Preamp Deal of the Century

Thanks Stiltskin for all of the information. I just ordered a pair of Emission Labs 45 Mesh Plates to replace the PX/4 in my Grange. I am speaking with a few owners who strongly prefer the 45 in place of the PX/4. I have also removed the pair of 76 tubes that came with the Grange and replaced them with RCA VT-37 which are very sweet sounding.

The Mighty Grange... 65Mustang I finally clued in...you really are sick....

mustang, has Mick confirmed it is okay to use such substitutions in your preamp? The PX4 and 45 are significantly different triodes.

Whoopadeedoo, the Grange and Cabernet are prepared with a switch to change between PX4 or 300B, like my Cab, other can use PX4 or 45.

On Supratek build quality ...depending on which angle you are looking from the Supratek products have fantastic build quality!

If you are after a mass produced product with neat internals; biscuit thin circuit boards; thin copper traces side by side on a PCB to carry the signal(all interfering with each other with their eddy curents); lots of useless control circuitry that gets in the way of the signal; internal parts chosen with a budget in mind - then go and get yourself any mass market Japanese or USA amp and preamp and be happy with it.

If on the other hand you want something which avoids 'sameness' and is meticulously 'handcrafted'; carries the signal on silver coated copper and teflon wires; has NO circuit boards to sully the signal; contains hand picked components chosen for their sonic value; has unique triode circuitry; and an exterior that looks like a work of art - then choose Supratek.

Its to be expected that if an average non-audiophile technician opens up a Supratek and sees the mass of silver wires going everywhere and big bulky (high quality) capacitors, he's going to think it looks hand built, which it unashamedly is! This type of tech wouldn't appreciate the sonic virtues of hardwiring, nor understand how difficult it is to twist each wire to its connection, as opposed to simply spot soldering on a circuit board.

So you see, the issue of build quality is all a matter of perspective. The external beauty of Supratek preamps is reflected on the inside also. The internal circuitry may look a bit unusual, but it is done that way for sonic merits and should be seen as a positive thing, something that is unique and handcrafted ...at least that's the way I see it and all IMHO.

Regards,

Steve M.

PS: I am currently using a Supratek Grange which has selectable 300B, 45 or PX4 output tubes and a highly developed phono stage. I haven't heard everything out there, but I can't imagine it gets much better than this ...