Preamp Deal of the Century

Boy!! With your system hardly worth the bother to go with the Project. How about the Graham Slee or Dynavector. Stay with the separate phono stage but spend a few more bucks.

Am considering a Pro-ject Tube Box II, perhaps only has a holdover till I order a Cortese.

Hello,

In my opinion, going SS phono pre to the Supratek is nice (I have one: a one box Bugle PSU, Bugle, and Piccolo all from Hagerman Technology). But if push comes to shove, I will opt for a tube design. Having said that, I own a Hagerman Cornet 2 and its synergy to the Supratek is uncanny! You will spend about $600 if you build it yourself from half kits source through Hagerman Technology. For the record, I owned the Hagerman trumpet also.

Of course, going Supratek all the way is another great option. But if you decide to go with an outboard one, you have to find out what kind of circuit topology (tubes use etc.) you really like. I can tell you that the phono section on my Supratek (uses 6C4 and 6922 tubes with FET gain stage on the front) sounds different than the 12XX7 base phono preamps I own in all cartridges I tried. Also, for whatever reason, line contact stylus cartridges sound a little better on the Supratek than the other phono preamp I have.

Sorry for the rant, I just want to point out that there are several factors that you might want to consider before you commit on buying whatever phono preamp you want to get.
BTW, I saw your post at the Asylum. One poster wrote about the Wright WPP100C phono preamp having "someone" preferred the Supratek to it. I am that person! I compared them side by side for months to make sure that I will not make the "honeymoon syndrome" mistake, and in my system and to me, the Supratek phono is much much better.

Goodluck!

Oops correction! On the first paragraph, I was thinking about the Graham Slee from your response at AA.

Yes, considering the Slee.

Jim: I would have been surprised if somebody said the TB could compete with a Supratek phono but what did I know? Well, I know a bit more now. :) (After an all-night crash-course in modern phono stages, that is.)

I may well go with another Supratek, but I like the idea with playing with some other units, and also I still need a temporary solution as those Suprateks, they take awhile, ya know?

Anybody want a nice deal on a 6-month old Sauvignon in Sheoak/stainless shipped from the states with no hassle? It's perfect. I'm not taking more than a $500 hit on that thing, which actually will save somebody more like $700.

Well - I've ordered a Cortese. Mick had one almost done and I couldn't resist.

What's the hot tube setup for the phono stage? :)