Supratek Owners Thread


Greetings All - 
It appears that the 26-million-plus view, multi-decade "Preamp Deal of the Century" Supratek thread has been removed. I'm not sure why, but suppose there must be a reasonable explanation.
In any case, on that thread I recently asked whether there might be interest in a "Supratek owners thread" and received some interest. 
The purpose of this thread is for Supratek owners to share the details of their system, ask questions, share information about any tube-rolling they have done, and so forth.
I'll kick us off here with a few details about my system -
ancient Linn LP12 with Ittok arm, Dynavector 17D3 cartridge into Cortese LCR phono stage
Power amp is a fully serviced Innersound Electrostatic amplifier
Quad ESL63 speakers (not USA monitors) or JBL 4430 studio monitors
Digital sources are immature and evolving - ancient Fostex CR300 cd player/burner
DacMagic 100 DAC
Nordost Blue Heaven 75ohm interconnect
Due to the fairly long lengths of speaker wire required in the new listening room, speaker wire is Belden 12 gauge wire designed for low-voltage outdoor lighting systems. 
Next steps - dedicated circuit, new power cords, new interconnects, new wires.
128x128markusthenaimnut
Synergistic Research Orange (but with the caveat to go up at least 25% from spec). Audio Magic Ultimate Beeswax second (spec ok; don’t know about the Ultimate Premium because the one I had broke while trying to pull it to change its direction, and so won’t be dealing with them again). Not all aftermarket fuses are created equal, anymore than our ears or pocketbooks are (which affects the what people say they like and recommend). I’ve tried several brands/models, but not all. 

Think of the power fuse as an extension of the power cord, the last step on the way to the most important part of any electronics, the power supply. Thus, fuses can potentially do sonically much of what power cords do. Here we spend all sorts of money and time fine choosing power cords, but then leave that least link as a mass produced cheap OEM design. So things tend to gravitate toward the least common denominator (not all the power cord’s effects are lost). 
Just ordered a Chardonnay a couple of days ago will be using a Pass XA25 amp. Was told it will take 3-4 months, if they are as good from what i have read it will be worth it.
@rh67 looking forward to your impressions of the XA25 with the Chardonnay preamp! Please keep us posted.

What preamp are you using now?
Good choice and definitely worth the wait, although I’m surprised about the time, as not long ago he was advertising the Chardonnay here on Agon and delivery looked almost immediate.

An idea while waiting is to time to acquaint yourself with the tube 6SN7 and recti tube market, if you aren’t already (the rear tubes in the preamp section are probably best left alone). In addition to reading this thread, good sources I’ve found are the following:

head-fi:
- the reference 6SN7 thread
- dubstep girl’s massive 5ar4 5r4 5u4g rectifier review (p.1 & p.118 redo)

What’s Best Audio Forums:
- Lampizator Valve Tube Rolling thread
- Psvane Acme Series (new flagship series)
- LampizatOr Golden Atlantic + TRP

TNT Audio:
- shuguang treasures cv181 thread (pt 1 and pt 2 - two threads I think)
- shuguang globe 6sn7-e thread

YouTube:
- 6SN7 NOS tubes video

Dehavilland HiFi
- 6SN7 shoot out

Grant Fidelity: go to GF site and click on Tubes for info and sales (located in Alberta Canada I think). Top notch & prices & service

Some of these are obviously indirect and just a matter of reading through and spotting ideas that you likely won't come across elsewhere, and also asking questions privately. I wish I had read these earlier, as it would have saved me a lot of time and money with both my Lampi TRP and the Supratek. Also feel free to message me if you have any questions (and for ideas from some private messages I’ve received). Good luck,

Gene

P.S. As for isolation, the AV Roomservice EVPs are about the best truly effective low cost deal around (I have four MDR’s under the pre and four HDR’s under the pre PSU -- under speakers too).