Preamp Deal of the Century

@aldnorab 

I've bought two umbilical cords for the two preamps from Brad and they are a definite upgrade.

I am a happy new owner of a Cabernet 6SN7. I was a bit worried that I would have an issue with the noise floor or tube hiss on my 100db efficient Altec A7 since I had issues with a Border Patrol EXT, Modwright LS 36.5 and a Rogue RP 7. I can happily report that the Supratek is dead quiet at the speakers when no music is playing. The soundstage, imaging, vocals, percussion etc are the best I have heard in my system. Everything sounds very realistic.

Greetings Fellow Humans - 

I just popped by to see what's new in this "most popular all-time" thread in the amps & preamps forum. Nice to see that the thread is still drawing visitors and folks are as enthusiastic as ever.

I'll post a "four+ year follow-up" review:

My Supratek Cortese continues to sound wonderful. Several amplifiers have cycled through my system since I got the Cortese - I'm now using custom SET 45 monoblocks to drive my Altec A7 Magnificents very satisfactorily. The Supratek is always delightful, always reliable.

Oh, one system upgrade that was an eye-opener for me was to switch over to Cardas Neutral Reference interconnects and speaker wires. They are very nice, though relatively modest and not up to Cardas current state-of-the-art standards. But they sound wonderful.

Hope everyone has a wonderul holiday season.

Best regards...

Markus (no longer the) Naimnut

Hey Fellow Supratek owners - 

Just a quick question - what E180F tubes are you preferring?

Markus

Markus, 

 I have used the Phillips PQ, Phillips SQ, and Mullards. I also have Valvo and CEI, but I haven't run any of these two brands yet. I can't tell any difference in sound between the Phillips and the Mullards. Mick told me a while back that he thinks that Phillips may have made all of them, which could explain why they sound the same.