Preamp Deal of the Century

Hey Tim,

I'd prefer a one-round fight with all contenders in the ring slugging it out in the middle of the ring together, or dueling in the same corral, as I am mixing metaphors. Can anyone else supply some of the other preten..., uhhh contenders and the venue? If you want to know how the First Sound sounds vs. the CAT, Tim, I'll email you separately. Don't want to color anyone else's opinion here.

Based on this thread recommendations I rolled the stock tubes to Tung Sol 6L6WGB ( 5881 ) and Ken Rad Black 6SN7 V231.
This change made a HUGE improvement and brought the performance closer to my expectations of the sound of a high-end pre. Prior to the change the presentation was "thin". This is difficult to describe but I noticed the lack of "depth" immediatly, and actually thought about selling it, but decided to give it a fair trial with improved tubes.

I have compared to the ARC REF 1 , ARC REF2 MkII, Hoveland HP1000, and the new MacIntosh. PRior to the tube rolling, I would not have placed the SYRAH in the same class as these great preamps, however after the tube upgrade the presentation moved into the same league. Each of these preamps has a unique sound and quite a different soundstage presentaton, so difficult to say one is better than another.

The Syrah's dynamics are outstanding, clarity is excellent, but the soudstage is much further back than one might expect from typiucal tube preamps. The phono is especially nice.

I have Air Tight ATM3 mono amps and Genesis speakers. These amps do reflect each component upstream, and I was surprised and how different each of the preamps sound, especially in soundstage presentation. So for the price, the Syrah is an outstanding value. The weakness on mine is specific to the selector control being very difficult to rotate. Anyone have a suggestion on how to improve the selector movement??

Rayhall,

Yes, please e mail me. I have used presence audio 2.0 MKII for a while with my Symphonic Line, but I always wonder how Cat compare with it?
The Syrah remain a mystery for me? I have no way of hearing it!!
thanks

A side note to Rayhall/Timchens exchanges: I have heard the CAT/Symphonic Line combo & it's nothing short of outstanding. Judging by the consensus on how the Syrah sounds in different systems, it could be similar in many ways to a CAT (but that's just deductive logic on my part...)

Noble, on the volume knob being tight: mine too at first. I think its the change in humidity from AUST to here and the wood expanding. Its loosened up over time. I also treat the wood weekly with a quality furniture cream (not oil).

Noble, I also have a AirTight amp with Syrah, and the Syrah shows that the AirTight is not as complex in harmonics as it should be (and outfitted with NOS Mullards and WE300B's it should be very complex). This is a house sound I believe with AirTight and many other Japanese tube amp makers; the Jap tube market, drawn also to the dynamics of horns, IMHO tends also to give a little up in core harmonics to get that dynamic projection quality (AudioNote Kondo IC's/Spkr wire have same dynamic/harminic balance/signature).

Aside from changing amps, I have worked on the Syrah tube complement. I ended with Tungsol round plates for the 6SN7, but could easily live with the Black Kens. Also, the rectifier effects sound appreciably; I have an RCA-marked Coke bottle Mullard in there now and find it far superior to the 6 or so others I tried. The past Supratek distributor sent me this one, so if you want to know about it he's probably the best place to start (I'll send you his e-mail if you contact me). On isolation, bwhite I'm sure is correct, but I have mine on a Rix Rax stand I designed and it doesn't seem to matter after that. However, airborne-sourced tube microphonics have been significantly effected by tube dampers. I tried several and in all locations and the Shun Mook small valve resonators on the rectifier and on each 6SN7 did the trick for me, and especially versus others on the harmonic/naturalness issue. I just got a matched pair of Tungsol JAN 5881's and have been running them for about two weeks. My impression is very sweet, has led to slight melodic integration (better playing together, so to speak, again one of the AirTight's small weaknesses) between players, and even between hands on the piano, but dynamics compressed and voice has lost some presense, in sense that projection qualities of voice are diminished. Image size slao diminished, and too much. Hard call, but even with my marked toleration for lushness, I do not like compression. We'll see, but I think the image issue will break their back eventually.

I owned a CAT MkII for a year, so can't comment on the Ultra differences with Supra, but I always found the CAT resistant to changes/mods/rolling etc. That's good for most people, but I like to have some latitude to go farther. As I said, for many guys out there, and considering the phono that might get them into that, its a no-brainer, in that context. And thats what excited me.

Still would like to hear from you guys on PC's if you worked that at all.

Good luck.