Preamp Deal of the Century

Thanks for the positive comments Fiddler & Jazzdude! And Jazzdude, I stand corrected about the gain issue, you are quite right, the new Cortese/Grange circuit maintains that high gain aliveness with apparently little noise.

Brian, I can appreciate that you have recently bought a Cortese preamp and feel that you have missed out on the new circuit, but as you can see from Mick's generous offer of an upgrade, the solution to your problem was already there, all you had to do was call Mick. I think Mick's honesty, direct approach and accessibility by his clients is sometimes to his detriment! I mean, if you bought an X-Series Pass Labs amp today, and found out tomorrow that a 'new' Z-Series has been released, would you go looking all over the planet for Nelson Pass to tell him what you thought of him ?? I doubt it ... so why do it to Mick, at least he's had the decency to discuss this matter openly.

I also stand by my comments about gain not being an issue on the Cortese depending on the system you are using. If I can explain, I have the luxury of being able to put together several combinations of cdp/amps/pre's/speakers in my home, depending on my mood and preference at the time. For example, if I line up the Cortese with the low sensitivity Merlot monoblocs or the Pass Labs Aleph 3 and a Proac Response 2.5 loudspeaker (87dB efficiency), then the sound is very sweet with absolutely no issues of high gain or noise. Alternatively, if I throw in a Krell KSA-100 (loud and highly sensitive) together with my W.A.R Audio Reference Two loudspeakers using Raven Ribbons(95dB)/Accuton Ceramic mids/Cabasse 21NDC bass drivers, then some background hiss can be heard.

Hence, my comment that if your system is not highly sensitive, then the gain of the Cortese is not an issue.

Please note also that my reference to Mick as the 'master' is just a figure of speech and is not meant to be sub-servient. You must admit though, that he is the creator (maybe I should use this term ? but it's too pretentious) of the beautiful pre-amps that we all love, so a little bit of respect wouldn't go astray.

Brian, I have read all of your posts and you come across as a very reasonable and knowledgeable person and your enthusiasm for Supratek is reknowned. Please don't flame me further on any of my comments, they are really just that - my opinions, and not worth getting hot-n-botherd about.

'Creativity' and 'the zeal to improve' are necessary ingredients for making lovely music out of a bunch of valves; transformers; capacitors and resistors! I for one, am glad that Mick Maloney has a furtive mind and continues on the quest to get better and better with his Supratek products - we're all the winners in the end ...

Regards,

Steve M.

Passion, passion, not a bad thing, if directed appropriately...

Even ignoring Mick's response, I don't think this is an example of the manipulative marketing stategy of the Sig model, or Master series, or Mk II, etc. that we are all on the gaurd for and which we, assumably, have assumed we had, in some small measure, escaped from when purchasing our original Syrah et al. Small manufacturers who are passionate - and, of course, this passion is where the original pre's derived - also tend to passionately introduce new models. Commonsense wise, Mick should have mentioned the upgrade path, but, as some have noted, I don't think that was what he was meaning to talk about in the first place.

If I had just purchased a Grange and saw this message, then my initial reaction might have been as some of the above. But, then again, I think I would have contected Mick directly on that matter, and I'm sure, given Mick's past performance, I would have been accommodated in the context of the retail price and potential upgrade, don't you think?

As for myself, I still own the Syrah - one of the early ones - and I know that its resale value, like all of our components, will eventually fall. In that context, a question: have we all become a wee bit spoiled that our pre's are holding their value so well?

Its the stereo game. Mick didn't invent it, and he's not, like most manufacturers, abusing it. Its a luxury, one that 99.9% of the planet's population can not even consider. Within that sub-culture, .1% you have found a product that comes along only .1% of the time. A new model for guys who can shell $7500 for a pre doesn't change that...

Steve, I appreciate your input and apologize for my "passion" (as Asa put it). I should not have directed it at you per se'... Perhaps it's because I know you are close to Mick and the explanation you are giving seems to deeply contrast that which Mick himself posted.

Mick's post clearly indicated a revolutionary improvement to the design and your post seems to indicate that this is nothing more than solving a compatibility issue.

Mick's post started by saying this was bad news for existing customers and you seem to indicate it is not.

So my question to you is, who do we believe? Should we believe Mick, or should we believe you? I'd like to know.

Sure, I could email Mick myself and get an explanation but because he made the decision to use the forum to make a "bad news to present owners" product announcement, he should use this forum to clear up the confusion created by that announcement.

I am sure there are more people interested than just me.

Hi Brian...no need to apologise, I didn't take any real offence to what you said ( "like water off a duck's back" as we Aussies like to say).

I am not the PR arm of Supratek, but I do know Mick well and underneath it all he's always well meaning. I wouldn't read too much into his use of the words 'bad news'. Again, it's just a figure of speech and that's how the man expresses himself, it's his way of bringing a bit of comaraderie into the conversation and I don't think he saw any harm in it.

As to whether what he's saying and what I'm saying is the correct picture, I think it's a bit of both, but you have to read and interpret more what he's said than what I've said, as it's only my angle on it. If I were you, don't play a word game on the net - it'll get too complicated, just talk to him about the whole thing and he will explain it better than I can.

My point with the whole issue is that the Supratek pre's are so far ahead of most - that you've already got something very special on your hands, so be happy! I'm sure even Michaelangelo improved on his paintings as time went on, so why can't Mick with the Cortese/Grange.

Regards,

Steve M.

Steve - cool. Great reply. Thank you very much. I am no stranger to Mick's new product announcements... I had a Chardonnay in my hands for 2 weeks, comparing it to $10,000 preamps and thinking it was the best under 10K... when the Cortese arrived and made the Chardonnay the best under 5K... :) Then, when I finally saved up enough cash to buy a Cortese, Mick introduced the Grange.

The good thing is that Mick has done a great job of providing me with something to look forward to - I guess.

I think you've done a good job of smoothing over the rough edges of this announcement. Perhaps there will not be a ripple of confused perception surrounding (and damaging) the reputation of existing Cortese and Grange preamps.