Preamp Deal of the Century

Opus and Marril,

I think you should feel perfectly at ease making the statements you have.
Your experiences are clearly not typical though.So either there is something unusual going on with your systems' synergy or you hear differently to most people.

I wonder what interconnect cables you are using?.

It seems to me that very high resolution preamps like the Suprateks do not sound right with silver cables.Such cables do seem to have a glare to them and the Suprateks simply don't suit them in my experience.
Copper seems much better and if you really want to smooth things out and take away the "brightly lit" the Van den Hul carbon fibre cables[The First] -even just used between source and preamp-are probably your best solution.

These cables are not cheap but they bring an organic sound to systems without any loss of detail or imaging.

Zachzdb,
Why are you putting yourself in a position to be a Supratek defender?. Neither one of us "slammed" Supratek. I clearly stated, that I love many things it does better, that many other preamps.
I don't think Mick's business is going to suffer from this discussion. Again, I admitted in my post, that many other factors are most likely at fault.
The fact remains though- Supratek did highlight these issues lying elsewhere, maybe because of it's very high resolution, or a slight "midrange push", that makes it sound "alive" in a well balanced system, but IMHO has a tendency to expose system shortcomings.
BTW, "midrange push" or a similar term, is something I read in Supratek review in 6moons. Many other owners stated the same in this very thread.
Next point-"you are the first two to hear this"- not true, I read this whole thread, and there are at least two other people, who alluded to a similar problem.
I don't personally know Opus88, but have no reasons to believe yet, that he's not accurate in his description of "glare", since it describes my own experience EXACTLY.
Hardly a coincidence.
Let me repeat myself again, and not because of you, but out of respect to Mick- I do like Supratek, but I DID HAVE THIS PROBLEM IN MY SYSTEM.
One more point, that you have missed.
I think I stated, that I have Cortese and Mondeuse on order.
Regarding "you living with somebody with degree in psychology'- I laughed pretty hard. Does that make you understand psychology as well. I hope your knowledge of every thing audio is not by proxy.
(I'm a psychiatrist, BTW)

A degree in psychology tells one nothing about the person who received it. Beyond that, I will not waste any more time trying to get through to a stone wall.

6) "A voice of wisdom at last."
Really? What specific wisdom? What actual questions were asked by Joe? None,just feel good thoughts meant to soothe. You two want your hands patted,go find your Mommies.

Zachdb,
My comments were not meant to "soothe" anyone. If you re-read my post, you will see that I have never reported any glare in my system. Further, I believe that my source components and downstream components are of sufficient quality to support MY PERSONAL observations and my belief that Supratek preamps are world-class. The glare others have reported in their listening experiences were THIER PERSONAL observations. In re-reading the posts, I do not see any evidence of Maril555 or Opus88 "slamming" Supratek or saying anything that could scare potential customers away. You said it best yourself when you commented that they are in the distinct minority. Ilia (Maril555) has enough faith and respect for Mick's products to upgrade to the Cortese from the Chenin. Perhaps both had issues with system synergy that emphasized the glare they were hearing. I haven't heard their systems. Agree to disagree with them and leave it at that.

I want to say that I appreciate sincerely you Audiogoners who have expressed a desire to help out with the issue at hand, and I would imagine that Maril555 feels the same way. Jtgofish, your comments about silver cable might bear looking into. For those who might mistake my meaning, I have absolutely no quibbles about silver cable per se. I've used it before, and I'm currently using it, and my experiences with it so far have been very positive. In fact, I've been waiting to receive some Poiema 3 interconnect, and of course am curious about its interaction with my system. Anyhow, based on a suggestion from Ecclectique, whose views I have consistently respected, here's what makes up my system: My amps are Air Tight ATM-3 monoblocks, turntable is VPI HW-19 Mk 3, tonearm SME IV.Vi, speakers are Dunlavy SC-4s and a dipole, ribbon/driver hybrid, made by a former friend who worked in audio and whom I consider to be brilliantly talented. If any of you are responding with "hmmm, those speakers might be problem source", I will assert that over the dozen years I have owned and listened to them, I have never experienced the slightest sound or spectral imbalance coming from them. While being extended and detailed, the treble range is smooth and very well integrated into the rest of the system. I only heard glare if other components up the chain had it, and that was pretty uncommon with the other equipment I was using. I am using the Hovland 2 phono cable, Goertz TQ2 interconnect, and bi-wired Siltech speaker cable which was purchased about a dozen years ago, and whose designation or model I cannot recall. I have not previously had any problems soundwise with the Goertz or Siltech, however, if I had to speculate as to what, if anything else, might be a contributor to my current problem, I might single out as possiblities, either one or both of these cables working in tandem. Jtgofish, you could be on the mark. Oh, I forgot to mention, though I think I did in a previous entry, that I've been using the low output (1.5mv) version of the Grado Sonata. I just purchased, and am awaiting receipt of the Benz micro L2 wood cartridge. So, that's it, and many thanks to any others out there who can offer suggestions or comments---I welcome them.