Supratek or Don Sachs - which way to go?

I am in the camp with point-to-point wiring.  Since repairing audio components for many years the majority of repairs were caused by heat and circuit boards.  Think Melos and Counterpoint for starters.  Neatness is nice but I have seen many designs were the lower voltage and higher voltage wires and neatly tied together.  Also, most of the point-to-point designs can be upgrade with better parts to improve the sound of the unit with ease.  My experience includes rebuilding power amps with PTP wiring such as Counterpoint, CJ, etc.  In every case, the PTP rebuild sounded better that the circuit board.  That does not mean that a circuit board design cannot sound good, it is just my opinion.  My designs are all PTP wired though for what I believe is a better way to build a component.  BTW, I have also modified a few Supratek  preamps early designs.  I have not seen one in many years for repair or modification/upgrade.

In comparing 6SN7 tube and 6DJ8/6922 designs they both can sound excellent.  IMO only, the smaller tubes has a very sweet mid-range with an alive sound that can become a little shouty or harsh when pushed somewhat.  The 6SN7 typically offers a more relaxed sound, slightly less alive sound, but more 3D soundstage.  Both can sound excellent.  To me the biggest sound improvement comes with the DHT preamp tube designs.  The DHT IMO is a cross between the best qualities of SS and tubes.  You get the dynamics, speed of the smaller tube with the 3D soundstage and sweetness of the larger tube.  I also build both designs with the 6SN7 easier to build versus the DHT design.

Again, these are just my opinions and they are generalizations to emphasis the sound and possibly help others understand why things sound the way they do.

I hope my posts are helpful to some.  Happy Listening.

You can see my work on my Audiogon page.