Upgrade Fever


You know it, you love it, and I've got it again, unfortunately. I am one of the lucky ones that got a Supratek Syrah preamp (see Preamp of the Century thread), and now I am looking for a good mate for it. I am leaning toward a Plinius SA-102 or Gamut D200, but would consider other suggestions. My speakers are Piega P10s, and for the front end I have an EMC-1 24/192 and a Nottingham Spacedeck.

While I love tubes, I am probably more inclined to stick with a good SS amp due to my budget and listening preferences. Budget: $3-6K. Of course, I prefer to buy used, and hope to stick closer to $3K but would stretch for something special.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Reprimands?

Thanks as always. I've gotten a lot of good advice 'round here.

waltersalas

Showing 1 response by bwhite

Waltersalas, check with Mick (and others) before getting the GamuT. I know it has a high input impedance and don't know if the Supratek is exactly compatible. Early on in MY amp quest, I asked Mick about the Supratek's compatibility with the GamuT and he said in typical Mick fashion, "of course its compatible". Needless to say, I wasn't convinced.

The Supratek sounds fantastic with most any amp, and seems to enhance a system to such a degree that amps can be less important - to some degree. For instance with the Supratek in my system, LAMM M1.1's sound barely better than a McIntosh MC2000. Weird. Now I am itching to try a Tenor or LAMM ML1's to prove this theory wrong but so far, since the Supratek arrived, any amp I've put in my system (Electrocompaniet, Chord, LAMM, Accuphase, McIntosh) has been irrelevant for the most part.

What cartridge are you using with your Nottingham?
And... what amp are you currently using?