Hi Everybody.
I've got some good news and some bad news. The bad news for present owners is that I've completely redesigned the Cortese/Sauvignon and the Grange/Cabernet preamps. Sorry, but as the label on the old GE tube boxes says "Progress is our most important product"
The good news is that after many years I finally have the "higher-end" production pres sounding as I always have wanted them to sound.
It has been a hard and often frustrating journey- I've always prefered the sound of high gain preamps, although there is more to it than just the gain aspect as phase is a very important and often overlooked part of the overall sound design package.
The high gain pres sound more "alive" and 3D like- they have magical imaging properties that can throw a soundstage as deep as wide with the right speakers and amps.
The difference is not subtle- it is instantly more realistic and lifelike. Joyful isn't too strong a word.
The BIG problem is the high gain- everything gets amplified to high levels, including the inherant noise of the preamplifier, which is quite low, being fully regulated.
However the inherant noise of the following power amp also gets amplified and these are usually much noisier than a good preamp.
If the power amp has high gain, and many do these days in order to be used with CD direct, then the hum and noise can be intrusive,especially with high effeciency speakers.
The solution is to use a low gain/sensitivity power amp- then you have the preamp providing the voltage gain and the power amp turning it into current to drive the speakers.
Each unit does what it is best at then and gives the optimum sound. And noise levels are inaudible, even with high effeciency speakers.
This is what I've used for years, and is how I like to build systems- high gain preamps and low gain power amps.
Unfortunately, in the real world there are very few low gain/sensitivity power amps,so I've had to compromise the design of the preamps to limit the gain.
Over the last year Kevin and I have taken the design of the higher ended preamps even further up the scale- to a standard that I didn't think was even possible. I cant begin to describe how involving these preamps are. Even now after nearly 30 years of doing this, I still have to have my daily dose of sitting down and soaking up the pure enjoyment of listening to such a joyful sound.
But we've been doing this with preamps I couldn't sell!
Match these with a high gain power amp and the noise will come through-some who have heard them are quite prepared to put up with it to have the sound, but i haven't been prepared to sell them like that.
I 've been looking for a solution for years- how to get the magic sound of the high gain pres into a low gain version.
In August 2003 the solution came to me, and after a few months of fine tuning the concept, the all new Cortese/Sauvignon, Grange/Cabernet designs were finished and are now being built.
The web page will be updated soon with all the details.
Please note that this update does not relate to the Syrah/Chardonnay preamps- I'm very happy with the performance of these preamps and see no reason to change the configuration of them.
Cheers
Mick Maloney- SUPRATEK
