Hi there,
I have a Syrah & find that the pre itself tends toward middle of the road in the best possible sense.
Dynamics & bass are better than any ss pre I've owned which makes it a bit more forward than most valve pres I've had, and all the better for it.
The imaging is pretty much vocals in/or just slightly forward of the speaker plane with very good depth & reasonable if not spectacular width.
Images are though very stable and well defined width wise.
Also gives a far better impression of height than anything else I've owned.
Dependant on the recording it can vary - surely a good sign, good live recordings are pretty upfront & exciting with excellent recreation of the hall/venue - little bits of audience chat/noise are really well resolved.
It can be made to step back or forward with different power cords.
I would reckon the phono stage presentation is a few rows back from the line stage which is brilliant(first time I've happily settled for the convenience of cd's giving very little away to vinyl).
The phono is not quite up with my Quicksilver but the fact that it cost nearly half the price of the Syrah ? & the loading option on the Supratek closes the gap considerably along with less boxes/cables makes it bearable for a small difference. Saying that it's not imo the quietest phono stage in the world unless you are very lucky with the tubes.
Shame as the line inputs are unusual in their lack of noise.
Si
I have a Syrah & find that the pre itself tends toward middle of the road in the best possible sense.
Dynamics & bass are better than any ss pre I've owned which makes it a bit more forward than most valve pres I've had, and all the better for it.
The imaging is pretty much vocals in/or just slightly forward of the speaker plane with very good depth & reasonable if not spectacular width.
Images are though very stable and well defined width wise.
Also gives a far better impression of height than anything else I've owned.
Dependant on the recording it can vary - surely a good sign, good live recordings are pretty upfront & exciting with excellent recreation of the hall/venue - little bits of audience chat/noise are really well resolved.
It can be made to step back or forward with different power cords.
I would reckon the phono stage presentation is a few rows back from the line stage which is brilliant(first time I've happily settled for the convenience of cd's giving very little away to vinyl).
The phono is not quite up with my Quicksilver but the fact that it cost nearly half the price of the Syrah ? & the loading option on the Supratek closes the gap considerably along with less boxes/cables makes it bearable for a small difference. Saying that it's not imo the quietest phono stage in the world unless you are very lucky with the tubes.
Shame as the line inputs are unusual in their lack of noise.
Si