Preamp Deal of the Century

Thank you for your kind words Rabelais. I can certainly appreciate Mick's take on using different tubes. For what it's worth,I did asked Mick that very same question the week I received my Syrah. I had a few pairs of the WE 350b,s in my stash and was curious about rolling out the stock 6L6's. His answer was the same. I also asked him the same question regarding swapping out the stock 6sn7s for euro eqivalents like the Mullards,his answer was no to swapping them as well. I have used the we 350b as my regulator choice[ an exact equivalent by the way] for well over a year now and they will "stay" in my Syrah until the day I sell it. My posts regarding tube choices in this thread are simply my observations with respect to how they sound in my system.They are not recommendations per say. Your mileage may vary of course.

Thank you Eccletique for sharing some more tecnhnical information with us. I do feel safer now and I will try a pair 6F6G in my Chardonnay.

For those who already tried the 6F6G I would like to know a bit more as for sound. How do they compare with (1) stock KT-66 and (2) Tung-Sol 5881 as for:

tight bass (less boomy)
sweet highs (less sibilant)
emotional presentation (instead of clinical)
air

Thanks once more.

Hi,

With some reluctance I make this post to ask a question about the sound of a Supratek Cortese preamp. I know by asking this question I will be breaking the current flow of the conversation almost like a complete stranger coming late to a party in which he doesn't know anyone except the plant in the corner.

I have read about half of the postings here which span about 300 pages when printed out. I had planned to read it all before asking my question, but I guess I couldn't wait.

My questions is this: I am having a little trouble getting a handle on the sound of the Cortese, the preamp I am most interested in buying. Can anyone help? What does it sound like?

I am looking for a romantic sounding preamp, but not one that is overly lush or one that obscures too much detail and transparency.

The Conrad-Johnson Premier 17LS, EAR 864, and Sunfire Classic Vacuum Tube Preamp fall to this more romantic camp. Not too many preamps these days do.

Does the Cortese have any warmth, or would you say it's a very neutral, clear, present, dynamic, and natural sounding preamp? Would you describe it as having yin or yang energy, or do these terms even apply?

The C-J unit mentioned above has some warmth, sweetness, nice harmonic layering, ease, decent texturing, and a suaveness to it that makes that preamp easy to listen to. I would not call it overly dynamic and it does not have gobs of immediacy.

Would you say the Cortese is closer in sound to, let's say, the First Sound Presence Deluxe or to either the EAR 864 or Conrad-Johnson?

Todd Warnke at SoundStage! described the First Sound this way:

"Utmost clarity, jaw-cracking dynamics, intense and deep bass, and newfound layers of nuance," but a "complete lack of mechanical sound" too; "of all the sonic skills, detail retrieval was the most astounding"; "the preamp for those who want a passive but need the facilities of an active."

Does any of this apply to the Cortese? Is the Cortese ruthlessly revealing?

I know I am asking far too many questions, and I do apologize for that.

Waiting 6 months or more will not be a problem for me, even if I have to wait a year. What troubles me, though, is the possibility that after I receive the Cortese I either won't like the way it sounds or it will be too noisy for my tastes.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Artar1

Artar1 - I have an older model Cortese linestage with only 12db gain. Current models have 27db gain. I can't comment on the phono stage but judging from the linestage I don't think there is the any romanticism in the Supratek Preamps. They tend to be about as transparent as you would expect with a passive linestage. FWIW, I also have what is perhaps the most transparent of all passive-preamps, EVS nude-attentuators. Maybe that qualifies as "ruthlessly revealing", I'll let you decide.

Painting with a broad brush in this comparison, I would say the Supratek preamps are the antithesis to the CJ and Hovland house-sound and more in-line with the First Sound products.