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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.
markusthenaimnut
jackd
1,091 posts
 

@aldnorab

Supratek preamps are certainly not thin or analytical and you can make minor adjustments to then tone by changing the two 6SN7 tubes and upgrading the supplied rectifier tube depending on what he is using these days. The Cabernet will get you a better power supply unit and a general parts upgrade but not a real difference in overall tone. I am completely happy with my Chardonnay but since I was going to buy a second Supratek to compare against the Don Sachs at a second house I decided to go up the chain.

highstream
208 posts
 

@aldnorab3 I got a Chardonnay a couple of years ago, wanting to dip my toes in first, but my hunch is you’d not be unhappy moving up right off, if you can handle it.. I’m now going to a 6SN7 Cabernet and glad to hear someone say what I’ve been hoping, that the overall tone will be the same. Since I’m not interested in messing with more tubes or wanting a dual option, I’ll be able to stick with what I’ve come to like. I would add that the two power tubes on the back of the main unit are also worth playing with. Replacing the Sovteks with RCA 6L6GC’s from the early 1960’s made a noticeable improvement.

jackd
1,091 posts
 

@highstream 

 

Gene, how much longer have you got to wait yet.  Just pulled the trigger so I've got a while to go but will just use the Sachs in that system in the meantime. 

highstream
208 posts
 

Hopefully, very soon. I skipped trying to Sachs back when was because unlike Mick, Don didn't offer balanced out and wanted to charge me a lot extra for caps to handle the impedance of my ATC speakers. 

aldnorab
181 posts
 

I also have D Sachs, Dehavilland, Cary, Schiit, and VTL on my preamp list. Dehavilland closed shop and the remote version rarely comes up for sale. VTL would match my amp, but isn't 6sn7 based. The Cary SLP98 may be too euphonic. I use lots of different amps which causes problems picking "the" correct output capicitors for the D Sachs. The Schiit uses lots of solid state parts and that is what rendered my Audible Illusions M3A/B preamp unrepairable. 

I watched 3 D Sachs preamps sell in a week on another forum. Four months from now I may regret not grabbing one. Downside is they cost as much as a Chardonnay, and have no warranty. Think the Supratek is a better fit for me. Also like that Mick designs the whole preamp, and not just augmenting someone elses circuit boards. 

 

Thanks,

aldnorab

 

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