are “relatively” cheap compared to the likes of Jupiter and Duelund and they’re much smaller than other caps I’ve seen so they can fit in just about any application. This is really the only experience I have in hearing different caps.

@ t_ramey, i see no reply came to your question, i too like always to learn.May i ask you what could be of satisfactory caps for you? Also what caps that you woud not be impressed to know? Thanks

Thanks @markusthenaimnut  

Any idea what stock caps Mick uses? He told me the Cabernet has upgraded caps and transformers but I never asked him what those were. 

Between having a separate power supply chassis, adjustable gain from a simple knob, and being able to roll various 5v rectifier tubes I’m thinking a Supratek preamp is a great choice for me. 

T_ramey,
On my cortese gain is adjustable and there is a switch to take the gain control out of the circuit if it's not needed. I think this is common across all of the preamps.

They come with a remote and both have volume knobs. Here's what Mick said when I asked about the difference:
"The circuit is the same, it uses expensive transformers and capacitors. Its different sounding, whether its worth the extra expense is subjective .
Its still very good value, better than some $20K preamps I’ve heard."

Take a look at http://www.supratek.com.au/ and also the guide to choosing a preamp page. The price page says remote.

Man you guys are making it hard for me to decide which preamp I want to get next. I like the idea of having a separate power supply box so Supratek intrigues me. Does Micks preamps come with adjustable gain or is that an optional upgrade? My current preamp can adjust and it’s nice to have when switching out amps so I’d like to keep that luxury.

As far as models go, anybody know the difference between the Chardonnay and Cabernet 6sn7? Does the Cabernet have a beefier power supply? Thanks for any help!

Joseph - 
I'm very happy for you.  Looking forward to reading your assessment and comments. 

Supratek's Mick Malony will be sending to me - in April - a Cortese LCR Preamp.
I shall provide -here- my comments as the Cortese will be driving a Pair of Rogue M180.

The Cortese LCR will be in place of a -very reputable - rather, but a Solid State Preamp. I adored this preamp in other's systems, but never in my set up & room.
Let's see.
Joseph - Sydney

Hi Marcus,
Having purchased the Allnic H7000 a few months back I can certainly vouch for it's presentation. Had I known about the Cortese I would have gone in that direction primarily for the savings. Of all my components the Allnic disappears to the greatest extent. 
Albert Porter is a great source for Allnic gear, and did me right. 
That said, Mick has done a great job providing thousands of music listeners with hi quality units at reasonable prices. His preamp is the perfect match for my amps. 

1. Phono stage (LCR in my Cortese) is superb. Note that Allnic charges many many thousands of dollars (I'm not confident of the prices I've seen in my searches on the 'net tonight and don't want to guesstimate) but it is included in the Cortese. The Allnic gear is very beautiful and I would love to try it some time, but it's way beyond my budget.
2. Description of the Supratek sound - Gorgeous. Please track down my review of the Cortese which is probably somewhere in this thread or somewhere nearby. This preamp convinced me that tubes are not "introducing euphonic distortion" (at least not in this equipment). They are simply conveying what is in the recording. The line stage has greatly increased the pleasure I derive from streaming.

It SUCKs....Dat’s why I bought a New Chardonnay GEN 3 Pre that replaced my $8000 BAT 32se Pre..and beat it in every important Audiophile Parameter!!....It’s sound is "like a color you never seen before and a Flavor you never tasted"...No "audiophile speak" can do it justice.."my opion"...you wanna break out your "audio crayons" and color the sound to your taste...go ahead... lot of great 6SN7’s out there!...Take the $2000 plunge..What do you have to lose?...If you don’t think Micks New Pre"s are not The Rave we think and Know they are (who own the new GEN 3) ...Sell it...it will be sold in A New York Min!..Since the New GEN 3 hit the ground ...Mick is Backed up a few Months...so jump in...the Audio Supratek water is VERY warm!!

How would you describe the Supratek sound ?
Dark, big/bold clean, warmish ? or any other words you would like to describe the sound, is it fast sounding, does it have good rhythm and a black background ? Is the timbre and decay of instruments truthful  ?

Markusthenaimnut,

How good is the phono stage?

Also, as others might have mentioned, he has a blog that he sometimes (rather infrequently) posts on. I got a lot out of it when I went through it. There's a link to a link on the Supratek website.

Highstream - 
Sorry I overlooked your question. I was wrestling with the same question and was on the verge of ordering the Sachs preamp when I learned about the Supratek series. I elected to go with the Supratek partly because I could get it with a high-end phono stage.  
I can't answer your question about the differences between the Chardonnay and the Cabernet. Much of the original content on this thread dates back to the early 2000's and Mick has continued to evolve his preamps since then.
I humbly suggest you contact Mick directly with any questions you might have.

I'll reply to myself. Decided to go with the Supratek for a number of reasons, starting with availability of balanced outputs w/o extra tubes for ATC balanced active speakers and natural warmth. But what I'm curious about now is the difference between the Chardonnay and the Cabernet, if anyone has experience with them. Can't find any reviews of the latter since 2006 or so.

Any comparisons between the Chardonnay and Sachs 6SN7 preamps? Good developers both, but just trying to get a sense if they are more or less sonically equivalent. Functionally, the Supratek offers some advantages for my set up, except its developer being in the other hemisphere... Thanks,

New Cortese LCR is ordered for March 2020 delivery. Tips are welcome from the allready owners of this very model. Thank you.

@Audio123 - Thank you for the tip. Getting my upgrade vibes going before the damn thing is even here :) 

VERY glad to hear you are so happy. 

Congrats!!...Had mine since july 2019 and your in for a treat...its ear and eye candy....best 2K i EVER spent on a GIANT killer of a pre...TRUTH!!....aslo had great results with the  SHUGUANG WE6SN7( that Don Sachs told me about) over the stock Russian tubes (and at least 4 combo's of very good NOS 6SN7's)....just sum audio food for thought....(As everthing in Audio YMMV)....ENJOY!!

New Chardonnay MK3 ordered after great email exchanges with Mick. It has everything I would want in a preamp: adjustable gain, balanced in/out, remote volume, gorgeous appearance, separate power supply, lifetime warranty, and tubes. Went for the chrome and wood version.....the wait is killing me.... 

I will report back how I like it when it arrives in December.

Cabernet Dual Inbound… though used.

Oh Hell Yeah,,,Im In!!

Yes.  I plan on ordering the same preamp you have from Mick in a few months.  Start one.

I think I it might be time to start Supratek owners thread... Anyone else interested?

Just received my new Chardonney line stage from Mick...Left Perth on Monday and delivered to Pittsburgh in 3 Days!!...Krazy fast....Burning it in now....WOW is it Beautifull...soo glad a got the latest Gen 3...Well done Mick..(understatement of the year!)

Pinot Phono Stage ordered, deposit paid. Its going to be a long 4 weeks.

26 million views simply amazing lol

Greetings....Mick just shipped out my new Chardonnay yesterday and I am counting down the days till it gets here..,,So glad i found out about supratek thru this Thread...soo thanks to all....it will be replacing my old but still very good BAT VK-3i preamp...i was looking to go up the BAT ladder till i ran across this thread....I will be running the Supratek with a pair of Rogue audio 180 mono blocks...speakers are the Sweet Martin Logan Montis with dual Vandersteen subs...Digital is the New Audio Mirror Tubadour 3 Dac(which is a STEAL at the price and made me sell my Schitt audio Yggy 2 Dac and not look back)..transport is the Cambridge CXC(weakest Link and hope to upgrade soon) all with top of the Line Acoustic Zen Cable....Supratek Stocked to Join the club...so Love..peace and chicken grease for all the great Help along the Way!!!!!!!

Oh my merciful heavens. Yes, I play a lot of digital, both cd and via a streamer. Frankly, the line stage is superb. It is so good that it is giving me an opportunity to reflect on how much more I want to invest in additional physical media (though i am in the process of updating my second turntable as I type this). It's just that I have thousands and thousands of records and am not sure I "need" more. But I am planning on getting a more capable streamer & DAC later this year. I concur that the remote is fairly simple, but it controls the volume very well, and that's what is most important to me. If I'm switching between sources I probably would have to get up anyway. And a nice, stylish, good looking remote would probably add several hundred dollars to the cost. And it would do nothing for the sound, which is what Mick has prioritized above all else.

Thanks Markus! I will probably order the Chardonnay pre later this year, will probably pair it with Usher R1.5
May be stupid thinking on my hand, but I wish that the Supratek gear had a nicer remote, of aluminum or maybe wood.
Do you play any digital trough the Supratek, or only records ?

Hello Slowhand. I am looking to order the new Pinot phono stage. What are your favorite NOS tubes for the Cortese phono stage? Unfortunately I sold off all my W.E. 350B's years ago after I sold my Sarah, and most of my 6SN7 collection. Looks like I will be starting over on collecting.

Sorry, it was 2002 when I bought my first Supratek.

Hello Markus,

You have only touched the surface of the sound you will get from the Cortese. It continues to get better over time and should amaze you. I know my sound got better for quite a while after I got the preamp. This preamp should suit you well since you don't seem to be the type to change equipment often. I have only owned 2 preamps since 2003 and they have both been Supratek's.

1. There is zero hiss from the preamp. Not through my ESL 63s, driven by Innersounds Electrostatic Amplifier or through my 93dB efficient JBL 4430s.
2. It is superb at all volume levels. 
3. The volume knob is extremely solid. Both the volume knob and selector switch feel very solid and substantial to my hand. I would say they feel "tighter" than any of the other preamps, receivers or integrateds I've owned, from Luxman, Naim and Eico.

Thanks for the nice review on the Cortese LCR.  I have recently communicated with Mick and I will be ordering the LCR in a few months.  I listen mostly to vinyl and the LCR will be my centerpiece in my retirement system.

Great review, do you hear any hiss from the pre amp ? 
Is it good on lower volume and is the volume knob of good quality?
Thanks.