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

I had some problems with my Cabernet when I got it, problems with hum, it ended with the pre being sent back to Mick for fixing,

When I got my amp back the hum had disappeared but unfortunately while the 6SN7 was working great, the 300b output only works as long as I don’t use the gain control, as soon as I engage the gain control switch I lose the left channel, therefore I can not use the 300b output to my satisfaction.

Not sure if it is a quality issue in production or it is shipment damage, have open it up and taken pictures of the inside but I can not see anything loose soldering or otherwise or out of place.

I think it is a bit challenging to buy from a small company and having it shipped halfway across the world.

 

 

I guess I will start with the obvious question. Did you try swapping the position of the tubes? If so, does the fault follow the tube? Just wondering if one might be bad. Start with the 300Bs, then make sure all the others are properly seated. Plus the umbilical, then the interconnects. If none of that works then talk to Mick about having his Tech in the US work on it.

It was my understanding that if you have a Cabernet Dual you can only have adjustable gain on one of the two output tubes.  Either 6SN7 or 300B but not both. 

The original dual was adjustable on both channels.  His current version 300/SN7 is adjustable on the 300b. SN7 is only main VC.    @Gryphongryph ,  does the gain adjust the sn7 output ?   Regardless,  if your losing a channel when you engage it,  something is up.   Possibly the switch.   If your in the US you can send to me if need be.  Contact Mick for my info.   Swap tubes side to side first though just to be sure.  

Hey Supratekers…I have a Chardonnay being built by Mick and I was wondering if anyone can share what amps ($3000 or less new or used) that pair well.  I do have a Decware Torii Jr. on order for over a year that I will give a try but not sure that is a good pairing.  Any thoughts are appreciated.