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Preamp Deal of the Century

If anyone is looking for a true "World Class" preamp at a very fair price..heed my advice. I just recieved a Supratek Syrah preamp that was hand built by Mick Maloney in Western Australia, and it is absolutely beautiful! This preamp is the best deal you will ever find. I would put it up against any preamp out there for both looks and sound. Price? $2500 for the Syrah (includes Killer Phono stage). Not into phono? Try the Chardonney line stage for $2100. Don't get me wrong, I am not associated with this company. I am just a very happy owner! This preamp is VERY dynamic, yet liquid. It conveys the sound of music better than any other preamp that I have ever heard! You can check out the Supratek website at www. cantech.net.au
slowhand
slowhand OP
610 posts
 
I have a question for anyone who has one of the newer Syrah preamps with the adjustable gain control. Do you find that using this control affects the sound of the preamp negatively. Mick said that he put the control on the newer preamps because some people could not get enough range on the volume control because of the high gain of the phono stage. Dropping the gain gives more usable range on the volume, but he feels that the sound can suffer. I would like to hear from those who have this control on their preamps. Thanks.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
You all know of the big falling out between Peter and Kondo some years ago. I have heard both sides of the story and cannot decide who is at fault if anyone. I am inclined to believe it is language difficulties. At any rate I find both the Kondo M100 and Audio Note M6 preamps outstanding as you might expect given the parts quality that goes into them. Having had a Syrah, I definitely think it is an excellent buy although the H-Cat at $2995 is clearly better.
rockhead
83 posts
 
Slowhand,
I have the Syrah with the adjustable gain. I use it at max gain 98% of the time as this is the mode that sounds best to me. I occassionally turn it down a notch or 2 on cd's that are poorly recorded as it seems to reduce hash and glare. I have found that turning down the gain then increasing the volume to compensate does indeed make the sound suffer.
slowhand OP
610 posts
 
Thanks for the info Rockhead. I recently had my phono stage reconfigured for low output MC (which is the way Mick normally ships the Syrah). I had him ship mine for high output MC. I am using a Dynavector 20XL MC with .25mv output (which is pretty low), but this phono stage still has tons of gain. I do not want the sound to suffer though as it sounds fantastic as is, so I will not reduce the gain. Thanks again.
theresa
5 posts
 
Would this pre-amp be a good investment for someone who only uses a CD player and power amp? I am assuming I would need only the Chardonnay?
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