Preamp Deal of the Century

Hello Larry,

I waited almost 1 year to get my Cortese! Was it worth the wait? Absolutely! I know it seems to take forever, but the music coming from my Cortese is pure pleasure. Once you hear your pre for the first time you forget about that long wait. Hang in there. I think part of the long wait is because Mick is coonstantly experimenting with ways to improve the sound of his products and he is developing new products as he builds preamps for people.

Re: Supratek KT88 power amp. I have not yet heard this amp yet Slowhand but would think it is very good. Mick seems to speak of it in terms of having the virtues of the his other more expensive power amps - which is saying a lot!

As to pricing for the KT88 amps you will have to wait and see, but about $3000 seems right from what he has said to me. I can't imagine it will be anywhere near the cost of Burgandys, those amps were contained in four chassis's, complex to build and with big expensive Plitron transformers from Canada which explains their price tag.

To those who have waited long for their preamps, we have a saying in Australia (or it could be universal?) 'the squeaky wheel gets oiled', so start squeaking. I have to agree with Slowhand though, the wait is worth it as Supratek preamps sound like no other.

Regards,

Steve.

Hi,
can someone tell about sonic differences between Lamm L2 Reference preamplifier and Supratek Cabernet pre?
My front end consist of Kuzma Stabi Reference turntable with Kuzma Airline tonearm(Shelter 90x mc cartridge) and ASR Basis Exclusive phono preamp.
Thank you.
Regards

I'm selling my beloved Chardonnay linestage and wanted to know what fellow owners think it might be worth before I post a classified ad.

I purchased it 9/03. It is in perfect working order and looks the same as when I received it. With NOS input tubes, customs expenses, state tax and, yes, the halo dampers, the total investment (without shipping) = about $2,500. Mine has an antique copper finish (don't know if those are still available).

I currently use a cdp with a tranformer coupled triode ouptut stage (sound familiar?) and am using it directly connected to my amp (also tubed). Since I don't have other source components, there is no need for a preamp. While I've been thinking about keeping the Supratek as a collector's item, I also would like to upgrade my existing gear. Oh, the terrible upgrade bug...

So, the unit is used, but it is available for shipping now.

Phil

Oh, forgot to mention that my Chardonnay does NOT have a remote (important to some folks).

I have the original manual and box (of course!).

Phil