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
Hello,

I have the same hum issue with my supratek preamp. when i connect the amp to speaker only (no pre amp involveed) i have no hum. connecting pre to amp and to speakers, hum is audible. I then changed a pair of CHEAP monster ic from pre to amp. th e hum decreased significanly. i disclosed the monster ic i learned that the ic conductors are bigger than the other one. Also the monster is not shielded. It is simply twisted. I then ordered a good shielded ic but this pair does not help at all with the hum. Any recommendation? Thanks alot.


As I mentioned above, it is good to know what freq of "hum" you are having. Have you tried a different rectifier? This will test if the hum is 120 Hz or not if by using a different rectifier, the hum decreases. If this is the case, remember that our preamp is transformer coupled at the output, then ripple is high on the supply voltage which means that the filter caps after the rectifier could be bad or not doing its function well. Is the hum present on phono only? Or linestage as well?

Phono only, then you can be sure that the grounding scheme of the arm is the problem. Linestage too and there could be several factors. If the ground plane of the preamp(chassis) have a different reference than the ground plane of the amp you are using, hum will be present. Too many ground path and you will have to deal with it also which is commonly known as "ground loop". Have you tried connecting the amp and preamp to the same outlet ground? Have you tried connecting the chassis of the amp to the chassis of the preamp(phono ground lug) using a wire with alligator clip on both ends and hear a difference in hum loudness?

Have you tried taking off all the input components to the preamp and then rotating the orientation of the preamp or moving it further away from the amp and hear any difference in hum level? On this case, we are isolating the preamp and testing for any interference. When the preamp gain is set to high, any interference or signal coupling from transformers or power cords close to the preamp will be amplified greatly.

My suggestions only of course. FWIW, my Chenin is dead quiet on the phono section and linestage section with regards to hum. All I can hear is tube hiss when the tubes, especially phono, are noisy at maximum (fully clockwise) position of the volume attenuator(min attenuation). I can only hear a hum on mine when I connected an SET amp that I know hums with my 100 dB/1W/meter speakers (Altec). I have use my preamp with Magnepans (not likely to have a hum issue), MLogans, and other speakers as I mentioned above on my other post and have no hum problems (thank God!). Maybe I got lucky. BTW, I use a shielded cable from preamp to amp with the shield connected at the preamp side only.

regards,

Abe
abe:

i'm gonna try the cable route first as my yamamoto and cabernet are only connected with cheapie red/white throw away cables. i noticed that when the yamamoto is turned on, the hum starts and the cab only amplifies it due to it's super high gain. if i unplug the rca cables from the yamamoto, the hum is greatly reduced.
Hello Kgturner,

abe:

i'm gonna try the cable route first as my yamamoto and cabernet are only connected with cheapie red/white throw away cables. i noticed that when the yamamoto is turned on, the hum starts and the cab only amplifies it due to it's super high gain. if i unplug the rca cables from the yamamoto, the hum is greatly reduced.

Ahh, then it is likely that your problem is only the cables.

Goodluck!

This message is tube driven
Have you tried using a power cord that does not have a ground? I have a friend that has a Supratek preamp. He was about to send his to Kevin Kovi because he had tried everything to get rid of the hum he had. He happened to plug a power cord in that did not have a ground on it. The hum went away and the preamp was dead quiet!
It might be the case with some amps but I would try to have preamp grounded and try to find the real problem then playing "Russian Roulette". I know it is flustrating......been there not to long ago myself.
I wish you luck with this annoying problem.