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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
asa
662 posts
 
Happy, outlier, that hum solved. Its a real pain if not found and didn't want you to get deterred from analog. Hope you like it. Try listening to analog for about an hour then switching back to CD. Somehow, the mind gets it easier that way.
gregm
3,409 posts
 
Strange, I always listen to analogue first then switch to cd; the other way around & the cd sound annoys me (no offence to redbook digital -- just habit)!
t_bone
1,182 posts
 
Outlier, thank you much for the info regarding the remote.

To those who have the Syrah or Cortese, is the volume control a smoothly turning knob or a stepped knob? Has anyone asked Mick for something specific in regard to output control?

I'd also be interested in hearing from those who got their Supratek 'customized' and with what features?

Thanks in advance,
Travis
tbg
5,263 posts
 
As I said before after one channel went out and I had John Tucker repair it, he greatly modified my Syrah. One of the things we did was to replace the inexpensive pot with a stepped attenuator. Since he also made the unit parafeed, put a constant current source on the output tube, and switched to 6N1P from the 6SN7, however, I can tell you little about the benefits of each mod.
bwhite
807 posts
 
T bone - the remote operates smoothly. Mick uses an Alps pot for the remote controlled preamps.

I fully recommend against having your preamp customized - beyond the remote.

Most every "option" I asked for had a problem. My first Chardonnay preamp was a a dog - Mick realized this and replaced it.

Options I asked for:

A single chassis version. - Mick tried and then 1/2 way through couldn't do it.

XLR outputs - Mick used the wrong connectors and a makeshift (engineered on the fly) transformer output that did nothing but make LOUD hum.

Theater by-pass. After explaing to Mick how this should work, he came up with his own solution and the results were less than optimal. To date, I don't know if the feature works or doesn't.

Remote. Mine increases in volume when you press the down button and lowers with the up button. Silly and quirky but annoying none-the-less.

Subwoofer output - works great but its a standard feature if you consider the fact that Supratek's come with two sets of outputs - one can be used for a sub.

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