Preamp Deal of the Century

I can only weigh in as a happy Supratek Syrah owner. I bought my direct from Mick about six years ago. One of the remotes died about two years ago (four years after I had had the pre). I got a prompt response from Mick, who sent me a new remote for about $15 including shipping - which was perfect. Also, the remote dying was likely my fault (wear and tear). I also had an issue with the volume knob siezing up. I got it fixed locally by an audio tech, and Mick offered to pay half (and he sent on a new volume pot).

I'm guessing that perhaps service/quality dropped in more recent years? As, it's hard for me to reconcile my very good experience with that of others' bad experience. One thing I will say is tht the pre was late, by maybe a month, but he only asked for final 50% payment days before shipping.

Finally, the pre is a gem - like some others have said, I've tried 'upgrading' the phono stage, but to no avail - I guess I need to spend way more $$.

Dev, sorry to hear about your experience. I think the input you provided is all valid - the only point I have trouble with is the references to the remove(s). Yes, they are crappy, but there were never advertised or marketed as otherwise. The remote met my expectation based on discussions in the online forums here.

happy listening..

Just kidding you Maril555, TVAD, I agree about coloration. Actually, all of audio, regardless of ad hype, is a series of 'pick your color'. Every manmade piece has it's own unique sound. We end up simply deciding which one's seem to be more real to us than others. "Pleasant colorations are the order of the day." One man's overly rounded Vandersteen is another man's 'musical', and one man's sterile THIEL is another man's neutral.
Personally, when I set out to design a speaker, I made it sound the way that I thought it should sound, picking my favorite 'flaws' from a series of flaws.
The only design which escaped that was a 'no holds barred' (sort of) LSA10, in which I picked VERY expensive drivers, then had the crossover made to minimize the known limitations of each one therein. THAT was fun. But even with them, they had colors, but at least, my favorite colors.
As to Micks preamps and amps, he selected a color which pleased a great many people obviously.
It seems that this is the 'thread that wouldn't die', because his products had such a following.
I do find it surprising that there aren't a ton of his products for sale on the Audiogon pages. I suspect that the lack of warranty could be an issue for many.

after a long silence quite a spray - Maril55 - sssso sssibilance turns into coloration - I am sure ssssupratek owners are surprised by your vassilation on this matter.

Lrsky - it appears you can can establish coloration from reading posts and can divine that no resales mean warranty worries rather than satisfied owners

amazing

Have no time to read all of the mammoth tread but I vote for Promitheus TVC. I have not heard them all but just can`t imagine another preamp for $500 that comes even close to it.

Pjwd,
At this point all I can say is this- dude, go calibrate your ears and be a little be more respectful talking to adults.