Supratek or Don Sachs - which way to go?

Supratek products are covered by a transferable lifelong warranty. Pretty impressive. The manufacturer must be doing something right.

Let me chime in on this thread.  I got one of Don Sachs first preamps and now with his latest upgrade,  I think he has pretty wrung every bit of  sonic goodness out of his derivation design.  It is far and away the finest preamp I have every had, and that includes both tube and SS preamps.  CJ, HK Citation I, Modwright, Berning, Belles, Klyne Audio Arts, and several more.  It is just the the most revealing preamp that I have every had in my system, including several very pricey ARC preamps I have had a chance to audition. It is dead solid quiet in operation.   

I have no knowledge of Supratek gear, but you can be impressed by the affirmative recommendations by Atmosphere and Wig posted above regarding Don's preamp.  BTW, like Wig, I also have Don's KT88-based tube amp and it is beyond stunning.   I swore off tube amps years ago, but heard Don's amp in my system recently, and it was an "ah ha" moment, vastly more holographic than my fine McCormark amp.  It is has auto-biasing which has always been a total PITA with every tube I have previously had.  Aaarrhhh, never again with Don's amp.


Back to Don's preamp, I tell ya, there is pure magic in 6SN7 tubes, which Don uses in his preamp, as well as in his amp.  Surprisingly few tube preamps are designed around this dynamic tube, which is which Don's preamp sound better than anything I have ever heard in my system.  I suspect there are better preamps around, but they would cost several times the cost of Don's preamp, no question.  I think Don's preamp is around $2700, plus/minus, and it splendid.  The only downside is that would have to wait a couple of months to have him build it.  But, good things come to those that wait!

Through researching and corresponding with others on various boards I came to think the 6SN7 was the tube I wanted as the centerpiece of whatever I bought.

Its an excellent tube- and nearly every preamp that uses it has gotten good reviews.

This is Mick, the manufacturer of Supratek. Firstly, I'm getting a bit sick of atmasphere jumping in with 20 year old pix of Supratek wiring , everytime Supratek gets mentioned. Am I that much of a threat?

Please direct me to the photo that I linked. OTOH, a photo of a current preamp would be better. I often recommend products that are not my own (as seen in this thread) and would be happy to recommend yours as well, provided I don't have to worry about someone that took my recommendation getting mad because a fire or shock hazard was present in that equipment because a component came loose in shipment or the like. I was unable to find any interior views on your website. As nice as they look on the outside, and as nice as they sound, shouldn't they look as good on the inside? Wouldn't you want to show that off?

Seems to me that any equipment is prone to a fire or shock hazard being present in that equipment because a component came loose in shipment or the like.  Such scare tactics work because they prey upon the fallacy that only certain equipment (here: point-to-point wiring) is susceptible to such breakdown when in fact it is true for all equipment that include soldered joints. In fact, it is more likely that a soldered PCB-containing equipment is more susceptible to such breakdown due to the nature of a soldered trace being inherently weaker than wire-to-wire soldered joints. 

And yes, point-to-point soldering results is “messier” wiring presentations than the corresponding PCB soldered wiring. If one wants aesthetics of what’s presented under the hood but never seen, then buy an all-PCB component. 

But I return to the warranty issues of the companies involved: 

1. Doug Sachs: Full 2 year warranty
2. Supratech: Transferrable lifelong warranty. 
3. Atma-sphere: Transferrable 3 year warranty

To me, the warranty is something that should not be ignored when evaluating equipment. Too bad all reputable manufacturers don’t stand behind their products like Supratech apparently does.   

celandar….."To me, the warranty is something that should not be ignored when evaluating equipment. Too bad all reputable manufacturers don’t stand behind their products like Supratech apparently does."


Agree with you, which equipment have you purchased because of its long warranty, Bryston, other?