Preamp Deal of the Century

I asked Mick about the V-CAP and he replied same as Zarco stated.

I spoke with Mick about 5 months ago about the V-Caps, and he said he needed more time to form a final opinion. He only had about 50 to 70 hour on them. I contacted him recently and he said after putting 400+ hours on them that he did not like them and would not recommend using them. I continue to stand by my opinion that Mick got my Cortese right from the start. It sounds great to me in stock form. I have no desire to change tubes, volume control, or caps. I just continue to enjoy music!

Kgturner,

Glad to hear your Cabernet Dual is on it's way to you. I hope you enjoy it. I am sorry the Malbecs did not work out for you.

Not my experience at all with V-caps. I love them, but who am I to argue with Mick.

I find the V-caps get rid of a lot of fuzz. Yes, they do seem increase detail, but I would rather describe them as more invisible. And don't forget, the upstream components have a lot to do with what one may hear from their Supratek.

As much as I respect Mick, he is one opinion. There are a lot of high-end manufacturers that have gone exclusively to V-caps.

So I guess to each his own, but I can't stand the fuzz of the Auricaps nor the haze of the Alps pots. I believe both components add a more diffuse sound to my Supratek and I don't like it. I prefer cystal clear detail that is still musical. And I don't think those two things are mutually exclusive. If the V-caps were brittle or harsh in my system I would take them out in a heartbeat (since I was the one who put them in). I just haven't found V-caps to be a negative in any way in my system. But I do have a Forsell Air Reference Transport (noted for it's analog sound) and an Audio Note DAC in front of my Supratek.

Clearly, the system as a whole has to be viewed in the context of what one component may do to the sound. If your system is smooth, I believe V-caps will give you more smooth, if there is any harshness anywhere in your system, I believe V-caps will help expose that. YMMV

Hi Powers,

I've got two v-caps in my Cabernet Dual as well as a whole bunch of Auricaps. Mick did say the V-Caps in mine are in the position that make the most difference. I'm also considering removing them as I don't find the Cabernet Dual as musical as the Sauvignon, I had earlier. A lot more detail yes, but maybe not as musically satisfying. The detail is probably more due to the 101D section of the pre-amp then the capacitors.

I would like to second Fiddler - in my cortese the V caps gave bass extension, detail and cleaned up the "fuzz" - I don't see why detail and musicality are mutualy exclusive -often when resolution is improved it exposes other challenges in the system - my experience is that vibration control and room treatment need to be developed at the same time as the rest of the system