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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
rh67
307 posts
 
As i posted earlier i ordered a Chardonnay. I have been listening to my music lately and thinking how good it presently sounds and i`m starting to question ordering the Chardonnay. I do not want to waste my time and money making a side ways move or even worse a step backwards.

Has anyone had experience with both the LTA pre and the Chardonnay? I do not want to lose the magic that my system presently has.
highstream
207 posts
 
First off, any change, gear or even a tube change on the same piece, makes for a different sound. No matter what you do, your "magic" will have to be recreated, whether with the tubes provided or after rolling, and even then is always somewhat different than the last time (shades of magic, so to speak).

About the LTA pre, I haven't heard it but in the process of deciding what to go for I asked its developer (Mark) and those on an LTA thread, I think on head-fi, about where it stood on the warm to cool continuum. The unanimous answer was decidedly "neutral." Since I favor some warmth and don't get along big time with what passes for neutral -- it sounds cool to cold to me, -- the owners and those familiar with the LTA explicitly steered me away. For Supratek, what caught my attention on the site was that Mick prefers and designs for some degree warmth. An email exchange confirmed that. 
dentdog's avatar
dentdog
498 posts
 
I made wholesale changes to my system in the last year and the last was addition of the Chardonnay. I basically asked Mick to make me the best preamp he could and parts upgrade where they would matter. I'm all tube and basically vinyl. But the Chardonnay didn't really add warmth so much as added dynamics. 
System will now sustain bass without a hint of running out of steam. It's there, it's solid, well defined  and carries the music with a great foundation. And being that the Chardonnay came last in the purchase sequence confirmed that my previous purchases were well selected. 
I could go on like a fanboy but enough. Wouldn't change a thing.

snopro
390 posts
 
The LTA is definitely on the cool side compared to a Supratek! I tried the first one that came out and didn’t like it at all. Maybe the newer ones are better.
highstream
207 posts
 
I think the coolness is baked in by design, based on exchanges with the LTA developer. Over the last several years the audio market has gravitated in good part to “neutral” as the standard, something that appeals to customers who listen more to the hardware (“sonic effects”) than those who primarily listen to the music. Mick has stuck to his guns.
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