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Preamp Deal of the Century

If anyone is looking for a true "World Class" preamp at a very fair price..heed my advice. I just recieved a Supratek Syrah preamp that was hand built by Mick Maloney in Western Australia, and it is absolutely beautiful! This preamp is the best deal you will ever find. I would put it up against any preamp out there for both looks and sound. Price? $2500 for the Syrah (includes Killer Phono stage). Not into phono? Try the Chardonney line stage for $2100. Don't get me wrong, I am not associated with this company. I am just a very happy owner! This preamp is VERY dynamic, yet liquid. It conveys the sound of music better than any other preamp that I have ever heard! You can check out the Supratek website at www. cantech.net.au
slowhand
bwhite
807 posts
 
A quick note on the Bybee filters in the power supply.
This evening I auditioned my Supratek power supply against a friends side by side, on his Syrah. We both found mine to be compressed sounding and rather lifeless.

This is most likely a result of the two Bybee filters I have in the power supply. So.. since my friend is handy with a soldering iron, we removed to Bybee devices and discovered that my power supply sounded better than his! Ha! :)

His is new so its most likely still breaking in.

If any of you are considering the Bybee's - you might want to pass on the idea. From my findings, they certainly do not enhance Mick's design.
rmml's avatar
rmml
204 posts
 
Hi Bwhite, I had all BDR III cones sitting on BDR"those things IV's" on the Chardonay. You're right to much III's sounds a little too blurry in the upper mids,using a combination seems to even them out a bit but not enough. Just now I substituted DH squares in place of "those things III's" and I think this combo returned the PRAT that seems out of control on all BDR III combo.

With the power supply I'm using Golden Sound jumbo cones, I have not really experimented on footers on it yet.

It's interesting what you did on the two domes, I have not decided on what to placed on them yet, did you use some sort of plastic bag when you put the sand on the two domes?
bwhite
807 posts
 
Hi Rmml - ya I used 3 zip lock freezer bags sealed with electrical tape and separated from the preamp by a gasket inside of each dome to contain the sand... I might re-think that tweak too.

Since I've had the sand filled domes for a while, I plan to remove them soon (maybe today) and test without the sand to see if it really makes as much of a difference as I originally thought. I'll let you know.
khaki8
206 posts
 
Bwhite
Did anyone ever suggest to you that you might be taking this thing a little too far? Ziplock bags as a tweak? My God man have some respect!
bwhite
807 posts
 
Ha! That's funny. You're right - I have taken this pretty far. The Supratek is so good stock but I thought that maybe, just maybe some of these tweaks would make it even better. So far, the Dynamat seems to help but the sand and zip lock bags are a little goofy. :)
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