Preamp Deal of the Century

Bwhite, the Cabernet only uses two regulators because it´s only a line pre. The Grange uses two pair of regulators one for the line and the other pair for phono wich is housed in a seperate unit and this way it does benefit from having it's own regulation. There are two preamps in effect in the Grange- the phono and linestage.
The Cabernet just has a linestage so it can only have two regulator tubes- one for each channel.
Mick told me that putting a Cabernet/Grange power supply on a Cortese wouldn't work because they have completely different requirements.

Jazzdude, thanks
It does keep getting better and better as Amandarae mentioned. I used to run my Wadia straight into my W5 with outstanding results. I was thinking could not get much better than this....Wrong. Just opened up a whole new dimension to sound. Can't wait to start tweaking now.

Good listening.

Mick told me that the newest Cortese also has two pair of regulators, one for the line and one for the phono stage. He is also direct coupling the tube phono stage eliminating all coupling capacitors for a much more 3D image.

Hi Fiddler - Modifying a Supratek?? I am sure the DACT will bring a big improvement over the stock potentiometer. I'm not sure why I haven't done this yet.

The "streamlining" mods I am thinking about include:

> Bypassing the MUTE switch. - To my knowledge, all signals run through this switch. This will be one less item in the signal path which should improve transparency.

> Removing the extra wire from unused inputs - since the wire used inside a Supratek is unsheilded it tends to pick up radio frequency & adds to crosstalk problems which could degrade transparency.

> Removing the balanced output and associated switch - again I think all signals run through this switch. I don't use balanced output and the preamp makes a nasty buzz sound when the balanced output or in-between setting is selected - something wrong is going on there.

> Replacing selector knob with a DACT selector - I expect the stock selector knob is not as transparent as we'd like.

> Taking a closer look at the HT Bypass and improving on the design a little - again, all signals run through this switch and it could degrade transparency.

> Rewiring the signal path with different wire (Kondo or Siltech)

Jpms - thanks for the info on the Cab, I didn't know what. From Slowhands post, it seems that the Cortese now has two regulators. That might be a good thing. Wonder if I can get my Cortese upgraded...