Preamp Deal of the Century

Well,
I do believe Mick was more attentive to his customers in the early years of Supratek, my experience correlates with the late stages of it's existence, and it was very clear, that his priorities had shifted.
I owned three of his pieces, and my cumulative experience is not insignificant.
Also, I've had numerous interactions with then current and ex- Supratek owners, all off of this thread, and their opinions reflected mine almost exactly. I'm talking about a few areas- sound and built quality more, than anything.
There have been a number of posts here on A-gon, discussing some sonic attributes of Suprateks.
And if one is careful and open- minded enough, one can gather less, than stellar impressions of MANY owners.
Let me be blunt saying this: I've owned and had a number of different preamps in my own system, since Supratek-
Doshi Alaap, Nagra PL-P, BAT REX.
All of them I found to be superior to Supratek, especially in the area of neutrality and timbral accuracy.
Let me be even more blunt. Supratek made my system pretty much unlistenable due to quite extreme sibilance and treble quality.
Again, I'm not being subjective to even a slightest degree- that's in comparison with at least THREE different preamps, in my own system, over a long periods of listening.
Next on to the build quality- please put any Supratek next to Nagra or BAT, then open the case, and then you'll see , that Supratek is nothing more, than a poorly built piece of
DIY.
Looks cool on the outside, though.
Next one - packaging. It's not even funny- the lowest quality of boxes,I've ever seen. They are not even dedicated boxes, just DHL standard box.
The hight dimension of the boxes is way too small for the height of the component, the box pressing against the fake trannies covers, making it way too susceptable to shipping damage. And I can attest to that. BOTH of my brand new Mondeuse amps arrived badly damaged, with bent chassis, entirely due to inadequate packing.
Should I go on?
As to the integrity of SOME members, known for trumpeting this product, I'm willing to explain it, in the best case scenario, by a limited exposure to better products- and that's is nobody's fault, of course. We are all entitled to our own opinions.
The worst case scenario is lack of restrain and objectivity, and willingness to be a messiah of the audiophiledom.
One reservation, though : In my humble opinion, if one is willing to influence many of the A-gon members purchasing decision, and let's be realistic- many of us, myself included, are influenced by A-gon members reviews, by posting unreserved praise about any product, then one should have enough integrity to make that praise as objective and evidence based, as possible. We are supposed to be a community of like- minded and mutually helpful individuals.
Many of us, fortunately are. That's why, I'm not making any blunket statements.
And the last thing- anyone can question my integrity, I don't mind. At least, I stated, what my opinion is based on, make your own conclusions, and tried to stay away from saying, that component "A" absolutely kills component "B".

Looking for a fight, Maril?

Personally, I am thrilled with my Supratek Chenin. It was delivered faster than I expected it, it has worked flawlessly since I got it, and I am enjoying doing mods to it to try to wring every last drop of performance from it - the point-to-point wiring some have derided as a rat's nest makes it very easy to mod, so I have no issues there. Plus it's beautiful to look at as well. If Mick was still in business I might even buy another preamp or amp from him in the future.

I had a Cortese that I purchased used. One of the inputs was wired incorrectly. Mick claimed he had not done it, and the seller claimed he had never had it modified. So, who was responsible was never clear.

Mick was not forthcoming with the name of the USA repair technician. When he finally gave me Kevin's name, I contacted Kevin several times. I never received a reply.

Eventually, I took photos of the innards and emailed them to Mick. He explained what was wrong, and I re-soldered the input wire according to his instructions.

I was not thrilled with the Supratek service, considering I serviced the unit myself with the emailed assistance of Mick.

The preamp sounded very good in many regards, but I never felt it matched ideally with my amplifiers.

So, now, here we are a bit later, and some folks (at least one, maybe more) are stating that Mick is gone, and they are owed money.
Isn't this the nature of the questions I asked along the way...."If it takes a year to get one, what about service?" I was villified by some people here, with some saying that I had an 'agenda'. Frankly I did...my agenda was to question Mick's business practice of keeping deposits for a year before delivering, and now, of course, maybe just keeping them period.

Why wait for a year for something that is readily available? The question is as valid now, as when I asked it years ago...the only difference is, some people have lost their money.

During one exchange, in simply asking what to me was the obvious, I received a private email from Mick, and he berated me, and was verbally abusive...maybe under pressure, who knows, telling me to 'mind my own business'.

What is it about audio that elevates some products, seemingly those which are hardest to get, to mystical status, creating a group of people willing to wait for a year?

Personally, I hope Mick is happy and healthy, and that he can return the deposits which some are asking for--for his sake as well as the customers.

My Supratek also had some issues (response of the phono was messed up), and while I would agree that Mick should not have been in charge of service (denying the problem, rude emails, etc), I would like to say that Kevin Covi, the US repair tech for Supratek, is awesome. He fixed me up, politely, professionally and promptly.

So, without questioning the integrity of others, aside from technical/service issues, the Supratek Syrah is still an excellent sounding $2,500 preamp. Best in the world? Probably not... but I would not hesitate to A/B it to any $5,000 preamp