Preamp Deal of the Century

Jeffjazz - thanks for your answer. Its most valuable for me because believe it or not but I also use Pass X-150 as power amp. Speakers are Focal 926 and have owned several digital sources lately but Marantz SA-1 is my favorite till now. It seems that I need to try Supratek.
Also wanted to ask what Supratek pre are you using?

Chardonney. The "low end" of Supratek. I have had more expensive preamps, and like it better. Mates great with the Pass amp because you can adjust the gain which is rare on a preamp. No impedance problems either. - Jeff

I had my Cortese for sale and just cancelled the ad. I can't bring myself to give it up. I really enjoy the dynamics and transparency of the Cortese. My Audio Aero Capitole AI, which I had connected directly to my amp, sounded smeared without the benefit of the Cortese. The Cortese made everything sound right to my ears. For the record, mine has operated flawlessly for 2 years, other than tube issues, and Mick has been very responsive to my emails, even recently. Horses for courses, I guess, but I really like what I have. For what it's worth, and I know some of you don't give a rat's ass: In my limited experience, I have also owned 2 other "Class A" preamps with built in phono stages and 1 "Class A" stand alone phono stage. As a caveat, these were all in the lower price range of "Class A" components. That said, the Cortese is much superior to any of those other pieces that I had in my system. But then again, I can't say that what I like is necessarily what someone else would like. Horses for courses.

Right On Thaluza!

I got my sauvignon about a year ago. I waited for it almost 9 months. It was when Supratek had announced that it was about to close. My sauvignon came into a Chardonnay exterior (there is the chardonnay name engraved on it) but Mick assured me that it was indeed a sauvignon. They had run out of sauvignon exteriors and as supratek was closing, he used a chardonnay exterior. He gave me a paper that was assuring that it was indeed a sauvignon.

I am extremely satisfied from Mick. His emails were very responsive, and there was a response to every of my (more than 60) emails I sent him. I did not get any rude response, and I was very excited that he was promptly answer even my most silly questions.

I love my pre. The finish is spot on, no problems at the chrome plates. It also has a headphone out for my Sennheiser 650 (matching their 300 Ohms).

I can not be more satisfied than I am. I hope Mick is well...