Preamp Deal of the Century


If anyone is looking for a true "World Class" preamp at a very fair price..heed my advice. I just recieved a Supratek Syrah preamp that was hand built by Mick Maloney in Western Australia, and it is absolutely beautiful! This preamp is the best deal you will ever find. I would put it up against any preamp out there for both looks and sound. Price? $2500 for the Syrah (includes Killer Phono stage). Not into phono? Try the Chardonney line stage for $2100. Don't get me wrong, I am not associated with this company. I am just a very happy owner! This preamp is VERY dynamic, yet liquid. It conveys the sound of music better than any other preamp that I have ever heard! You can check out the Supratek website at www. cantech.net.au
slowhand
Thanks Ethifi for the advice. There are only two toggle swictches on top of my Cabernet, one is HT bypass and the other is Mute. I did not ask for a Tape Loop in my preamp. Everything is working fine now and the sound was "Amazingly Satisfying & Musical" straight out of the box with stock tubes. The Cabernet is paired with my Plinius SA-102 poweramp driving the Harbeth M20 mini monitors.

I plugged in the smoke glass Genalux KT-66 to my Cabernet power supply unit yesterday evening..replacing the stock Sovtek tubes only, all I could say what Ecclectique said was true, I was very near to nirvana now! After 300 hours or so I will try those NU 350A's. I guess that's it, audio nirvana is reachable through Supratek for common folks like me ^_^. And thank you Slowhand for starting this wonderful thread. You have earned a place in Audigon, Sir!
Thanks Ongkaku, enjoy your Cabernet...it only gets better! That must be why Mick named his preamps after wines, they only get better with age.
Congrats Ongaku.

Great to see you got your problems sussed. l had a similar experience with mine, no sound initially until l dicked around with the toggles and got it working. Havent touched them since!

How much did the Genalux KT-66's cost? Sound like a nice upgrade.

Cheers Simon
Thank you to Ecclectique, Cello ,Slowhand , Cello , Mondie and Pablovila ( nice story-never heard of that happening before) for the replies and reassurance.Now the hard part will be deciding which one. I take Slowhand's point about the Cortese and vinyl-like a fool I got rid of my table some years ago but not the records ( CD- perfect sound forever -hah!).So hopefully will re-enter the vinyl world. The Grange no longer appears on Mick's website-I will contact him but does anyone know if he still makes them?
Also , a constant theme in the thread is the value of tube rolling after breakin. In New Zealand, not a huge availability.I havefound upscaleaudio.com ; any other sources.Thanks again for the replies.
Regards,
Kevin