Preamp Deal of the Century

A quick note on the Bybee filters in the power supply.
This evening I auditioned my Supratek power supply against a friends side by side, on his Syrah. We both found mine to be compressed sounding and rather lifeless.

This is most likely a result of the two Bybee filters I have in the power supply. So.. since my friend is handy with a soldering iron, we removed to Bybee devices and discovered that my power supply sounded better than his! Ha! :)

His is new so its most likely still breaking in.

If any of you are considering the Bybee's - you might want to pass on the idea. From my findings, they certainly do not enhance Mick's design.

Rmml - that's great! How does it sound??

I like the effects of the Dynamat and BDR stuff on my preamp however - I have noticed that too much BDR can be too much. The MkIV cones are certainly better for the Supratek than the MkIII. However, I am currently trying variations i.e. Two MkIV and a single MkIII on the preamp.

I find that too much MkIII can bbbbllluuuurrr things a bit in the mids.

Also in my system, adding Dynamat to the power supply is not an improvement. Neither are the BDR's of any type. The power supply sounds the best with the rubber/plastic feet removed, and resting on nothing but three tiny felt pads stuck to the underside of the frame (the wood part).

Also, I've found nothing better as a platform for the power supply than MDF (particle board). Sitting the power supply on carpet or even a super hard surface like granite made things mushy. For me, the MDF is the best.

I do have two Bybee filters in my power supply which may be removed soon. I recently tried power supply without the Bybees against mine and preferred the one without as it was more lively and extended.

I tripple bagged some "special" sand as I mentioned before and put it inside the "domes" on top of the Supratek. The SPECIAL-ness of the sand basically is nothing too special except I spent the good part of an hour combing out all iron from the sand with a magnet. The Iron has a ferroresonant effect on electronics and compresses the sound a bit. The sand (without the iron) adds mass to the Supratek and I believe it further enhances the sonics.

A couple of mods that I did on my Supratek Chardonay, courtesy of Bwhite's idea on how to reduce the vibration on your Supratek pre.

I posted pictures of it here with the Dynamat extreme on the inside of the pre.

The other one is the addition of the BDR cones and BDR "those things" I believe is what it's called. Here's a picture of it.

Here's a picture of my Chardonay after all this.

Thanks to Bwhite, now my unit sounds a lot more quiet and coherent.

There has been a lot of talk about tube rolling in the line stage and power supply, but has anyone done any tube rolling in the phono stage of the Syrah preamp, and if so, what have your results been?

i have been reading this thread with interest. i have a custom made pair of speakers made by war audio in perth, western australia. actually i live 20minutes from mick. what you have to consider is that mick custom makes his products and it is always going to take a while to get your products.

my speakers took 4 months to complete, but gee the wait was certainly worth it. check out the war audio website.

i have heard that mick's products are excellent.

regards

rod gittos

Snook2 - Mick is a one man show. He does not have a US distributor or dealer. He does however have technicians in certain areas of the US who are familiar with the units and can perform repairs when need be. Mick likes to fix the preamps himself when the cost to repair in the US is greater than the cost of shipping round trip to Australia.

A friend of mine sent his preamp back to Mick for an upgrade - It took a total of 10 days for the repair and shipping both ways. That is pretty good service. Not many big name manufacturers with dealers and distributors can match that.

I really have to hand it to Mick for consistently providing the highest level of customer service and support!

Snook - you bring up a good point about the way Mick runs his business - it could be run in a more mainstream, bureaucratic fashon (with dealers/distributors, etc) but if he did, you could quite possibly be looking at a price tag of $5,000 for a Syrah and $10,000 for a Cortese. It costs money to support dealers and consumers pay that cost.

The way I see it, Mick provides fantastic service and has priced his equipment as low as possible - creating a situation where YOU as the consumer can really win big!

Are their any dealers for this preamp in the U.S. I know there was a few reliability issues on the Supratek and I would not be interested unless there was one.

Aloha Patrick,

Trust me, you haven't built your expectations to high!

Get some NOS tubes and wait to be initiated.

Aloha,

Warren

BTW, the Auricaps sound interesting. Might fire an email off to Mick.

Got a note the other day from Mick. He has been experimenting with different caps and believes Auricaps provide a nice improvement. He said he could ship it last Monday or if I could wait til this weekend, he will have received an OEM quantity of Auricaps and could ship it then. Mmmmmm...decisions...are you kidding me? Been waiting since the end of March-another week for improved caps is a no-brainer.
I think it's great that, as busy as he must be, Mick is still looking to improve on this pre. So take heart those that have ordered relatively recently, by the time he makes yours, he may have come up with additional improvements.
I just hope I haven't built my expectations too high. My current pre, an Adcom GTP 500 II that is at least 15 years old, is definitly my systems weakest link.

Regards,
Patrick

Thanks, Patrick, just trying to stir the pot now and then, hoping someone is listening, or perhaps considers something different. I am not a writer for Playboy, which would be a great gig, but did do my graduate work on the evolution of nation-states. Since then, I've become interested in the evolution of consciousness in general - both human and not human - which doesn't have the biggest demographic in the world, if you know what I mean (even though its a subject that deals with the whole world, which is itself its own little paradox...).

We buy stereos to stop thinking after being in a world where we are required to think all day. Importantly, the type of thinking we are letting go of when we drift into the Music is a type that is good at accumulating objects (materialism), or in the most sociopathic instances, relegating people to objects. We want to rest our minds from its attachment to form and an environment where if don't adhere to an assumption of infinite greed you risk become the prey of the other. So we close our eyes (detaching the visual from the thinking mind that is disproportionately and evolutionarily dependant on this sense) and turn down the lights and put on the Music.

The Supratek helps you do this - letting go of thinking - while also being darn good at replicating the objective way that sound sounds. Its a break, like a wonderful sleep, from the imbalance between your waning freedom and others' attachment to control it (like an object...).

So guys, I know you don't want to hear my incesant ramblings-as-filler: What about those Pre's? Yea, nyet, ambivalent, hearing the Music?

Asa,
I have read many, many posts regarding the subject of your last post. I have not, however, ever read one as well written.
You don't happen to be the Asa that writes for Playboy do you?

Regards,
Patrick

Its not a revolution, just capitalism operating as it should. Other manufacturers hate a guy like Mick because he doesn't play the game of making everyone think that we should actually thank the manufacturers for the astronomical prices. They've got a closed system where the magazines incestuously support the manufacturers' agenda and vice versa from the manufacturers through sweetheart deals to the mags. I am not saying its a star chamber conspiracy, but there is a strong, determinant and tacit one occuring where the dynamics of the market are highly distorted. This occurs because the freedom of information is controlled by those entities and people most interested in distorting it for their own gains (Does any of this sound familiar? Enron, etc?). The mags will never cover a guy like Mick because he's not going to plunk down 20K for a six month black-and-white advert contract. This unbridled ideal of infinite self-interest distorts, for the consumer, the balance between democracy (freedom of information) and capitalism (freedom of self-interest). Like many sub-systems within the greater economy, the dynamics of our little microcosm are distorted where individuals at the top of the hierarchy have gained sufficient control over the means of information dissemination to redistribute value from the serfs to the nobility.

Hey, didn't we fight this already two hundred years ago? I take that back, it is (could be still) a revolution.

What is the nature of the Matrix? Control.

If you still can't hear this, then just buy the pre.

Since the title of this discussion is "Preamp Deal of the Century" perhaps people not in posession of a Supretek should read the comments in another discussion about the H-Cat P-12. I don't own either, I just want to find the best for the money, but according to an ex-Supratek user the H-Cat is 'king of the hill'...for about the same amount. We are either on the verge of a revolution or its all smoke and mirrors - so far I don't know.

I replaced my stock 5881 with a Sovtek 5V4G, its a bit taller. It sounds really good. I didn't get a chance to listen ot the stock 5881 due to other problems I was having. But the sovtek works just fine and it cost only $7.99.

And BTW, this thing is drop-dead gorgeous. I ordered mine in Chrome/Piano Black/Gold knobs.

I know the gold knobs sounds strange, but they really set things off. I felt like chrome knobs would have been too much of a good thing. I like the way this looks a lot.

In a couple of the posts above there were concerns about the build quality, but it far exceeds what I expected. The Piano Black finish is as good as the grand piano in my business. And you can't even begin to see a joint line in the corners of the boxes.

Well done, Mick. You have allayed any and all of my fears.

Aloha,

Warren

Aloha Slowhand,

I am using Svetlana 6L6GC's instead of the 5881's. Several guys on the Tube Asylum have said that the Svet's are really good. I have to agree so far. I had ordered RCA Black Plates, but the consensus on the Tube Asylum is that they are over-rated especially for the price, so I cancelled them.

I am also using a Mullard 5AR4 rectifier.

So far I have rolled the Syl 6SN7GT's and the Ken Rad VT231's (also in military boxes). Actually, I just sent an email to see if he has anymore.

The Ken Rads are awesome, but the difference I heard between the Syls and Ken Rads could also be attributed to break-in of the preamp. I put the Syls in from day one and just switched to VT231s yesterday. I also tried a couple of tweaks to my system last night that really elevated the sound, so if I were to stick the Syls back in they may sound just as good now. Will try them again in a month or so.

But I gotta tell ya, this thing is really singing. I never listened to it with stock tubes, but with the tubes I just described, this pre is simply amazing.

Aloha,

Warren

If you can find them, try the Sylvania 5932s. I would say, however, that the Tung Sol 5881 are a close second. What is the rectifier tube now?

Hi Jeff, the Tung-Sol 5881's have a more musical sound to my ears than the stock 5881's. The stock 5881's sound a little harsh and edgy compared to the Tung-Sols. I felt the stock 5881's were fine until I put in the Tung-Sols.The Tung-sols are smoother and get me closer to the music. When I first put the Tung-Sols in, I prefered the stock tubes because they sounded more dynamic, but after taking the time to compare the two, I was mistaking dynamics for the slight edge that the stock tubes create. As for my ARC 100.2, it is a solid state amp. You are mistaking it for the ARC VT-100mk2. I compared the two amps when I bought mine and prefered the SS 100.2. It has that nice liquid sound of tubes, but without the excessive heat and cost of replacing power tubes.

Slowhand

Is there any improvements using Tung-Sol 5881? Will you able to share with me about the type of tubes that you are using on your ARC VT100.2? I have 6550 Tung-Sol on VT100 and unable to find eight of them at reasonable price.

Many thanks in advanced,

Jeff

Aloha Warren, glad to hear that you recieved your preamp and that you are enjoying it. Hey Brian, I have a pair of Ken-rad Black Glass VT-231's on their way to me. They are in original military boxes. I will let you guys know how they sound. If they sound any better than my Tung-Sol 6sn7 Round Plates, I am not sure I can stand it! Six months with this preamp and I still can't stand to turn it off!

Aloha Brian,

Listening and tube rolling.

So far, mighty impressed.

Want to spend more time to really flesh things out, but this pre is everything you said it was.

BTW, my pre was held up in some customs snafu. It took much longer to get here than it should have.

I will report back.

Aloha,

Warren

Talk to us Warren.... :) What's going on?

Come to think of it "Preamp deal of the Century" is really a very fitting description of the Supratek preamp. For the money I spent and the time invested waiting for it, plus the little quirks here and there, now that I had my preamp almost a month I can say that it is very much worth it.I absolutely love my Chardonay, the best I heard to date.

Well, gentlemen, there you have it. Kinda nice, eh?

Mick! Great the see you on the board. Thanks for the update and explaination. I will again attest to Mick's firm commitment to his customers. He does a great job!

I would just like to commend you on your coming to the BB to clear up misconceptions.I have no stake here as your Pre-Amp is out of my range at this time,but I sometimes come here to see what is said!
Paul Lam who markets the FT Audio LW-1 answers Q's and is from Austrailia also. I sent him your site and he was enthused about your design also!

Anyway's I am glad to read that your units will be around for a time to come!Maybe someday I will have enough to aquire one!

Later!

I'm here.

As the manufacturer of Supratek I try to stay off the forums as I dont really think it is possible to be unbiased, but this post needs to be reponded to.
In my opinion, there was nothing wrong with Jewel's pre-Jewel rang me after having trouble getting sound. I went through the procedure with him and it turned out he had the tape minitor in the wrong position.
If he had tried again it would have been ok, except he connected his interconnects backwards or to the wrong outputs and did something to his power amp.
Nothing I can do to protect against that.
The Chardonay is a very robust and reliable preamp with a very longlife time built in. I would expect them to be still working when most of you are gone.
But like a F1 Ferrari it is completely hand built with no PCB's or any sound degrading practices.
This form of construction can lead to super performance- the difference between a PCB based pre and the same design constructed terminal to terminal is not insignificant.
It can also lead to the occasional fault- no one is perfect and despite the fact that I'm getting much better the human factor can get it wrong. I stated counting the connections in a Syrah one day and soon gave up. About 1 in 15 pres has a problem. OK no other manufacturer will come out and tell you that, but the truth cant hurt you if it is understood.
I could get a PCB designed for the circuit and I could build them twice as fast and eliminate the possibility of a mistake- but the cost is too high- the sonics would suffer terribly and there is no way I'm going there.
There are two reasons for the wide use of PCB's- economics and the fact that non-technical (cheap) staff can assemble them.
What I do is make sure the back up is as good as you can get- no one with a problem has ever complained about my back up- I drop everything to get it sorted and frequently demand the unit be sent back at my expense to be repaired and sent back in as short a time as possible. It blows any profit, but it helps me to see where the problem was and what to do about it.And I am commited to my customers.
Once fixed they stay fixed.
The long term reliabilty is exceptional , and apart from tubes there's nothing in the pre that is going to be tired in 20 years time, as is the case with most commercial pres stuffed full of 85 degree rating electrolytics with 10,000 hour lifetimes.
There are now over 150 Supratek preamps worldwide. The most rewarding and gratifying thing for me has been the enjoyment of the sound quality that 99% of the owners have conveyed to me.
They have slowly evolved to be even more musical than the first versions which were so well received.

While I'm here let me go over the gain issue which Jewel remarked on.
There have been 3 or 4 people who have had trouble with having very little volume movment with their pres.
This is because of the very high sensitivity of their power amps- typically power amps designed to use CD direct and with very high driver stage gain. As an example a high gain power amp would use a 12AX7 and a 12AU7 driver tube (well ,mine wouldn't, but it is typical)the 12AX7 has a gain of 100 , the 12AU7 15 giving a gain stage of 1500.
A customer reporting little volume control had a amp using a 5751 and a 6FQ7 . The 5751 has a gain of 70 and the 6FQ7 74 making a total gain of 5180! This is absurdly high and a pre would have to cut a CD signal significantly to attain normal levels. I consider these types of power amps to be more like integated amps than power amps.
The Supratek pres have high gain -it is partly the reason for their dynamics, but coupled with these high gain power amps you have a LOT of gain and the result is very little volume control and in the worst case tube hiss.
To overcome this I've started using a 6 way switch on the back panel which gives a 0 cut position and then 5 levels of increasing gain cut.
In addition there is set of switches internally that cuts the gain to less than unity (1) for these problem amps.
It is possible to find a "sweet spot" for every pre/power amp combination. This makes the pres even more versatile and it's fun finding this optimum position.
I'll disappear again but I would like to thank all the people who have purchsed Supratek preamps (and those patiently waiting). I have had fantastic response to my idea of how music should sound- the pres are different and I'm gratified I've found a common bond with so many people.
You can be sure that in twenty years time I'll still be here, and still loving what I'm doing.

MickM

Syrah+ARC100 vs NAD2400+NAD3400
My other components- Aerial 10T, VPI MK3, Fanfare 1L, HT
yea, I can feel the difference tube vs SS but sometimes I just wonder these investments and time are worth. Now, this is my 4th years to get back to tube. In my SS days, I abused NAD anyway I wanted for many years without causing any problems. Many times, I was turned on my NAD system for 16 hours and not worry about anything. Now, I need to worry about tube overheat or I have to go to the web and look around NOS of Tung-sol's 6550 for my amp, 6sn7,..... Oh, I need to find some good guy in New Jersey when I need to re-tube my AMP sometime next year. Can someone help me on this?

Boy I just love the comradrie of this group. There must be something indeed special about these products. Too much positive energy. Just the waiting, anticipation, trials and tribulations and finally the support from each other, it is one of the best sides of this hobby. My pre-amp just went out a few weeks ago, maybe its a sign? Almost ordered one on my last post but deferred due to the delays in shipment. Now I'm having second thoughts.

Fiddler we haven't heard from you in a while. What is going on?

Hi Jewel, got your message yesterday. Sorry I was out of town visiting my sister. Glad to learn you've resolved the problem(s) and your preamp is working.

As for the gain, I agree the HIGH gain setting is very sensitive and actually quite difficult to use in most cases. The LOW gain setting works much better for most applications - but can still be rather high compared to other preamps.

Let us know how things progress.

Update- I've had an interesting Saturday to say the least. Let's just say it tunred out just fine by 6:00pm. I started out with a brand new preamp that didn't work. In the process of switching back and forth I managed to mess up my power amp too. But by the end of the day and a $150 later, both units were in operation once more (only in NYC). I manage to find replacement tubes for both the preamp and the power amp, plus I found a person to repair both the units all in a span of 4-hours.

The preamp apparently had a "short" of some kind besides the bad rectifier tube. Mick says "that's the oldest line in the book". I don't really care so long as the units do what they're suppose to.

Right now I'm just enjoying my Bhudha Bar-II Dinner CD. The only thing stands out about the pre is, the gain control is way too sensitive (almost to the touch) but Mick provides several ways to adjust for that. I shall sign off for now so I can focus on the music.

Many thanks to Bmotorcyle, Bwhite, Rmml as well as Mick for all the moral support - I needed it today.

Jewel

Quick Update - Thank you all (bmotorcycle, bwhite, Rmml and Mick) for comming to the resque in such short notice. My preamp is still out of commission. And to add to it, I messed it up even more by turning the two (inside the preamp unit) pods (wrong knobs) that look like volume pods since Mick document refers to them as "inside gain control switches). I should have been used the toggle switches but I wasn't thinking, I went straight for anything that resembled volume control.

In any event, here is what has happended so far:

1) inserted the rectifier tube onto the power unit
2) connected IC from power-amp to "out1" RCA on preamp
3) connected IC from CD-player to "CD" RCA on preamp
4) attached a powercord to the power unit and plugged into the wall -- units powered up immediately because the power on/off button was already in the "on" (drepressed) position -- my fault.
5) the "5AR4 rectifier" tube a Phillips 5G4GT on the power supply chassis flaired up a little but settled down quickly.
6) I placed a Dianna Krall CD in the CD player and hit the play botton with the volume at about 10% - no sound. I kept increasing the volume until it was at 75-80% on volume knob. There was sound but totally "chocked" (for symtoms see my post) as I mention on the previous post.
7) I called Bmotorcyle -- he thought it must be the rectifier tube going bad. I thought as much since there were flairs. He also suggested that I open up the unit and play with the inside gain controls. I openned up the unit turned the wrong things which I later found out.
8) hooked the units back up and powered up. The rectifier tube flaired up once more and this time it died. None of the tubes had any light ob both units.
9) I went out for dinner more than a drinks to drown out my sorrows.
10) Got home and read Bwhite's note.
11) This morning I got up and read Rmml's note.
12) Called Mick and gave him the sequence of events. Mick wasn't exactly sure what the problem was but pointed out that I tunred the wrong things inside the unit. It also turns out that I had the "tape monitor" toggle swtich in the wrong setting. It was set back instead of forward. This in fact could well have been the problem but he was not absolutely sure. Mick said if I want I can send the unit back and he can send me a replacement unit. I thought it might be worth trying it here if I can get a hold of a replacement rectifier today (saturday) in NYC -- I doubt it though. If I find a rectifier I'm supposed to call Mick back this evening (morning his time) so he can walk me through how to reset the voltage back to 300 volts, this is due to turning the wrong knobs inside the unit.

But here's the kicker (stupid me) -- while I was switching back to my prior setup, a McIntoch C32 preamp hooked to a AirTigh ATM-2 power amp. By mistake I plugged the power-amp ICs into the CD-1 of preamp and ICs from CD-player into the Line-1 of the preamp (just reversed). Obviously there was no music, I even turned the volume up but still no music. Looks like I might have fried my power amp.

Think I'm ready for a few more drinks!!

I will keep you posted...

Jewel

Hi Jewel, I had the same problem when I first hooked mine up, I second Bwhite on checking the flip switch in the back and also on the tape loop,make sure the switch in the front for it is flipped towards you, because if it's engaged no sound will come out.
Another thing, when I first hooked mine up I also used one of the inputs to act a theater pass thru from the HT processor and it initially worked but after I turned it of and on again after a few hours no sound comes out on my two front speakers. So I disconnected the hometheater pass thru and hooked the amp directly to my HT processor diconnecting all the line to the Chardonay and it works fine. When I put the Chardonay back online with the theater pass thru it works again initially then it will not again after I turned it off. The only thing I can think of after that is, the Chardonay is very sensitive to other electronics hooked up to it. Try and keep it simple as much as you can.
I'll email you my phone number, call me at home, I will be up late.

Jewel - First, is your Chardonnay stock or did you order yours with XLR outputs?

If it has XLR outputs, check the switch on the back between the RCA output and the XLR output, Make sure it points to the output you are using and not in the middle. Yes.. Mick uses a 3 way switch to do a 2 way job.

This may sound silly but make sure the selector knob is switched to the correct input. They are not marked but usually the lowest position on the knob (to the left) is the first input on the preamp.

Then.. you will want to ensure the gain switch is engaged so it best matches your system.

Also, the tape loop switch should be in the center

If you need help. Email me your number. I would be happy to assist. If I can.

Hey Gang-

I received my chardonnay today and I just now hooked it up but I'm have some serious problems. The sound is totally "chocked", as if there is no power at all. There's barely any noise from the woofers. Just wondering what I'm doing wrong.

It is bit too early in the morning to call Mick. Wondering if any of you might be willing to help with the setup. Please send me a note with your phone number and I'll give a call in the next half hour. Or if you prefer to call, let me know so I can send you my phone#.

Thanks a lot.
Jewel

Time now: 8:05pm EST

Waltersalas,

I like your idea about sharing with other Supratek owners what the rest of our systems consist of. It would be a good idea to start a Supratek club (if we could stop listening to our preamps long enough). Here is my system:

Supratek Syrah preamp (Synergistic Research AC Master PC)
Tung-Sol 6sn7 round plates (line stage), Tung-Sol 5881's Power supply), Sylvania VT-231 JAN 1944's (in reserve).

Audio Research 100.2 power amp (TG Audio HRS PC)
Granite Audio 650 CD player (Granite Audio 555 PC)
VPI mk4 TT/JMW Memeorial Tonearm/Benz Glider cartridge

Turntable is modified with BDR mk4 cones repacing stock feet and BDR "cut down" cones on top of the 4 springs under the plinth. BDR record clamp.

Gallo Nucleus Reference speakers (MIT 750 plus speaker cord)
PS Audio line conditioner for digital
PowerVar line conditoner for analog.
MIT 330 plus2 IC between preamp and amp
TG Audio silver IC between preamp and cd player

Thanks for the tips, guys. I know a lot of people reading this thread must think there is a considerable amount of hyperbole about this unit, but it has truly transformed my system. Only problem so far: not enough sleep. I just keep thinking of songs I want to hear, albums I have to play. Oh yeah, I didn't get the remote I asked for either. But I don't care. The only way this thing is leaving here is if it malfunctions or someone takes it at gunpoint. Better be a big gun, too.

See AudioAsylum for Ken Rads with the Cortese. He might sell you his. They are going to be very difficult to find.

Waltersalas,
Here is a link to a webpage that lists links to oh, 50 or more tube sellers around the world. I've only been to maybe 10 of them and have been unable to find the Ken Rads.
Good Luck,
Patrick

http://www.worldtubeaudio.com/directory/categories/kategorie_11.htm

At last, the wait is over, for me and I hope all the others who ordered their units back in Feb/March/April. The Syrah arrived today and is now sitting happily in my system.

OK, first impressions: I must say, it is difficult to believe that a tube preamp could be this dynamic, yet still retain the finesse and allure of tubes. But hearing is believing. I have had a couple of excellent tube preamps, the Audible Illusions Modulus 3 and the First Sound Presence Deluxe Mk II. I thought the Audible Illusions, though highly regarded, was still slightly underrated and one of the best values in high end audio that I have come across in my admittedly brief time in the hobby. Though it lacked the incredibly black background of the First Sound and was not quite as dynamic, the Mod 3 seemed more musical to me and somehow less compressed, at least in my system. I know the First Sound is highly regarded also, and I can certainly see why--it produces stunning sound. Yet, I often felt I was listening more to the preamp's performance than I was to the music, if that makes any sense. In the end, it was just too clinical for me.

So, what the hell, I thought I might as well try this bandwagon. It would be foolish to jump to any conclusions until I've had a few listening sessions with the Syrah and tried some tube rolling, but right off the bat it is clear that the Syrah is as dynamic as the First Sound and as musical as the Audible Illusions, and that is with stock tubes and only a few hours of play in my system. Who knows how much better this thing might get--I am definitely in uncharted waters. I look forward to others' reports. It would also be cool if fellow members of this growing fraternity would identify associated equipment so we can have a frame of reference. I'm still relatively new at this, and having the time of my life. Thanks so much to Bwhite, Asa, and all the others who have helped along novices such as myself.

My system:

EMC-1 24/192
Nottingham Spacedeck/OL Rega 250 Mod/Dynavecter 20XH
Piega P10s
Bel Canto EVO 200.2 mono blocks
Piega speaker cable
Jena Labs Symphony IC (cryoed)
Virtual Dynamics Power 2/Audition (cryoed)
Virtual Dynamics cryoed outlets on dedicated circuits

My listening chair beckons. Oh, by the way, does anybody know where I can nab some Sylvania metal base or some Ken Rad black glass tubes?

happy listening to all--

Like many had mentioned before that tube type is best on certain systems and not that great on others, on mine the Raytheon VT-231's (brown base) are the best so far followed by the Tung sol VT-231's and Ken RAd 231's. On my system the Raytheon has more refined extended highs and just the right slam complementing the already good bottom end of the Chardonay.
And the mids, oh so sweet midrange, quite lovely if I might add. I need to get more of this puppies, good luck with the hunt guys.

Congrats Jewel. I must be getting close as I ordered mine a bit before you and 1 other person who got theirs. But I ordered the Syrah. Seems like Mick makes a batch of each at a time. Let us know how you like it next month. Also be curious to know what tubes you get.
Regards,
Patrick

Hi Jewel, mine took exactly four days including a weekend. I called fedex when the unit arrived in the country and had them fax me a copy of the 2 forms that's needed, I filled them out and faxed it to their office in Tennessee. They also charged my fedex account $130 for duties.

Hi Jewel - the shipping usually takes three or four days. I live in California (Silicon Valley - near San Francisco). The preamp arrived in the US at a port in Los Angeles CA via FedEx, then was shipped to Tennessee and then back to California from there. Strange process.

FedEx will invoice you a few weeks later for the 130 in duties.

Hey Gang-

Looks like I'm up next, my Chardonnay is shipping as early as 8/29 - I place my ordered on 3/29. I have no clue how long the shipment will take to get to NYC. By the way - what's involved in the customs clearance? I've seen posts indicating a duty of $130. When and where does one deal with this? Is this something you pay the shipping company when you receive it? I appreciate any advice you can give on this.

Thanks

Thanks BWhite for the tube advice. I'll start hunting for some of those tubes.

Tubes for the Syrah. I found the best 6SN7s in the Syrah to be the KenRad VT231s or the old Sylvania brown bases, 6SN7W GTs I believe. The RCA 5692 red bases were terrible. I also found the best regulators were the Sylvania 5932 best. The best rectifier I found was the RCA 5V4 GA. The phono stage tubes give you little choice. The WE 147A versus the Raytheon 5842 is difficult as the first tends to be best if not microphonic, but most are. The choice between Mullard and RCA 6GK5 seems to make little difference. Also many of these tubes are noisy.

Tube rolling with this unit is great fun but expensive. Good luck to you beginning this journey.

Hi Bwhite I try to call scott to mod my chardonnay several times, but nobody answer the phone is he still in business?Or how can I get hold of him. Thanks

Hi Asa, Syrah is fine and has absolutely no problem. The changes are that I am reducing listening time to have more sleep!