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Supratek Owners Thread

Greetings All - 
It appears that the 26-million-plus view, multi-decade "Preamp Deal of the Century" Supratek thread has been removed. I'm not sure why, but suppose there must be a reasonable explanation.
In any case, on that thread I recently asked whether there might be interest in a "Supratek owners thread" and received some interest. 
The purpose of this thread is for Supratek owners to share the details of their system, ask questions, share information about any tube-rolling they have done, and so forth.
I'll kick us off here with a few details about my system -
ancient Linn LP12 with Ittok arm, Dynavector 17D3 cartridge into Cortese LCR phono stage
Power amp is a fully serviced Innersound Electrostatic amplifier
Quad ESL63 speakers (not USA monitors) or JBL 4430 studio monitors
Digital sources are immature and evolving - ancient Fostex CR300 cd player/burner
DacMagic 100 DAC
Nordost Blue Heaven 75ohm interconnect
Due to the fairly long lengths of speaker wire required in the new listening room, speaker wire is Belden 12 gauge wire designed for low-voltage outdoor lighting systems. 
Next steps - dedicated circuit, new power cords, new interconnects, new wires.
128x128markusthenaimnut
rosco88
24 posts
 
there is some warmth, I also have some NOS RCA's, the Sylvania ( GT - 1951 and VT-231  1944) sounded nicer and smoother. 

Been running the RCA JAN 2A3's this afternoon ... very nice, more detail and separation than the EML 45M's, beautiful vocals .. bass is a little better on the EML 45M's, and they seem a little more tolerant of poor recordings and better for driving music eg., Funk ..  Overall very happy, will leave them in for a while.
cal3713's avatar
cal3713
1,421 posts
 
Has anyone in here done a trial of the supratek 6sn7 vs dht flavors? 
darcraver
7 posts
 
I spoke to Mick this week and placed a deposit for a Cortese LCR. I've really enjoyed a couple of custom headphone amps that have been made for me the last few years, so now it's time for a custom preamp. The phono stage really drew me to the LCR. This will be my setup:
- VPI Prime Signature, Benz LP-S turntable/cart
- Lampizator Golden Atlantic DAC
- McIntosh MC75 (new edition) amps
- Dynaudio C1 Platinum speakers

The LCR will be replacing a McIntosh C500T which I've really liked over the years, and it looks fabulous, but like I said I have the custom bug at the moment. I'm going for the chrome/black wood as it's a close match to the VPI.

I already have plenty of 6SN7, 5U4G, KT66 and 6L6 vintage tubes I can use. Mick says I can use my favorite "6SN7" - the ECC32 - so I'll probably just stick with those.
Thanks to all those who have posted on Audiogon regarding Supratek. You helped me make my decision.
gryphongryph
367 posts
 
Ordered my Supratek Cabernet DHT/6SN7 pre earlier this week, hopefully I will get it before Christmas.
My system is Primare Dac 30 dac, Belles SA30 class A power amp and Graham Audio LS 5/9 speakers, having been in correspondence with Mick for some time, he assured me that the SA30 and the Cabernet would be a great combination, so I am really looking forward to getting the pre, I choose the Chrome and Black Wood.
Can I ask how satisfied you all were with the packaging and shipping, am a bit worried that something should break, I live in Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic, so a long way from any repair shop 🤔 did you get updates on the build from Mick or just when it was ready for shipping?
Also when changing tubes, are the tubes sockets sturdy ? Or does one have to be very careful ?

Thanks!



markusthenaimnut's avatar
markusthenaimnut OP
371 posts
 
I was satisfied with the packaging of my Cortese. Mick ships it with the tubes in the sockets and one tube was tilted by the styrofoam packaging insert but the pins straightened right out when I reinserted it. Mick thought it might have been opened by customs and the tipped tube the result of their looking in the box.
The tube sockets are very solid and are somewhat grippy when swapping tubes. However, Mick says in the owners manual that constant tube rolling can gradually cause tube sockets to wear. I use socket savers in my preamp.
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