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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
highstream
204 posts
 
Markus -- Thanks. Never heard of the CBS 5962. At least at Upscale Audio they don’t come cheap, but I just noticed what look like a good matched pair on eBay for a reasonable price. I've been using the Shuguang replica and it's a nice tube. There are some other possibly good choices at Grant Fidelity.
jackd
1,039 posts
 
The CBS/Hytron 5692 is a pretty good reasonably neutral tube. I roll a pair through the Chardonnay periodically.
highstream
204 posts
 
A 6SN7 search today turned up a few resources I had forgotten or hadn't come across before (links can't be posted on Agon). Some good info.

- head-fi: " The Reference 6SN7 Thread"
- What's Best Forum: " Shootout of Nos 6sn7 tubes"
- jacmusic.com: 6SN7 page (under NOS > 6SN7)

What these lists don't include are the more recent Chinese tubes.
rh67
307 posts
 
As i posted earlier i ordered a Chardonnay. I have been listening to my music lately and thinking how good it presently sounds and i`m starting to question ordering the Chardonnay. I do not want to waste my time and money making a side ways move or even worse a step backwards.

Has anyone had experience with both the LTA pre and the Chardonnay? I do not want to lose the magic that my system presently has.
highstream
204 posts
 
First off, any change, gear or even a tube change on the same piece, makes for a different sound. No matter what you do, your "magic" will have to be recreated, whether with the tubes provided or after rolling, and even then is always somewhat different than the last time (shades of magic, so to speak).

About the LTA pre, I haven't heard it but in the process of deciding what to go for I asked its developer (Mark) and those on an LTA thread, I think on head-fi, about where it stood on the warm to cool continuum. The unanimous answer was decidedly "neutral." Since I favor some warmth and don't get along big time with what passes for neutral -- it sounds cool to cold to me, -- the owners and those familiar with the LTA explicitly steered me away. For Supratek, what caught my attention on the site was that Mick prefers and designs for some degree warmth. An email exchange confirmed that. 
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