A bit long ..
Have been out of A'gon for a while and accidentally bumped into this thread while checking something in Mick's site; felt I owe it to myself, my fellow audio hobbyists and to the truth to comment...
Have been a Supratek user for over 14 years; my present Grange full function preamp is my third unit from Mick. Have had many communications with Mick over the years regarding fine tuning and "improvements" to my unit that the audiophile bug propelled me into... All of them were patiently and courteously attended by Mick although I suspect in retrospect that many of them seem very silly and unnecessary...
A couple years back, after several mods, parts switching and "improvements" made to my unit by a local tech, my unit developed a problematic intermittent noise that no matter the many attempts to correct by various local techs could not get rid of... Because of the changes and mods to the unit, I was a bit reluctant to contact Mick, but nothing else worked so I finally did and candidly explained the situation hoping he could help my situation. Without hesitation he told me to send the unit to him that he would fix it... Long story shortened, a few weeks later I got my unit back with both the line and the phono circuits updated to current design while working around keeping some of the expensive parts I unjudiociously had put in and that he did not necessarily agreed with, but that after auditioning he considered were not detracting from the unit’s performance ... He charged a token amount for the updating of the circuits snd for the parts he added and replaced... I do not know of many other manufacturers that would had accepted the unit, corrected the damage I had caused, and upgraded the unit with the dedication and respect he did. He did much more than respond to a guarranty that he could had justifiably refused; that is my experience with Mick's lifetime guarranty...
As to the internal wiring issue, to me it is a plus... the "spagheti" type layout (as he calls it)... is more robust, precise, efficient, optimized to the specific audio/performance goals, and more reliable; to me it looks more artisanal, more custom made, more "form follow function" type than the cold "cookie cutter" layouts some other PCB board designs present, no offense intended... For a more technical and detailed explanation refer to Mick's blog at http://supratekaudio.blogspot.com/2019/04/wiring.html
I do not know Don Sach’s products; upon reading through this thread, went to its site and read about them... they seem a very interesting alternative... Made by whom seems a pasionate, dedicated proponent. A nicely presented, clean layout american made product at very realistic prices make them very worthy of consideration...
I have met Ralph years back at an Audio show; he was a very nice, down to earth and delightfull gentleman. Have enjoyed his posts in A’gon through the years and his pasion and willingness to take time to share his, knowledge and experience with us, more common audio hobbyists ... On this occasion however, in my humble opinion, he crossed a bit the line of respect and consideration to a fellow manufacturer...
Many years back a close friend was a dealer for Atmasphere so I have very well experienced various of his products closely. Recently I had at my system one of his preamps... Although I have some issues with the appearance and the high quantity of tubes of his products, I respect and consider Atmasphere pretty good audio products. I personally, however, would never prefer an Atmasphere preamp over any of Mick’s offerings. My personal preference...
Again, in my opinion, if you are looking for a vivid, highly realistic and and balanced audio experience from a unit designed and build directly by the expert hands of a pasionate, audio artisan with 30+ years and hundreds of proven units all over the world, do yourself a favor and give serious consideration to Supratek...
Sincerely and respectfully,
Jose Rodriguez