Preamp Deal of the Century

Oh dear,where do I start?
It used to be expected that anyone complaining of a Supratek problem was directed/expected to at least read all of this thread through first. Apparently it's too long now,oh well.

When you attribute system problems to a single piece of gear,you're slamming the manufacture. This obviously isn't a problem for Conrad Johnson or Audio Research or any large company. The difference is that you do far more damage to a small,formerly single man operation that lives on web word of mouth. Many people reading these complaints might get the wrong impression many or all owners suffer this "glare",thus hurting the reputation of Micks' operation. The reason I brought up all 56 pages is to show that to my knowledge(I could well be wrong here),you two are the first to complain of said problem.

There might've been mention of something similar a few pages back,but I believe it was attributed to a cartridge mismatch? Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Opus88-
1)"nothing constructive to say"
I asked for specific frequencies and recordings,so that other owners could see if they could reproduce the same sounds. This is the basis of any scientific research,perhaps you've heard?

2)Your "conscious or unconscious" remark was a pompous,overbearing slam at us owners. You hear the problem,so the problem exists for all owners,we just don't want to admit it!! You missed the point of my followup,consiously or unconsiously ;^) and then follow it up with another arrogant doozie.

3)"All of us have not been fully consious(here we go again) of certain goings on in our everyday experiances"
If I could stop laughing at your runaway ego and arrogance,I might remind you that we're big boys too,and can discern any problems with our systems. So far,not one other "glare complaint" in 56!!!!! pages.

4) "Man to man,imagine the kind of frustration you already alluded to with your Apogees".
Huh? No frustration here,so stop trying to twist my meanings to suit your lack of evidence to back your case. I never said I use my Apogees everyday. The constant moving of those speakers is a labor of love,as any owner of more than 2 weeks will tell you. They sound wonderfull,yet will reward owner involvement with even greater(or sometimes lessor) sound if a person is willing to get off their duff and get involved. Think of it as similar to tube rolling,but with much greater results.

5) "I won't respond to bitter,misplaced statements"
Respond to this,jerk,those two last staements by me were an attempt to show you two that,yes,there are previously recognized faults with the Suprateks. The one that you misquoted(once again,perhaps best to check those reading glasses)is one that Mick is aware of and has tried experimenting with both Dact and Wellborne Labs volume controls to fix the problem with the remote operated pres,but to reiterate,they won't fit.
"Picks your poison" means nothing more than an owner willingly giving up some transparency for the remote option.

Maril555-
Your rebuttal is clearly much more thought out,with several specifics which is what I was aiming for,whether you or your partner in crime(just a joke,relax!) believe it or not.
I was hoping perhaps this was only happening on a few recordings. No such luck. You've tried many combinations and the problem still exists. Well,that's not helping ;^).
Clearly,unless something wrong is found inside your pre,that system synergy just isn't happening for you and no,can't expect anyone to totally redo an other wise fine system for just one component. Bad luck,that. We all can commiserate on that point. However,I do have a difference with some of your points.

1) "Unbalanced post."
I will not sit here and let anyone slam Supratek if I detect the slightest smell to their claims. That's why I keep referring to the entire thread,I would assume you would agree that if you two are the only ones to complain,you're in the VERY distinct minority.
I have also had it up to here with a certain attitude displayed on A'Gon in increasing frequency the last few years. That being:"I spend,therefore I am" philosophy. It will only get you wisdom if approached with an open mind,something I see lacking here by you two.

2)" But I think this discussion is helpful to all of us Supratek owners"
Really? Besides you two,who else? Potential buyers to scare off? No one else has backed your claims. I'm not saying they don't exist,I NEVER said that,but I'm frustrated when absolutely no one else has heard this. There are just so many variables here that you're taking for granted.

3) " 1500-2000 Hz resonant frequency".
Okay,either something internally is wrong with your pre,or you've just discovered a room fault. Resonant is vibration,period! I assume you've at least exhausted all settings on your preamps. Do the gain switches change anything? Could it be some kind of feedback with your TT/cartridge? I know you've probably long past these simple ideas,but I have to ask.

4)" He didn't have the glare in his system until he brought the Supratek in"
I hope to God you're not in charge of any important scientific research anywhere. The leaps of faith you're making are huge. Do you personally know opus88? You seem awfully sure his hearing is good,have either of you actually had your hearing tested lately? I'm serious,all of our ears change as we age,can you be absolutely positive that nothing physical is contributing to your problems? I've had my ears tested,BTW. You might be surprised at what can happen as the years go by.

5) " Almost live by Dlanslem"
You know,you had me leaning towards your side,and then just lost me with that crap. Are you kidding me? Look,anyone here can find in a matter of minutes a review that isn't totally positive about ANY piece of gear that you or I have ever heard. That's why there's so many choices. You overplayed your hand with that one,it shows you really have nothing substantial to back up your claims.

6) "A voice of wisdom at last."
Really? What specific wisdom? What actual questions were asked by Joe? None,just feel good thoughts meant to soothe. You two want your hands patted,go find your Mommies.

Oh,and opus88,I live with someone that has a degree in Psychology. Please refrain from your simpleton pop Psychology tactics. On second thought,continue,it provides us with no lack of laughter,very important these days.

Please,both of you sell your Suprateks and move on to other things,I'm sure you'll both be much happier. If not,I wish you the best of luck with your problems.

Opus and Marril,

I think you should feel perfectly at ease making the statements you have.
Your experiences are clearly not typical though.So either there is something unusual going on with your systems' synergy or you hear differently to most people.

I wonder what interconnect cables you are using?.

It seems to me that very high resolution preamps like the Suprateks do not sound right with silver cables.Such cables do seem to have a glare to them and the Suprateks simply don't suit them in my experience.
Copper seems much better and if you really want to smooth things out and take away the "brightly lit" the Van den Hul carbon fibre cables[The First] -even just used between source and preamp-are probably your best solution.

These cables are not cheap but they bring an organic sound to systems without any loss of detail or imaging.

Zachzdb,
Why are you putting yourself in a position to be a Supratek defender?. Neither one of us "slammed" Supratek. I clearly stated, that I love many things it does better, that many other preamps.
I don't think Mick's business is going to suffer from this discussion. Again, I admitted in my post, that many other factors are most likely at fault.
The fact remains though- Supratek did highlight these issues lying elsewhere, maybe because of it's very high resolution, or a slight "midrange push", that makes it sound "alive" in a well balanced system, but IMHO has a tendency to expose system shortcomings.
BTW, "midrange push" or a similar term, is something I read in Supratek review in 6moons. Many other owners stated the same in this very thread.
Next point-"you are the first two to hear this"- not true, I read this whole thread, and there are at least two other people, who alluded to a similar problem.
I don't personally know Opus88, but have no reasons to believe yet, that he's not accurate in his description of "glare", since it describes my own experience EXACTLY.
Hardly a coincidence.
Let me repeat myself again, and not because of you, but out of respect to Mick- I do like Supratek, but I DID HAVE THIS PROBLEM IN MY SYSTEM.
One more point, that you have missed.
I think I stated, that I have Cortese and Mondeuse on order.
Regarding "you living with somebody with degree in psychology'- I laughed pretty hard. Does that make you understand psychology as well. I hope your knowledge of every thing audio is not by proxy.
(I'm a psychiatrist, BTW)

A degree in psychology tells one nothing about the person who received it. Beyond that, I will not waste any more time trying to get through to a stone wall.

6) "A voice of wisdom at last."
Really? What specific wisdom? What actual questions were asked by Joe? None,just feel good thoughts meant to soothe. You two want your hands patted,go find your Mommies.

Zachdb,
My comments were not meant to "soothe" anyone. If you re-read my post, you will see that I have never reported any glare in my system. Further, I believe that my source components and downstream components are of sufficient quality to support MY PERSONAL observations and my belief that Supratek preamps are world-class. The glare others have reported in their listening experiences were THIER PERSONAL observations. In re-reading the posts, I do not see any evidence of Maril555 or Opus88 "slamming" Supratek or saying anything that could scare potential customers away. You said it best yourself when you commented that they are in the distinct minority. Ilia (Maril555) has enough faith and respect for Mick's products to upgrade to the Cortese from the Chenin. Perhaps both had issues with system synergy that emphasized the glare they were hearing. I haven't heard their systems. Agree to disagree with them and leave it at that.