Preamp Deal of the Century

This has been discussed on the thread many times, but I will say again. Whichever model of Supratek preamp you choose to buy GET THE PHONO STAGE! It does not add that much to the cost and the resale will be higher than any of the line stage preamps. As great as you may have found the line stage to be, the phono stage is where the real magic happen in Supratek's.

There have been numerous times that someone has bought a line stage pre only to regret that they did not get the phono stage.

Slowhand,

While the phono stage is a $400 option on the Chenin, it is $1500 on the Sauv/Cortese and a whopping $4000 on the Cab/Grange!

$1500 is not change - though I have no doubts it's well worth it. OTOH, you can buy a Minimax phono for that and many consider that phono stage world-class as well.

The Graham Slee era gold I'm using now is amazing as well. I never thought I could stand op-amps of any form in my system. I don't have a broad reference of phono stages at this point, by any means, but this thing makes astounding music, with a moderate table/cart.

My Sauvignon is sold (I think) but I had to cancel the Cortese I'd ordered a couple weeks ago. Then, I decided to go ahead and try the Dodd battery pre I've been wanting to try for some time - might be just the ticket - though beating a Supratek, if it's possible, sure can't be easy.

I am going to try the Minimax phono in concert with the Dodd. I have great respect for the MM products. I have had a MM CDP in my 2nd system for a couple years and it sounds as good as many $3K players, no doubt.

Anyway, I may end up loving the Dodd & the MM, or I may end up with a Cortese before long.

I do like the flexibility of a separate phono stage.

Thanks to everyone for helping out.

I think I will go along with cabernet single since Grange is really way above my budget.

Hope you guys can further help me out here. Besides upgrading the caps to V-cap, are there anything further upgrades/decision to tell Mike when placing the order?

Thanks Guys!!!

Regards

Regarding the phonostage in the Chenin.... What do you get for that extra $400.00? I think few here acually know the true measure of Micks entry level phonostage including his other designs.I guess you can say that about most well designed components ect.Check out Slipknot1 system, "Ars Musica". He uses a Chenin with his Walker Proscenium turntable.Im sure if there was any hint of a problem with the Chenin in his system,it would of been gone long ago. As for me,Micks entry level preamp and phonostage is the best so far that I have owned.Hopefully by the end of the year my Chenin will be hooked up to a S.M.E. 20/12.I think only then will I get a clear sense of Micks design.

I echo what Stiltskin posted here! I think the Chenin's phono section (6922/6C4) is exceptional!

I remember that the phono section of the Chenin was taken from the one which the Cortese had during that time. The Syrah, which the Chenin replaces have a different phono section topology overall. I truly believe that the 6922/6C4 combo that the Chenin preamp has is a magnificent sounding design.

Sometimes I wonder what could be the reason why the Chenins phono design was changed from the original 6922/6C4 combo to a different 6922/XXX topology?

As they say, a great sounding circuit design is only as great to how the individual components react to compliment each other. IMHO, Mick hit something special with the 6922/6C4 combo.

regards,

Abe