Supratek Owners Thread

Thanks jaymark for your comments on the Sachs and Cabernet. I think you’re one of the very few who have both in house and have posted about it. It’s been something rare to see so I appreciate your thoughts!

Hi all,I have a Cortese LCR which I an delighted with. I previously Had a Supratek Syrah which I bought as the 2nd owner from another person on Audiogon. Before the Syrah I had a Quicksilver pre and before that I had a Mark Levinson No. uh I forget as I tend to keep pieces a long time. I currently have an Oracle Delphi Mk. V with a Graham model II arm and have  as carts a Koetsu Rosewood, a Lyra Helikon and just bought a Lyra Etna SL only barely used here on Audiogon. I also have an EAD Ultradisc 2000 for CDs and an Alesis Masterlink to make mix CDrs. The preamp goes to an Art Audio Adagio Silver Reference that I got before they jacked the prices thence to Devore O96s. I love listening to music through this system. I want to note that Michael Maloney has been exemplary with me including having John Slate fix my Syrah under warrenty even though it was old and I the 2nd owner. although Iplan to try some different tubes I haven't yet because it currently makes me so happy listening to all the huge variety of music that I like.

@gryphongryph   you should not hear any hum from the supply or speakers, save for a touch of tube rush/hum that is normal for a DHT. That hum/rush will be a touch more than on the SN7 output.  Should really only be heard with ears next to the speakers.   Supply (PS) should be almost dead quiet (again) save for some very slight mechanical hum only heard from a foot away (or closer)..  nothing should be heard from a seated position.   Mick was unfortunate with a small batch of bad transformers.  Only 4 I believe.   I helped repair one,  and while it left my bench and system dead quiet (after 20hrs of listening),  it showed up at the owners with noise again.  Turns out he had a bad umbilical cord that did not present a problem to me at all.  I suspect one of the connectors was a lemon.  Mick's soldering is as good as you'll find anywhere.   Mick sent the customer a new cord and the unit is now reported to be quiet and trouble free.     Try this,... completely remove the umbilical  (unattached at both ends, very important)  and if you have a dental pick or large sewing needle (or something similar and metal),..  wedge it in between each metal contact and the plastic shell hole of the connector.  This will help ensure that there is adequate contact tension.   May help,  may not, but it would be a good place to start trying something to see if it makes a difference.   I also think that sometimes in the manufacturing process a little oil gets left inside the contacts and can cause some light resistance issues as well.   Generally some purposeful plugging/unplugging back and forth a bit with connector pin wipe down (rubbing alcohol) can help that too.    
    In regards to the gain.   A gain switch can be added to the SN7 circuit if need be.   I'm in the middle of a move between states right now so my bench is down for the next 6 weeks,  but would be happy to look at adjusting for you if needed when I'm back up and running.   Best,  Johnny

Thanks for the reply Johnny, interesting points you make, unbelievable the hum suddenly disappeared last weekend and has not come back yet, although I have not had time to listen since Sunday evening, I have not done anything to the system for at least a week before, where I have been trying everything I could think of, like the fase on the pover cables, tried 4 pairs of different rca cables and 2 pair of xlr cables, also unplugged various other units like dac, Mac mini that is on separate mains, but nothing helped, then suddenly it’s gone, I am a bit perplexed of it all, Mick is sending me an other power supply, which I am grateful for as it would make me feel more comfortable with the purchase in the long run.
When I got it, there was no hum at all, although I thought the power supply could be more quiet, the hum came after 1-2 weeks.

I need to clarify a thing, when using the 300B output the gain is okey, although I have to turn it way down, it sounds quite good after using it exclusively for over a week now, but, I still like the 6SN7 output better, if not for the gain.

Maybe a better pair of 300B tubes would give me more clarity while keeping the warmth.

Yes, I am not a fan of the biblical cord between power supply and pre, seams unnecessary stiff and unwieldy, a softer cord would be preferable, will check both connections if, or probably when the hum comes back, as I suspect it will.
Now I hear only a slight hiss from the speakers, but I have not tried it with the 6SN7 output since the hum disappeared, unfortunately I am swamped with work all week and probably weekend too, so no testing until sometime next week.