Preamp Deal of the Century

Ongkaku - IMO 'no preamp'/passive preamp is the best reference for determining neutrality and transparency of a component. Your findings are similar to mine. This is the big reason I haven't replaced the volume pot or otherwise modded my supratek. For me and my system I am not convinced that the difference will be worth it. But I am very happy for those who replaced the volume pot and were pleased with the result.

Jazzdude - My goal is to have a system that is as transparent as possible, wide & deep soundstage and with lots of air. Neutrality is subjective and I'm not going into that. So far my current setup has met these requirements. BTW, I'm glad we have the same findings.

Cheers,
Kenji

I need some help. As many of you know I've been given a Syrah for an extended loan because of some health issues I'm facing. The preamp that was to become the loaner developed a problem and we have tried to troubleshoot via email with Mick rather than going through the lost time and expense of shipping it back to Australia. He has had us take readings from various locations internal to the preamp and everything tests fine. We've rolled so many expensive tubes that it cannot possibly be a tube issue. It has been in two systems in which it operated perfectly but now is unlistenable.

My friend is so dedicated to me having a Syrah in my system that he bought another one here on Audiogon. It has the same issues. Here's the best description I can give you. Keep in mind that with my system I have no other source but analog.

When the preamp is turned on and you first play it after about five minutes of warm up it sounds okay but like it needs a little more time to warm up. Very listenable but not stellar. After about ten minutes the sound improves and is very enjoyable (but not nearly what I remember when I had it in my system a year ago) for until about 45 minutes of operation. Sibilance starts creeping into the recording and becomes so pronounced in quick fashion as to sound like distortion.

I use a high output moving coil which is loaded at 47k. When this sibilanc/distortion comes in and I change the loading to 10 ohm it actually makes the recording sound much better but is still, IMO, unlistenable.

I discoverd this on the second preamp after the Daytona race yesterday. This new (used) preamp had been hooked up to my system for about a day although I hadn't spent any time with it until after the race. So, here I sit, the recipent of some of the most thoughtful kindness I've ever had bestowed on me and feeling horrible. My friend has a boatload of money tied up in two preamps that are at my house in an unusable condition. Anyone have any ideas short of crating them up and sending them back to Mick?

You can do a member search of Vetterone and see his system. At one point the Syrah bettered his DCC2 as a preamp in his system and by a fair margin. My system consists of an LP12/Ittok/BPS source, Ridge Street interconnects, LK100 amps with Aktiv cards, Ridge Street speaker cables and Aktiv Linn Keilidh's. My Audible Illusions Modulus II and Linn Wakonda preamps sound way better than either of these Syrah's which is really depressing.

Patrick,

Sorry to hear your trouble. I am no expert but would like to offer my thoughts as I have the Chenin. Assuming that you already replaced the tubes in your Syrah, my question is:

1.) Are you using a step up tranny?
If so, please bear in mind that the Syrah can only take 2.5 mV input max. Unless your cart is 0.5 mV and below and your setting is 1:5, then you will have a problem. I know this because I tried with my Shelter 901 at 1:5 setting.

2.)When you said "distortion", does it have a symptom like one channel cutting out as well?
Because this is exactly what happened to mine everytime a tranny is connected to it.

3.) With the tranny, does it get better at say 100 Ohms setting instead of the 47k on the Syrah? Also, if you do not use a tranny, do you hear the same symptoms (disortion)at the 47k, 1K, and so on (depending on your cart)?
If so, you are definitely overloading the phono section.

Hope this helps.

Amandarae,

No, no step up transformer involved. I emailed Mick about my specific cartridge and he said no problem using it as that's the same cartridge he uses. It does sound like an overloaded phono stage to my ears. No difference between channels either. I'll try to explain in slightly different words what's going on. It sounds okay from initial play until the unit warms up for about 45 minutes. Then the sibilance sets in and gets worse, pretty quickly (5 minutes or so), until the sibilance is so pronounced it effects everything which sounds like distortion to me.