Shesh.. where have I been?? I guess I missed this thread.
The Supratek is absolutely astonishing! in both sound and visually. I have tried many preamps and the Supratek is both the least expensive and the most outstanding performer I have ever come across.
The sonic character of the Supratek is very difficult to pin-point. Its a very clean sound and very dynamic in that it has more bass than any tube preamp I've ever heard. One day we compared it to a Krell preamp and while the Krell had more bass - we simply couldn't listen to the Krell for very long at all. Vs the Krell, The Supratek really put accuracy into perspective. Someone who only listened to Krell their whole life would immediately realize that the Supratek was not only more natural but less colored, pure as the driven snow, liquid as liquid be, and in all ways utterly magnificent.
I am on my second preamp from Supratek because I asked Mick to customize my first one (made last year). While my first one was okay - it resulted in a few problems as a result of the customization. My new unit which was recently built before the parafeed design is much different - and more inline with what someone would expect from a 15,000 preamp.
I used to tell people that the Supratek Syrah was the best preamp under 15,000 but... then Mick released the Cortese for 5,000.
Mick is very ambitious in the design of the Supratek. He uses all point to point wiring - unsheilded silver wire - & the finest parts available. This combined with the superb circuit design and AWESOME power supply design create a very revealing, powerful and perhaps limitless preamp that will give most anyone more enjoyment than any high end preamp available today.
I had compared the Supratek directly to a Conrad Johnson 16LS preamp and the difference spawned my friend to say - "OH MY GOD". He is a CJ lover and really... really wanted to have a CJ preamp to match his CJ Premier 8A monoblocks. So.. we went out and got an ART preamp to demo... and again, the Supratek was more crystal clear, liquid, better resolving, pristine, musical and simply sumptuous to listen to vs the ART.
The Supratek takes 6SN7 tubes and they can make a huge difference in performance of the preamp. I have tried many. To date, the best have been either Sylvania Metal Base 6SN7W, or Ken Rad Black Glass VT-231. The regulator tubes in back are 5881 - comes stock with Sovtek's but a pair of Tung Sol 5881's will get you in business.
My fingers hurt from typing...
