Preamp Deal of the Century


If anyone is looking for a true "World Class" preamp at a very fair price..heed my advice. I just recieved a Supratek Syrah preamp that was hand built by Mick Maloney in Western Australia, and it is absolutely beautiful! This preamp is the best deal you will ever find. I would put it up against any preamp out there for both looks and sound. Price? $2500 for the Syrah (includes Killer Phono stage). Not into phono? Try the Chardonney line stage for $2100. Don't get me wrong, I am not associated with this company. I am just a very happy owner! This preamp is VERY dynamic, yet liquid. It conveys the sound of music better than any other preamp that I have ever heard! You can check out the Supratek website at www. cantech.net.au
slowhand
Hi Slowhand,

thanks for the reply. Just one more question. I can see two small switches on the Chenin main chassis (front left and right). What are they good for?
Best,
frankiealverti
Asa, could you elaborate on your statement regard. "upper mids/lower treble? People working on that part"?
Frankiealverti - Those two switches are left/right gain switches, the choices are low gain or high gain. You can adjust the pre to match your power amp with these, additionally there's a gain dial on the back for further fine tuning of the gain. With my Connie J MF2250A I run the switches in the high setting, and the dial next to the highest setting sounds best to these ears.
This is a nice feature of the Supratek, the ability to fine tune the gain for best synergy with your amp.
Richmon,
thanks. Seeing them in the picture I just couldn't figure out what they were for.
Best,
frankiealverti
Supra upper mids/lower treb? Are people always working on that part? Ken Rad black glass 6SN7's? Hmmmm....Has anyone listened to how Kondo deals w/ upper mids/lower treb while still maintaining dynamics?

Not me!!!!

IMO, this is too much to ask solely from the preamp. The Supratek is not a magic tool. It is a very good preamp but needs to be mated, to maintain synergy, with good components too. The preamp is now telling you the truth about the systems shortcomings base on your preference and you have to single it out as the culprit? Not wise IMHO!

For the record, I too was dragged to "tube rolling" here regarding how much improvement you can benefit from it. In fact, I fired some of my recommendations as well while I am at it. But in all honesty, as I mentioned before trying to report about how good the preamp really is without canging anything but just waiting patiently for it to settle, the stock tubes that Mick shipped are the tubes where the preamp is calibrated. Granted that not two people are alike, it might be wise to let the thing run for a while before constantly buying and replacing the tubes to tailor the sound. So far, the only tubes that I replaced that I am succesful are the two 6C4 tubes in my Chenin.

Been there, done that, never again! FWIW, did you guys noticed long time Supratek owners in the last 3 months (myself included)un-loading here at Audiogon NOS tubes they accumulated and found out they do not need? My point is, some of us got so carried away from recommendations of such tubes and when the dust settled found ourselves in full circle journey by accident. That is, putting back all the stock tubes shipped with the unit and was shocked that the preamp sounds better with them than the costly NOS tubes.

Of course, YMMV and I am just reporting my experience.

cheers