Is Supratek Syrah still the deal of the century?

I had the distinct pleasure of owning a Syrah up until yesterday,it was purchased by a fellow "goner." I can say without doubt that it is the "piece de resistance"in performance and art.I had dispensed with my vinyl,hence the sale.The only concern I had, and it was alluded to in this forum,is a technical failure.Sort of like owning a Ferrari in Wyoming.

There is some validity in peoples concerns about reliability, but in my mind, if one can accept the potential of needing to service them and also have someone around to trouble shoot if needed, they are worth every penny.

The Supratek preamps and amps I've owned...two pairs of amps and two different preamps....one of which was returned for upgrading....which Mick did at a very reasonable charge....aren't the best built audio products I've seen. In fact, they could stand a lot more attention to good manufacturing practices in terms of wiring layout, soldering quality, and could also definitely be packaged better. I've e-mailed Mick about this over the last 5 years and even a couple of months ago and have been convinced that he will continue to do things the way he sees fit.:)

This being said, the sound quality and his attention to trying to help when there is a problem, is a great reason to own one. Not a bad looking piece of gear either.

I own a Supratek Chenin . . . and a Maserati. There's something incredibly tactile and beautiful about hand-built high performance.

At it's price point, I think 'Deal of the Century' is a justifiable superlative, especially if you listen to vinyl. Being able to adjust output level for cartridges ranging from .1 mv to 2.5 mv on the fly is a feature more preamps should offer. Besides Supratek, I'm only aware of the Belles 28A that lets you do this (there may be others), but it's $4,500.

If anyone has a doubt about trying a Supratek, there's really not much risk. Just look how fast they sell when they do come up for sale (and never at 50% of retail - usually 75-90%).