Preamp Deal of the Century

Congrats. It's always satisfying when small changes yield big results. Still, unless Mick dug into his special stock of tubes, there's a lot of room for improvement. And also the fuse and umbilical too. 

 umbilical chord was a special editon and made a nice improvment...never changed the fuse Highsteam..what should i go with?....Dont like to bring this up too often..But as a Drummer who toured with the largest Fusion band (Spyro Gryra) in the US...I think i know Live Music..which is always louder...not centered in the sweet spot and far from being what we expect from are faux High end systems..never less...I truly enjoy to sit on the middle and with a cocktail or to thimk om back on stage...TRUTH!!

years from 88 to 94...was in my early 40's....

@audio123 I’ve been using all Synergistic Research Orange fuses. Recently, SR has gone one better according to the reviews with their Purple version. The past couple of weeks I’ve inserted a couple of Audio Magic Ultimate Premier fuses into my ATC active speakers. Very good. A bit darker sound than the Orange, but very smooth, clear, a more articulate and deeper base, and eeringly quiet. I look forward to comparing them with the Purple, probably when SR has a 3-for-2 sale. Jerry at AM is working a new fuse too, which is how I got mine from a dealer clearing stock. There are pro and user reviews of the Purple and Orange fuses online, including here on Agon.

Now that SR Orange users are replacing them with Purples, the former are appearing on the market at a price level that makes it easier to dip your toe in. Watch HiFi Shark. One thing to know about SR fuses (but not AM) is that they are not built to industry spec, Users learned early on to go one amp value or 25% higher. The problem is initial surges blowing them, which even the horse’s mouth at SR mentioned to me last week. For the Chardonnay, I had a 3.15A blow on start up after merely connecting RCA’s for subwoofers, no power. So I’ve been using a 4A since (small, slow-blow).

On the subject of tweaks, one of the very best I’ve come across is High Fidelity’s NPS-1260 3D contact solution. There’s a thread on Agon about it with several very happy campers, as well as a rave review in Enjoy the Music. The stuff, not cheap, is the real deal.

One of the reasons the Supratek sounds good is that it uses a tube based shunt regulator, which is pretty rare. Most manufacturers go for a much more easily easily implemented series regulator.

I have found this tends to give a very solid and assured sonic signature.