Preamp Deal of the Century

That's it!! I think I am going to upgrade to the Cortese! The Chardonnay is so darn good that I must know what the Cortese is capable of!! So if anyone is interested in buying a Chardonnay (black with chrome) let me know and we can work somthing out... No rush because Mick has a long backlog. :(

Just ordered my Chardoney today. Can't wait. I just landed a new job today after many months of job search, so this is my well-deserved treat. Hopefully there are good upgrading times ahead.

By the way, has anyone considered (or better yet, listened to) the supratek power amps? Thanks Bwhite and others for sharing info about what looks like a wonderful product.

BEWARE OF QUALITY CONTROL PROBLEMS. DO SOME RESEARCH ON THIS!!

Jeff is absolutely right! The Supratek (if too many options are added) can be a dog. While the circuit Mick designed is relatively simple, additions like "theater throughput", single box chassis, XLR outputs, remote control, etc. In the early XLR equipped units, Mick used the wrong connectors - and added some kind of transformer which was supposed to boost the XLR output and at the same time lowering gain to accomodate what he thought was the "right" way to do theater throughput. The results were not exactly great. I think Mick has resolved some of the issues but I expect that the more you add to the original specification the more potential you have for problems.

Also, Mick builds all the preamps by hand and as fast as possible which has at times resulted in paint drips, loose/cold solder joints, etc. Much of this trouble happened in a time when Mick was turning orders around in 2 weeks - today Mick has upped the turn around time and I think it's now 3 months.

He has a great product and I hope his current business plan includes much better quality control. Again, I want to reinforce Jeff's comments above. Do some research and talk to Mick about it before you order - or while waiting... :)

Well, hats off to all the contributors and especially Bwhite (again), for a fantastic and well-balanced discussion. I reviewed the website a while ago, but thought the goods were too good to be true - looks like we might have a winner here. To make things a little bit more complicated, I see that the designer is coming out with new preamp (the "Grange") and high-power amp (the "Burgandy") designs. Just when I thought the choices would be easy, we get more :) .

Hey, what a great excuse to visit the land down under; the wife gets the beach, the kids see kangaroos, and the old man gets to bring home some nice (heavy) souvenirs.

arooj
NYC