Preamp Deal of the Century

Mick told me that my Malbecs are ready to ship. I ordered them in October. As soon as I have them and a chance to listen to them I'll post my initial impressions. They are good candidates to replace my highly modified Golden Tube 300b Mk I, but let's my ears to decide. Pablo.

Slowhand,What a brute of a c.d. player the SCD1 is.55 lbs? I bought the 777 shortly after they came on the market back in 2000 and had it modded afew years later.The 777 was my first c.d. player ever. It sure was dark days for vinyl back in the 90s .Have you tried rollerblocks under your SCD1? Put them near the transport,its amazing what they do for a c.d. player.....Last time I checked going prices for certain vintage tubes ,I put mine away in a safer place.Back in the 90s the most expensive vintage vacuum tubes I bought was CRAZY money,around $60.00 for a pair of Sylvania metal base 6SN7s.The tube and parts dealer saw me coming. I couldn't tell you what going prices for any of the vintage Western Electric vacuum tubes were going for. Someone mentioned here apair of W.E. 350Bs were $400.00 apair.I think hes wrong,400 for a single tube, if it test new. Tube rolling with vintage vacuum tubes will change the sound of your Supratek pre.Thats for sure. Though certainly not for the better.If you have money to burn on vintage tubes, slow down, this money for sure is better spent in other areas of your system.Have your c.d. player modded and buy some rollerblocks to go with it. Have your tonearm rewired and carry on with the same wire through out your system. Try out some decent a.c. distribution through out your system,all from the same manufacture. Anyone of these steps will have a profound effect.

Hello Stiltskin,

I have heard that the Roller Blocks are very good. I have a friend that has some. I will see if I can borrow them. I plan on getting a SRA iso base for both the Sony scd-1 and for my VPI Aries 2 extended. The SRA has done more for the sound of my Cortese and for my Berning amp than any NOS tubes I have ever put in either one including Tung Sol round plates. My JMW 12.5 tonearm is wired with stock with in the arm and Valhalla wire in the connector box. I love the sound I get from this hybrid setup.

Pablovila, glad to hear that your Malbecs are on their way to you. Please do keep us updated on the sound. What amp are they replacing? What is in the rest of your system?

If I can ever talk my wife into letting me keep my Berning ZH270, I will get a pair of Malbecs too. I just can't bring myself to give up the Berning. Man, I would love to be able to do a side by side camparison of the Malbecs and the Berning!

Has anyone tried the Revelation Audio Umbilical cord? Do they make a difference? Bob

Slowhand, Yes the rollerblocks set up in the sweet spot under your SCD-1 should be mind blowing good. C.Ds and especially Super audio disks spin at a even higher rates of speed causing vibrations that effect the overall performance of the machine.Finding that sweet spot under that huge SCD-1 will take two people .I found a hardwood stick and block of wood used as a fulcrum to place the rollerblocks and plates a good and safe way. Slowhand for the price of a set of rollerblocks or another S.R.A. platform,you are so close to audio Nirvana.You have Valhalla in your junction box,do carry on with more Nordost Valhalla in your tone arm. And to your phono stage you can use the far less expensive Nordost Frey or Tyr line of interconnects.My experience with having the stock Discovery wire in my old tone arm and junction box along with trying other brands of wire over the years and settling with Cardas Neutral and Golden Reference through out my system.Comparing them to the Nordost wire. No contest. If anything out there that you could do to your system that would be jaw dropping good,this is it...Pablovila looking forward on what you have to say about the Malbecs