Preamp Deal of the Century

Hi Larry. Hope you and your family had a very Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year! I didn't mean to suggest to Pablo to wait 300 hours before tube rolling... The new supratek or any other new tubed amplifier/preamplifier[for that matter] will become more focused and coherent with around 300 hours of run in time due to the transformers and the passive parts in the circuitry. Capacitors in particular are notoriously slow to form themselves to modulated frequencies. They take many hours to open up,particularly the top end. I would recommend we swap out the rectifier and regulators immediately [like right out of the box] as I have always consider that a no brainer.

Kevin,

l recently upgraded from an SP-9mk2 to a Supratek Cabernet. While the SP-9 is probably not in the class as your pre, the improvement was immense. To use a local analogy, l traded in my Ford Falcon for a BMW M5. Everything the others have said is true, the Cab is a revelation. l doubt you could go wrong.

Have a great new year everyone.

Cheers Simon

David,

Happy New Year to you and your gang.
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I was suggesting the break-in of 300 hours so that when Pablo rolls tubes, he makes moves based on a broken in pre-amp and all of the tubes are somewhat stable in their sonics.
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I just think it is a valuable learning experience to have a clear understanding what each new tube does when added to the system and not confuse its value with the changes occurring from the circuitry of the pre or the other new tubes as they break in.
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I do agree that the changes you recommend are a no brainer, but there might be some valuable lessons to learn along the way by going a bit slower. Either way, he can't go wrong.
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Rgds, Larry
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Hi Ecclectique ( David?), Thank you for replying to my post concerning Cabernet vs ARC. I had previously e-mailed Mondie on another forum about his experience with his Supratek. His enthusiasm hasn't changed a bit ( thanks for replying again , Mondie).The staid conservative in me says the safe option is ARC ; the other half says I could be missing out on something quite special. I am looking for a touch more warmth in my listening- I don't doubt the Ref2 is a great pre but maybe emphasises detail more than I want?I'm in New Zealand; as far as I know there is only one Supratek here (may be wrong); fortunately the owner is happy for me to go and have a listen which I will do very soon.
Can any long term Supratek owners attest as to the reliability of their pres? I've had problems with gear before requiring dealer and manufacture support. I know that ARC is very good in this respect-does Mick's gear give any problems?
Thanks again Eccletique and Mondie for your time in replying.
Cheers,
Kevin

Ella4ever, I have owned my Supratek Syrah for over 2 years and I have never had any kind of problem with it. It worked perfectly from the time I unpacked it and still works perfectly today. Mick builds these things like tanks! He states on his website that they are built to still be operating long after we are gone, and I believe him. If I were you, I would not hesitate buying a Supratek, but I am a happy owner so what else would I say? I have owned Audio Research equipment and it is good, but I did not find it to be as musically satisfying as my Supratek.