Preamp Deal of the Century

Hello, I've read a couple thousand comments in this thread. I'm amazed how little chat there is about pairing an amp with various supratek pre's. Thanks for so much interesting commentary from all. This thread certainly played a major role in my decision to buy one. Just won a Chardonnay on Audiogon and now am in need of an amp. So Chardonnay, Klipshorns and about $1500 (or less) to buy an life enhancing amp. Needless to say I need an amp now... how else will I hear my new pre?

Couple possibilities on Audiogon now. Belles 150A, Audio Sector Patek, PassAleph3 (whoops, now sold).

Any help greatly appreciated.

Hi Eurekasprings,

The best amp I have ever paired with my Cortese is my Berning ZH270. This pairing is magic in my system. The sound is very fast with a beautiful liquidity. I recently had a Meitner MTR-50 in my system for a few days and it sounded good as did a Forte class A amp that a friend let me borrow. The Berning is very hard to find these days, but it is a wonderful match. Of course everything in this hobby is system dependent. Good luck, and enjoy the Chardonnay.

The best amps I ever paired my Sauvignon are the Malbec monoblocks. While I was waiting from Mick to make them for me I used a Quad 606. I was happy with the pair, excellent sound and good midrange. It was like you were looking through a window on a bright day with the curtains on. But when the Malbecs arrived, it was like I removed the curtain from the window and I could see a colourful landscape and at the same time feel the wind on my face. The micro and macro details come in spades from the speakers adding a realistic feeling of space and air between the instruments. The midrange with the EL34 is magical. Also the gain matching of the Supratek preamps with the amps is unsurpassed as the Malbecs are made for high gain preamp match.

Ironsienna,

How long have you had the Malbecs and how long did it take to get them from the time you placed the order? Just curious.

Slowhand,

I ve got them a year ago. I needed to wait a couple of years for them to be finished as I ordered them the period that Supratek wasn't on business. I believe today that Supratek is back on business it will not take more than a few months for them to get ready. I still feel that I could wait another couple of years every time I sit and listen them. They are masterpieces Also the option to remove completely the negative feedback, or to choose variable amounts of negative feedback with positive feedback makes them sound like SET (phenomenal mids and sound that floats in front of the speakers) and at the same time have the control of a SS amp on the lows. I honestly haven't heard anything that sounds better than these. Here is a photo of my setup:

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/3070/workinggw.png