Preamp Deal of the Century

Mick advised that construction of my Syrah will begin next week. My order dates to mid-June. Perhaps a Thanksgiving day treat!
Thanks to all postings with advice on tube recommendation.This will be the next challenge. I have been working on dedicated power while waiting for the pre.
The Supratek will be be in front of Air Tight ATM3 mono amps. Listening to other tube preamps suggests the Syrah will be a great addition, especially with the phono ( LP12 ).

Twl, thanks for the info on the Hal-O-Tube dampers. I found the dealer that is selling them on Audiogon. I ordered a pair, and should have them sometime next week. I will keep you guys informed.

Damn it!

I had the Rogue 99 Magnum, Switched to a Belles 20A with a Herron Moving Coil Phono Stage.

I prefer the Herron/Belles combo over the 99 mag with mag phono board.

I had a LLANO amp paired with my Rogue 99 and then.....

Damn it!

I list the Merlins for sale and a kind gentlemen brings his Berning ZH-270 over to audition my speakers with. I sell everything only to find out that the Berning lowest price is around 3800 after expecting at the timeto pay 2700-3K I sold my other gear.

So now my sytem is all up for sale and I was wondering if any of you would be willing to speculate on what I should get first the Berning or my next pre-amp.

I will say that I listen to my Spacedeck/Arm combo with a Dynavector Karat 17DII mostly. I started out with a Theta Casa Nova and now I've reverted completely back to vinyl. Funny how the process sometimes seems to work backwards.

Anyway, I hope I can sell my current gear to complete my next upgrade.

BTW, thanks for the informative thread. I must have missed this one over at AA.

Best,

Nathan

Nathan, it is kind of a moot point as to whether to get the preamp or the amp first, if you don't have the other also. If you wanted to use digital source, the Berning has the volume control for direct input. That could get you by, while you are waiting for your Syrah to be completed, which takes a few months. But for your phono system, you'll have to have the preamp. The Berning would be a real nice match with the Syrah, due to it's transparency and speed. You wouldn't want to let the nice signal that comes out of the Syrah to get "bogged down" in a lesser quality amp. If you do get the Berning, get speakers that stay around 8 ohms, and don't dip too low. I know from experience that the Berning starts to "harden up" at the lower impedances, and loses that liquid midrange. It is not noticeable as long as you are above 6 ohms.

Nathan

Since you are starting from scratch, the pre-amp would probably be the first place to start. As TWL notes and I would agree, if you are considering the Berning make sure you match it with a friendly load, 8 ohms. The Merlin/Berning synergy is magic if you have the rest of your system properly matched.