Preamp Deal of the Century

I retrieved that photo from Mick's blog. I have one new in the box (line stage) but have noi had time to pull it out to set it up or I would have taken a photo of mine. 

Mick is doing the right thing and building me the black unit I ordered ASAP. He asked me to ship the current wood version Grange to his service guy in NC to have the socket swapped out. It will then be sold. If anybody wants pictures, let me know. The wood unit looks and sounds amazing, it is just not what I ordered 7 months ago... 

@ duramax747

You have still not unpacked? Wow, this would be killing me!

Report please...!

Hey just curious, looking to see if any of our happy (or unhappy) Supratek owners have mated it to a solid state amp?   And if any, what’d you mate it to and how did it go?

I saw a post here where a member touched on this, but it was very early on in this discussion, like 15 or 20 years ago….lol.

Thanks all.  
jim

@jhajeski Hey just curious, looking to see if any of our happy (or unhappy) Supratek owners have mated it to a solid state amp?   And if any, what’d you mate it to and how did it go?

Me too, being in fishing mode for such a combination.  No hurry..  I looked, but I cannot find any relevant (to me) specifications on the Supratek site.  Lots of words, though.

Things like RMS voltage output and output impedance are important considerations when matching pre and power amp, of whatever topology.   

I've used my Chardonnay and Cabernet with four different SS amps so far with input sensitivities from .6 volts to 2.4 volts and the adjustable gain feature has allowed me to get a noise free match with all of them.  The amps so far are the PS Audio BHK 250, the Van Alstine SET 400, the Nuforce STA-200 and the Kinki Studio EX-M7.  If you need "specs" then contact Mick and ask him.  

I had a Cabernet Dual connected to my Atmasphere MA-1 and it was magical.

Sold the cab dual and got a Grange currently matched to a GFA 545, well it's a GFA with the Hoppes Brain circuit SS amp, and sounds great.

Okay what am I missing here. Deal of the century. Best preamp on planet Earth. Yet we are talking hums hissing noisy remote control bad solder joints, bad paint,and a designer that doesn't know how to use XLR connectors. And you need to find a technician stateside to "finish" the product? With all the preamps available on planet Earth I simply don't get what's going on here. 

@rbertalotto What you are missing, and what’s going on here, has mostly to do with your ability to read.

Best preamp on earth — Where’d you get that? - Hissing, noisy remote control — Where’d you get that? Doesn’t know how to use XLR connectors — Where’d you get that? Bad solder joints— Where'd you get that? Bad paint— Where’d you get that? A loose tube socket — disappointing but hardly the first time an audio product has a missed defect that needed follow up in the field or back in the factory (do you ever read reviews?). Having a tech in the States to help solve problems, vs. having to return the goods to Australia — What’s your beef with that? 

What led to an aspect of a (special order) Grange getting a little mixed up re rhe case is not clear, but in the context of a one man operation dealing with lots of requests, orders and building, including the rigors of point to point wiring, plus dealing with his hon audio own everyday life — e,g., take a look at where Mick lives — it’s hardly surprising that mistakes are sometimes made. 

take a look at where Mick lives — it’s hardly surprising that mistakes are sometimes made. 

Where does he live and why ought where someone live be some reason to indulge in making the mistakes you mention?

Seems to me Mick handled this as he should have.  

Do you guys even realize this thread is 20 years old?

Slow news day for all.

@noske I don’t get the sense that you took a look first before posting, 

Highstream. Everything I posted has been brought up in this thread. Go back and read and you,ll find it... verbatim. I understand some of the issues were many years ago. Let's hope he has resolved them. Good day mate!

I don’t get the sense that you took a look first before posting, 

I looked at these words where it is conceded that

-  a mix up in a case

-  one man operation

 - requests, orders and building

 - rigours of point to point wiring

 -  dealing with his hon audio hon everyday life (??)

and all is forgiven on account of where he lives ("hardly surprising mistakes are sometimes made..")

Nah, not good enough.  Others may get a sense that I demand higher standards for some quite expensive kit.

@noske I've never owned a Supratek. Product doubts are a consideration in any purchase. To be fair, nothing is perfect. We are seeing a 20 year history in this thread. What company has a perfect 20 year history? 

What car company do you find worthy? They've all had recalls. Multiple things that didn't work.

How about cellphones? The top two companies are major technological juggernauts. They've had numerous problems. Catching on fire/exploding, bending in the middle, etc. Most any company can be made to look bad with enough research over a 20 year history. 

People buy Supratek for the sound quality. If they didn't perform so well, it is doubtful this thread would last 20 years. A positive 20 year thread is a great accomplishment for any company. Look how quickly a used Supratek sells. Most sell within a week. Few of those sellers state insufficient sound quality as the motivation to sell. Many are actually moving up the line for even greater performance. 

Mick builds an excellent product and stands behind it with a life time guarantee. He really takes care of his customers. Music lovers are lucky to have him building equipment.

Thanks,

aldnorab 

@noske You are trolling. Please go away. Unlike many other threads on Agon, this one is for people seriously interested in Supratek products and the experience of using them.

deutscherhififan,

I inspected in upon receiving it and everything looked fine. I closed the box and have not been back to it.

I may take it out this weekend to take photos. 

On a lighter note, I got word from Mick this morning that my pre amp is done and would be shipping.  

My amp is made in a one man shop as well and the build quality is outstanding.  Mick's track record is excellent and I'm expecting an exceptional product.

Now that we've cleared up a few things, a couple of matters worth mentioning. Yes, hiss is documented as a possibility in the manual(s) -- but not from the remote; it is dependent on the setting of the gain knob (and gain switch). And for those who dare to ask, I found that Mick has the adamant perspective of a diehard, traditional engineer when it comes to umbilicals, which means that he doesn't believe another umbilical could sound better, and thus there's no reason to change. I've got two that do improve things, including one that was built by another guy of similar background who ironically didn't believe that what he was building me could affect the sound (btw, I'd be glad to sell it inexpensively if anyone is interested or wants to give it a try; it's not quite the Revelation, but it is a substantial improvement over the supplied one -- send a PM for more info).

1. I just got the Revelation Audio Labs umbilical and WOW, it's a tremendous upgrade - particularly in presence and soundstage. Remarkable. Such a worthwhile investment. I was going to have someone build another as well, but this will do JUST FINE and DANDY.

2.  Manuals?! My Syrah has a 3 way switch front right that I'd love to know the function of....If anyone has a manual they scan or copy and share regardless, I'd love to have one...

@budburma did you buy direct from Rev Labs?  Which cord is it and what is the cost?  I have a Chardonnay being built by Mick.  Thanks

@tksteingraber I did! From right here on Agon: 

I bought an umbilical from them or my solid state pre, and it is wonderful. You won't regret it.

I had two of their power cables (not AC cords) for my digital setup years ago. They made a nice improvement. Just ordered a new Chardonnay from Mick. I'll look into an umbilical cord for it.

Thanks,

aldnorab 

@aldnorab 

I've bought two umbilical cords for the two preamps from Brad and they are a definite upgrade.

I am a happy new owner of a Cabernet 6SN7. I was a bit worried that I would have an issue with the noise floor or tube hiss on my 100db efficient Altec A7 since I had issues with a Border Patrol EXT, Modwright LS 36.5 and a Rogue RP 7. I can happily report that the Supratek is dead quiet at the speakers when no music is playing. The soundstage, imaging, vocals, percussion etc are the best I have heard in my system. Everything sounds very realistic.

Greetings Fellow Humans - 

I just popped by to see what's new in this "most popular all-time" thread in the amps & preamps forum. Nice to see that the thread is still drawing visitors and folks are as enthusiastic as ever.

I'll post a "four+ year follow-up" review:

My Supratek Cortese continues to sound wonderful. Several amplifiers have cycled through my system since I got the Cortese - I'm now using custom SET 45 monoblocks to drive my Altec A7 Magnificents very satisfactorily. The Supratek is always delightful, always reliable.

Oh, one system upgrade that was an eye-opener for me was to switch over to Cardas Neutral Reference interconnects and speaker wires. They are very nice, though relatively modest and not up to Cardas current state-of-the-art standards. But they sound wonderful.

Hope everyone has a wonderul holiday season.

Best regards...

Markus (no longer the) Naimnut

Hey Fellow Supratek owners - 

Just a quick question - what E180F tubes are you preferring?

Markus

Markus, 

 I have used the Phillips PQ, Phillips SQ, and Mullards. I also have Valvo and CEI, but I haven't run any of these two brands yet. I can't tell any difference in sound between the Phillips and the Mullards. Mick told me a while back that he thinks that Phillips may have made all of them, which could explain why they sound the same. 

Just bought a used Supratek Chardonnay. Wow! I don't have anything super high end to compare it to -- prior preamps include Adcom GFP-750, Schiit Freya+ with some nice NOS 6SN7 tubes -- but am very happy with the purchase.  One question for Supratek owners -- can you use the balanced output AND the single-ended outputs at the same time?   I'm running balanced right now (with the toggle switch set to XLR) and it's very clean and sounds great.  I'd like to use one of the RCA outputs at the same time to a pair of subs but trying that introduced a good bit of hum to the speaker outputs.  If I switch toggle to RCA, hum goes away but now nothing is going to XLR.  So I'm assuming I can't do it but wanted to check with others.  Thanks.

Hey nymarty

I’m pretty sure you can only use one or the other. Why don’t you use your amp outputs to your sub. I think it blends better and you get some of your amps character. Just by some copper speaker wire from Amazon not expensive.

That’s how I connect my sub works very well. Just make sure on some amps like Pass labs you have to connect the negative to ground not the negative speaker output. If you don’t know ask your amp manufacturer if that’s ok.

@nymarty  Congrats and welcome to audio Nirvana.  Amazing preamp you will not be disappointed.  Here’s another thread you should read and follow.  Contact @jslateiv he is Supatek’s official repair tech  for your questions.  He is a wealth of information and very helpful. I use RCA’s and have a sub connected with no noise. The bass was so strong I had to add a volume control between the pre outputs and the sub line inputs.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/supratek-owners-thread

 Congrats on the purchase @nymarty.   That pre will serve you well and last close to forever.  Unfortunately only rca or xlr can be used at one time.   A second pair of rca’s could be wired in and both sets of rca’s could be used if needed.     The toggle arranges the ground for the output in use which is why you cant use both at the same time. 

@snopro   Thanks!  That’s exactly what I’ll do with the subs.  They do have speaker level inputs, so should be fine.

​@tksteingraber ​thanks for sharing the tech’s info and the thread.

@jslateiv  thanks for the explanation on the grounding — makes sense.  Nowvthat I know how it’s meant to operate, i can set it up properly. The Freya+ spoiled me with features but the Chardonnay sounds so much better.  

Thank you all for helping me out!

I am interested. I have a home theater system so I need a pre amp that has a bypass. Does the Supratek have a bypass mode?

@galleybob No, it does not.