Preamp Deal of the Century

My experiments with dampening materials shut down the sound of my system and stifled the dynamics. Life started again by removing the lead and dampening.Tom

Which only confirms my view that a little bit of microphonics doesn't hurt - in fact it can enhance the sound!

I have found that the 6SN7 is an inherently microphonic tube in any preamp. It might sound strange, but of the several different types of 6SN7's that I have, my preference is for the Sylvania VT231. It is a bit microphonic compared to the others, but to my ears it has the most treble extension; a greater sense of 'aliveness'; more openess and gives a nice bloom to the acoustics of the recording studio - making you believe you are 'there'. But in the end even with the VT231 it is still only a relatively small gain, as IMO even the stock 6N8P (a 6SN7 equivalent) sounds very good in a Supratek preamp.

Mick's explanation of noise and gain is a good one. I personally am reluctant to fiddle with my Supratek amps & preamps , believing and trusting that they have left Mick's workshop sounding how they are supposed to sound.

Audio is an interesting and all-absorbing hobby, but we need to be careful of chasing pots of gold under rainbows - they are usually not there...

Regards,

Steve M.

Somewhere out there on some web site or maybe it was our friend Warren who said "let it vibrate". Natural is what we all hope for..... Dampen is to strangle as Sistrum is to live. My opinion shared by many..Tom

Hey BWhite, maybe I missed a post on the power cord that you referred to in your post to Mick. If not, come on man, spill the beans, inquiring minds want to know!

But then again, if you start another thread that runs into 600 posts I am going to be pissed if I have to read all of them too!

Hi Fiddler, I haven't mentioned the power cords mostly because I don't know what the availability is, or will be. I didn't want to turn everyone on to these if there weren't any places to get them... or if the manufacturer wasn't interested in mass-production... know what I mean?

I learned about the power cord from a friend of mine who like me had tried many power cords in his Supratek but was never exactly satisfied with any particular cord threfore using a cord which did the least harm. Once he "discovered" these, he ordered five or six additional cords and now uses them throughout his system for everything except his amps - which left him a few extra.

I purchased mine from him and the price was IMHO very reasonable - far less than any decent retail cable. I don't want to post his email address on Audiogon so, if you email me, I will put you in touch with him. He's a pretty cool guy so maybe he'll sell you one of his extras or give you one to audition? I don't know, so just email me.

What I found about this power cord particularly on the Supratek was how it added life to the unit. It is the kind of benefit that (now that I have heard it) I cannot live without in my system. I never liked what Electraglide, NBS, FIM, Virtual Dynamics, Elrod, Shunyata, etc. did on the Supratek. The results were either not enough good to justify the price, or too much.... and sent my system over the edge in one way or another. I had been using an Absolute PC on my preamp for a while because it didn't seem to get in the way, add anything or harm anything.

Some people really love the Absolutes and my feelings with these are love/hate. I loved that it was better than a stock cord & didn't change much or do much harm and I hated that I found nothing which performed better without going over the top.

Its weird, adding the new power cord to the Supratek, the difference was very subtle as if almost nothing changed. Everything seems right.. just like I envisioned it did before, but going back to the old cable and listening, I noticed the system sounded dull, lethargic and lifeless by comparison. Switching back to the new power cord, gave me that "Ahhh... much better" feeling and I haven't removed it from my system since.

The benefit of this PC comes without any apparent shift in tonal balance or any negative "side effects". It is a very, very good match for the Supratek. My friend was so excited about the cord that he sent one to Mick for audition. Unfortunately, he overlooked the fact that Australia uses different connectors. :)