Supratek or Don Sachs - which way to go?

Would the Usher 1.5 power amp work well with the Supratek ?

@markusthenaimnut Great to hear.  Based in part on this conversation, I bought a Don Sachs (still in queue), but I'll certainly consider Supratek if I end up moving on...  please update the thread as you get more time with the unit.

@cal3713 

Congrats on your purchase of the Don Sachs preamp. I'm waiting on one myself--in fact, he's working on mine this week and may be ready to ship in a few more days.

Did you also buy his KT88 amp? I did, though it will be several more weeks before it is done, and therefore quite awhile before I can hear what kind of magic they make together. I figured, in for a penny, in for a pound.

As for the Supratek, I have owned two of them, the Syrah and the Chenin and truly enjoyed them both. In fact, I'd say that selling the Chenin is one of my few regrets in audio. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one, though I would not be keen on shipping it back to Australia if it needed repair. Mick was great to work with and may well have tech support in the US. I don't know, but would check if I were buying one.

This may well be a case where you can't go wrong. I certainly hope so anyway. Look forward to comparing notes on Don's preamp.

Will be interesting to hear your thoughts on Don’s pre v the Supratek.

@waltersalas I did not buy his amplifier. I am curious, but I ended up building my own First Watt F4 (25W class A, zero negative feedback). Since upgrading from Coincident Super Eclipse IIIs to Pure Reference Extremes, I’ve been trying to better my Coincident Frankenstein SET mono-blocks because the PREs need more power to shine (primarily in bass).

I’ve tried a Lyngdorf TDAI-3400, Pass Labs XA25, and Atma-sphere M60s. In all cases, the Franks won out despite the improved bass performance. Eventually I decided to build an F4 to supplement my Franks as a booster amp on the PREs’ bass cabs. The F4 has no voltage gain and only provides current to the input signal. Surprisingly -- on these speakers -- the F4 was actually the best of all by itself. It has almost all of the inner detail of the Franks, but with the best bass control of the amplifiers I’ve tried. It’s also the clearest, with a super low noise floor and no discernible distortion.

After discovering this, I sadly put my Franks up for sale (still available if anyone is interested), bought the parts to build a second F4 so I could have two 50W monoblocks, and ordered the Sachs preamp to provide voltage gain. Driving the F4 by itself, my dac maxes out at around 90db.

I’m very surprised by this outcome, but I guess it’s just a situation of stumbling onto a really good amp/speaker match. I presume the F4 isn’t more widely loved because: a) it’s an older design not available new, and b) it shines best on an efficient speaker with a relatively flat impedance curve. I’m probably most surprised that it surpassed the Pass XA25 since that’s providing the same amount of power out of a newer, presumably better, circuit from the same designer. Just got lucky I guess...

In the 6 moons review of the F4 the key descriptive phrase was: "relaxed ultra resolution." That is a brilliant description of its sound. My longer description is smooth, slightly sweet, and ultra clean with an enormous soundstage and great layering. Plus I can keep it on 24/7 and not have to fret about my tube life.

Can’t wait to get the Sachs pre in the chain to see how it changes the sound. Music is already the best I’ve ever had and I’m hopeful for much more.