Preamp Deal of the Century

Kut me to the Kwick Waltersalas!
I am bored and often boring except to those who respond to the trolls.
I have considerable experience with NOS tube-rolling and thus have amassed a sizeable collection of Telefunkens, Mullards, Amperex, Mazdas etc. Few improved the sound of the stock tubes supplied but they all made it different. Very different. If you all roll the tubes of the Supratek right out of the box then none of you is listening to the same preamp. Nor will you ever replicate its performance should you ever have to replace a tube, presuming NOS (not Chinese mimics)would still be available (the North American and EU verified stocks of NOS are bare, to be sure). But you can rest assured that you have the preamp deal of the century (20th, 21st?) until you try to send your beauty back to western Australia for servicing or updates. Abandon aural discernment. The Internet Rules!
Why even listen when your computer dictates your prediliction? And you're so sure you've found the next real thing.

WalterSalas...And a Merry Christmas to you.Walter I was being alittle factitious with my comment about beleiving all these strangers...How would you possibly know?.On a lighter note...Thank you for pointing out that you and others have also abandoned your discernment over choosing a supratek product...I was scared and up set for alittle while thinking that i was the only one...You cant beat word of mouth advertising like this...Mick...you...me... we all benifit

Khrys,

I should know better than to continue down this path with you, but since you seem intent on doing whatever you can to cause trouble and thumb your nose at us, I must respond to your implication that the Supratek deal wouldn't be quite so sweet if an owner finds it necessary to send the unit back to Australia for servicing. As it happens, I had to do just that with my Syrah, due to some noise in one channel, the cause of which Mick and I could not pinpoint after several email exchanges. So I boxed her up and sent it back to Mick. In less than three weeks (including the time it took to ship there and back), it was back in my system, good as (no, better than) new. Mick responded to my initial emails immediately, and took a lot of time trying to solve the problem so that shipping the pre back would not be necessary. When that didn't work, he split the cost of shipping with me and fixed the amp the first day it arrived in his shop, stopping work on new units to attend to mine right away. He then kept it for a couple of days to make sure it was functioning properly, and kicked in a free upgrade to the most current specs (I had had the Syrah for a year before the noise began, and it only occurred in the phono stage). In short, I got an upgrade for half the cost of shipping. I believe Mick now has someone in the states who can work on the units, should that be necessary. I would rate his customer service as second to none.

I find it ironic that you would disparage those of us who bought the Supratek gear largely based on Internet testimonials of other audiophiles (some of whom may even have a frame of reference to rival your own!). Just to be clear--we have all actually HEARD the Supratek, and you haven't, right? Given that, your level of "discernment" on this particular subject is astonishing indeed.

So let me get this straight. Someone is trying to tell Supratek owners that since we choose to tube roll in preamps that we purchased that our preamps cannot be the "preamp deal of the century" just because they all sound a little different. Let me assure everone that my Sauvignon is much better than the "preamp deal of the century" it is MY PREAMP and I don't give a care what anyone, especially someone who has never heard a Supratek, thinks about it.

Likewise, we all listen to our Suprateks with different ears, in different rooms, with different systems, and different music. None of which invalidates our personal preferences and experiences. Hi-End audio isn't about group-think, its about personal indulgence in musical reproduction. Now philosophize about that.

Waltersalas

I had the same noise problem on the phono a few months ago. I sent the Syrah back to Mick and his also fixed the problem and returned the unit to me within a few days. What can you complain with his service level? Did you pay any import tax? I declared a value of US$1,000 and end up paying $95 for the tax. I am still trying to claim it back.