Atma-Sphere vs. Supratek

Rather sad reading this post .. reminiscent of a older Stereonet Supratek post focusing on the evil birdnest and not the sound quality. Seems you either luv’ them or hate them, few in between.

Me I like my hifi to sound good and haven’t worried about the wiring birdsnest, unless its proven to be unsafe. I have built a Guitar valve amp under supervision and my wiring looks similar 😁 I also understand the shortest path to reduce noise on some components, but are no expert, one of my best Guitar amps, a Two Rock Opal has some rather messy wiring topology, including low curly cables which a local map builder explained as having a design reason, and its brilliant as John Mayer will attest, I am sure he doesn’t worry about the messy wiring topology. I had to open mine up to re-seat one of the capacitors that had come loose in the loooong road/rail journey from Perth to Sydney (LA to NYC equiv), and found no safety issues visible.

I have never heard an Atma-sphere so cannot comment, however i have a range of Pre amps in my house that my Supratek has replaced, Parasound, AR LS15, Mac C22 and a very nice Ayon Auris. Mine is an older 2nd hand Cabernet DHT and i luv’ the ability to tube roll, I mainly use NOS 2A3 and 45’s. Each tube option has subtle sound changes and at times suit different music pieces. Mine sits in front of a Accuphase A70 and before that my Bryston 4bsst, its also had a short run on my Mc MC75 monos. Sounded good on all of them, I prefer it on my SS amps.

After listening to mine an hifi acquaintance ordered a Cortese LCR last year, he had some noise issues to start with which Mick sorted for him fairly quickly, Mick paid the freight cost plus he installed another new set of interesting valves. The Cortese replaced some very nice pre’s he has, and above my pay grade and is now is top pre.

If it was me, patience, wait until it arrives, I think the sound is wonderful but each to their own. Note that different valves can change the sound to fine tune matching your other components, I found it a learning curve, give it time, play with different valves and see where the journey takes you.

I've never understood the fascination with Supratek. Why import something from Australia when you can buy a better product on your doorstep?

I owned the Chardonnay a few years back and it was just OK. It was far from transparent, didn't really offer much 'bloom' or tube magic, and didn't really offer anything special other than a very nice aesthetic. When I sold it the internals came loose during shipping and I had to pay to have it repaired. I emailed Mick and requested schematics to be sent to the guy at the repair shop, but he refused to do so. In the end, the schematics weren't needed.

I haven't heard an Atma-Sphere preamp, they're on my bucket list.

Mick's : Lifetime warranty.. Has a stateside tech..

Ralph's : 3 year warranty - Will renew warranty upon reevaluation & will upgrade if you so choose.

Ralph's are twice the price of Micks,

More tube rolling fun with Micks for sure,

Both will answer questions and give attentive service. Though I bet Ralph is superior at this. Mick occasionally does not follow thru on commitments...

Even though I should be in this "Fight"... I don't have any experience with either, but I have read enough over the years of what others have said.... They are both good and you should audition both !!

Resale is great for both !! 

Mick has gone above and beyond helping me with some stuff ... can't thank him enough...

Both have had failures, everybody has problems occasionally...

I started with an A-S MP-3 and moved up to the MP-1. I was using an Audible Illusions preamp and was set on adding a Zesto phono stage. But after quite a few talks with Ralph and owning the great M-60s, I came to understand that the Atma preamps were unique in many ways. Significant ones that they are one of the very few that meet the true balanced standard. And, most important, they are designed from the ground up to play vinyl. My MP-1 has 14 tubes and 8 just for the built in phono stage. Being such an incredible “phono machine” . Not merely an add on phono stage or separate phono stage. You can sell your phono stage and the extra IC. I seriously doubt that the MP-3 or, especially, the MP-1 would not be way better than using your phono stage. Ultimately, I love not having to use an outboard phono stage. Keep it simple stupid-KISS.

The linestage in the Mp-1 i would say is excellent, very dynamic and transparent, one of the best that i have encountered in a preamp.  The built quality i wouldn’t say is top notch,  the chassis is cheaply made and the silk screen lettering are poorly put on, would fade after usages.  The phono section with 8 12at7 can be extremely noisy,  even at medium output say .5mv. still noisy As Hell,  finding tubes to match the phono can be a nightmare!!  Overall Linestage Excellent but the phonostage Is Junk!