Preamp Deal of the Century

Hi! Slowhand,
I've been reading these posts for a long time. I'm impressed with everyone's posts.

I've talked to Mick (just Recently)about ordering up a Chardonnay Tube Pre-amp & with all the equipment that I'm using, I'm going to need (5) inputs,(2) outputs,& a Tape monitor jack in the back side.

(Question): what type of speakers will go with Mick's Chardonnay Tube Pre-amp. I'm in the market for a good set of speakers. What do you use at home ?
I also have an Oracle Delphi Mark V Turntable, A Magnum Dynalab #102 FM Tuner & (2)Carver A-500X amps @270 watts a channel.Whew !!!
I could use some input from you guys,to replace my old Polk Audio Monitor 10's
Thanks, Mike

Hello Mike,

If you are using a Oracle TT, why did you order the Chardonnay instead of the Chenin (with the phono stage)? I continue to advise people to get Mick's preamps with the phono stage. His phono stage is amazing and well worth the extra money.

As for my speakers, I use Gallo Nucleus Reference 2's (the one's with the 2 stacked balls on the barcelona stands). The new Gallo reference 3's sound great too, but I prefer the reference 2's. You can do a lot better than your Polks these days.

Glad you have enjoyed the thread. I am sure you will enjoy your Supratek preamp, but as I said, You would be hard pressed to get a better phono preamp at any price. With the Chenin, you are getting a world class phono stage for $400!!!!

Agreed Slowhand, Mick is a vinyl junkie and his phonos are hard to beat at ANY price let alone $400!

Regards,

Steve.

Mike,
.
Here's another vote for getting a Chenin in lieu of the Chardonnay.
.
It is really a no-brainer decision.
.
The Chenin will be far easier to re-sell if and when the day comes that you decide to sell. Mick's phono sections are highly regarded and well sought after. You will increase the potential audience of buyers when selling a Chenin as compared with trying to move a Chardonnay and I am guessing you would probably get the $400.00 price differential or more back in your selling price.
.
There is always the distinct possibility that you end up doing Vinyl in addition to CD's and you would have an amazing pre-amp well far in excess of the additional $ 400.00 that you would pay out now. It would mean that you would not be forced to sell your Chardonnay and go through the hassle choosing, finding, and buying a pre-amp with a phono section. We almost always lose money when having to buy and sell another piece of equipment and buying the Chenin now would avoid all of the above.
.
My strong recommendation is to contact Mick and get him to build a Chenin for you.
.
Rgds,
Larry
.

Another vote for the Chenin here!

Unless you have a super mega over to the max God smiled on it separate phono preamp already, why would one buy a Chardonnay instead of the Chenin if the only reason is that "you are not into vinyl" yet for a price difference of <$500 always intrigues me?

I have been using the Chenin for almost Three years now. The phono section for low/mid output MC (2.5 mV and below)is amazingly quiet and sounds very-very good. I have some other phono preamps use for MM and coupled with an SUT, it does not have the vivid presentation I can get from the Chenin even on modest MC carts. It will take a lot of system matching before the SUT/MM phono combo approaches what the Chenin phono section delivers in my experience.

Let's paint a scenario here.......

Supratek Chardonnay, Linestage only Price:$2000

Supratek Chenin, Linestage (identical in every way to the Chardonnay), with Phono (Low noise Hybrid FET inputs, with two all tube gain stages, individual gain adjustments per channel with preset (four)impedance loading settings), capable of amplifying cartridge output as low as 0.1 mV without the use of external SUT's. Price: $2400

Both are two box system that are tube rectified (5AR4/GZ34) and tube regulated (5881, KT-66, etc.).

What will you buy? Honestly?

Well $400 is a big chunk of money (for me) but assuming that you use the preamp for a year and then decided to sell it. I believe you can get better deal with the Chenin don't you think? Besides, the price difference comes up to a whopping $1.095 per day for a year between the two. If you use it for two years then its ~$0.55, and in three years...well, you get the picture!

Worried that the phono section will just "eat" tubes when not in use? I suggest to turn the gain pots of the phono section all the way down when not in use and get a set of tubes, the cheapest 6922 and 6c4 tubes you can source, as back up. That should set you back for about $50 max including shipping. These tubes together with the tubes that comes with the preamp should be good for the next, say, 3 1/2 years or so conservatively.

As they say, "you know a good deal if you see one"!

Believe me, this is....IT!