Supratek or Don Sachs - which way to go?

The question above about how or why I narrowed my search down to these two is worth thinking about. To explain, I need to share a little history.

A friend had bought a Prima Luna integrated to go with his quad 2805s. So initially I was looking at one of the Prima Luna preamps. Through researching and corresponding with others on various boards I came to think the 6SN7 was the tube I wanted as the centerpiece of whatever I bought. 

I'm grateful for the recommendations posted by others on this thread, and I'll continue to read about those preamps. But in summary, everything I've read about the two preamps I mentioned above suggests that they are headed in the direction I want to go. But I'm still very much a novice, and am eager and ready to learn more.

I own both, Don's Kootenay 120 KT88 Amp and his DS2 6SN7 Tube Pre and they are very impressive in their build quality and sounds Amazing!

You will be a happy camper going with Sach's equipment...

Wig

This is Mick, the manufacturer of Supratek. Firstly, I'm getting a bit sick of atmasphere jumping in with 20 year old pix of Supratek wiring , everytime Supratek gets mentioned. Am I that much of a threat?

The wiring I do these days is maybe a lot neater , but what makes people think PCB boards are superior to hard wiring.
PCB's are used to simplify construction and because they are great for economics. 

It takes me a week to build a LCR preamp. If I used PCB's, which isn't hard to do , it would take a day.
Why dont I use PCB's then? Because they sound like plastic, they sound like they look, one dimensional and boring. 

There are many hundreds of hardwired joints in my pres, everyone making solid contact, before its soldered.  With a PCB the lead solder is making all the contacts.
The other isssue is reliabilty, the 20 year old preamp with the "messy" wiring is still going strong, with only one change of tubes , no reliability issues at all, unlike some other manufacturers I could name. 

The Suprateks aren't a 1950's tube design tarted up with "options" .
They are state of the art tube designs which will drive any or multiple power amps. They have power supplies which would drive a big tube power amp, with tube rectification, and tube shunt regulation, which makes for a big sound that is as quiet as a tube pre can be.

They have a signature sound which is unlike any other tube preamp, and if you like 3D imaging and realism, which a lot of people seem to do, then thinking outside the box and looking past conventional  constraints (PCB, 1950 design, soft power supplies)  might be very rewarding.

Supratek products are covered by a transferable lifelong warranty. Pretty impressive. The manufacturer must be doing something right.

Let me chime in on this thread.  I got one of Don Sachs first preamps and now with his latest upgrade,  I think he has pretty wrung every bit of  sonic goodness out of his derivation design.  It is far and away the finest preamp I have every had, and that includes both tube and SS preamps.  CJ, HK Citation I, Modwright, Berning, Belles, Klyne Audio Arts, and several more.  It is just the the most revealing preamp that I have every had in my system, including several very pricey ARC preamps I have had a chance to audition. It is dead solid quiet in operation.   

I have no knowledge of Supratek gear, but you can be impressed by the affirmative recommendations by Atmosphere and Wig posted above regarding Don's preamp.  BTW, like Wig, I also have Don's KT88-based tube amp and it is beyond stunning.   I swore off tube amps years ago, but heard Don's amp in my system recently, and it was an "ah ha" moment, vastly more holographic than my fine McCormark amp.  It is has auto-biasing which has always been a total PITA with every tube I have previously had.  Aaarrhhh, never again with Don's amp.


Back to Don's preamp, I tell ya, there is pure magic in 6SN7 tubes, which Don uses in his preamp, as well as in his amp.  Surprisingly few tube preamps are designed around this dynamic tube, which is which Don's preamp sound better than anything I have ever heard in my system.  I suspect there are better preamps around, but they would cost several times the cost of Don's preamp, no question.  I think Don's preamp is around $2700, plus/minus, and it splendid.  The only downside is that would have to wait a couple of months to have him build it.  But, good things come to those that wait!