Preamp Deal of the Century

audioforever:

if you're going to go with a supratek linestage only preamp, i think it would be best to go with the cabernet single (or better yet, dual if your system allows). i think that the cabernet would hold better resale value than a sauvignon. just my opinion. not to mention the cabernet is supratek's reference linestage and the sauvignon is one down so you'll likely never worry about "what if?".

i had a chardonnay which i sold and now i'm awaiting completion of a cabernet single. the reason i chose the single over the dual is that my speakers do not allow for bi-amping and i have no intentions of replacing them.

I just got the promitheus tvc reference 3 pre amp auditioned by sam in this issue of sterophile. at $780.00 shiped. this is a real giant killer. I tweaked it a little, by removing the top, and mounting it on mapleshade brass triple points. in process of trying the reference phono amp and power supply

Sorry to say Kwkwsr, but there's no contest between Supratek and the Prometheus TVC ...the Suprateks just sound much more alive and real, IMO! I've had the TVC in my home to compare alongside my Supratek preamp and while the TVC was very nice sounding (one of the better passives out there), it was a bit flat and lifeless next to the Supratek.

Regards,

Steve M.

This has been discussed on the thread many times, but I will say again. Whichever model of Supratek preamp you choose to buy GET THE PHONO STAGE! It does not add that much to the cost and the resale will be higher than any of the line stage preamps. As great as you may have found the line stage to be, the phono stage is where the real magic happen in Supratek's.

There have been numerous times that someone has bought a line stage pre only to regret that they did not get the phono stage.

Slowhand,

While the phono stage is a $400 option on the Chenin, it is $1500 on the Sauv/Cortese and a whopping $4000 on the Cab/Grange!

$1500 is not change - though I have no doubts it's well worth it. OTOH, you can buy a Minimax phono for that and many consider that phono stage world-class as well.

The Graham Slee era gold I'm using now is amazing as well. I never thought I could stand op-amps of any form in my system. I don't have a broad reference of phono stages at this point, by any means, but this thing makes astounding music, with a moderate table/cart.

My Sauvignon is sold (I think) but I had to cancel the Cortese I'd ordered a couple weeks ago. Then, I decided to go ahead and try the Dodd battery pre I've been wanting to try for some time - might be just the ticket - though beating a Supratek, if it's possible, sure can't be easy.

I am going to try the Minimax phono in concert with the Dodd. I have great respect for the MM products. I have had a MM CDP in my 2nd system for a couple years and it sounds as good as many $3K players, no doubt.

Anyway, I may end up loving the Dodd & the MM, or I may end up with a Cortese before long.

I do like the flexibility of a separate phono stage.