Preamp Deal of the Century

First, I could not lead Mike up the garden path, so I will wait for my Sarah|Chenin even 7 months like Tubegroover suggested! I have got this custom to treat people very seriously and world I have said to them even more seriously.
But I cannot promise that I will not lose patients and will not send a email to Mike in September (I decided to wait that long for "soon" to materialize).
Bad thing about this waiting is that the longer I wait the higher are my expectations. And that is do not augur well for Chenin, unless it is that good like you guys are saying...

Has anyone other than Fiddler tried replacing the stock volume pot with the Dact or some other attenuator? I am not excited about losing remote control capability but it appears that the differnece in sound could be dramatic.

Americanflag - yeah... Mick has done it. He actually commented that the results could be very positive to some people and therefore understand why people may prefer it to the standard Alps. The downside to him was that the stepped attenuator allowed for very little margin between too quiet and too loud in his high efficiency system.

Bent Audio offers a remote control for DACT attenuators: http://www.bentaudio.com/parts/dact.html

I am not sure if it would fit in a Supratek outfitted with a phono stage but imagine it could be done.

Mick told me he would install the DACT's as an option.

*I* haven't done the swap yet mostly because I am debating what to do about my system. See - I just purchased a new turntable (which is a keeper) and it doesn't visually match the Grange cosmetics of my Cortese (Gold & Wood). I am considering selling my Cortese to get another one in Chrome finish.

If I were to keep my Cortese, I would certainly try the DACT and when I get a new one, I will order it with the DACT (+ remote if possible).

My suspicion has always been that the stock Alps is not very transparent.

Bwhite, your comments echo my sentiments about the Alps.

I'm not sure what attenuators Mick has tried, but the DACT is 3db steps. Certainly not a problem in my system.

I also by-passed the selector switch and tape monitor switch about a week ago and it was another step in transparency. I only use the CD input, so I went straight from the input to the DACT.

If you do a search at AA about the Alps Blue pot I think you will discover what many others found out about the Alps. It seems to add a layer of grain and/or veils to the music. Everyone who changed it to something else noticed a major improvement.

It seems it took the DACT about two weeks to fully burn in, but after that, no going back!

Since I have the Chardonnay, I think there will be enough room for the Bent remote control. I am going to try it when I have time.

Warren

I have a Chenin on order with the dact. Bwhite, I emailed Mick to see if the remote would fit in a Chardonay and he responded that unfotunately, the step motor is simply too wide for a Supratek, even without the phono stage. I guess I will experience, for the first time, what it is like not having a remote.