Atma-Sphere vs. Supratek


I placed an order last year for a Supratek Cortese LCR preamp; it will still be a few months until it will arrive at my home in Silicon Valley. Meanwhile I keep reading good things about the Atma-Sphere MP-1 and Mp-3 instruments. Can anyone voice an opinion about those two brands, both hand-made tube machines in a similar price range? I listen to all kinds of music, including opera, mostly on vinyl [Basic 2200 Signature with Vector 4 arm and Benz Micro LP-S cartridge, Sunvalley phono stage with EMIA SUT, MSB Platinum Signature CD transport and DAC, LinkwitzLab NCore6 active crossover/amplifier, and Linkwitz LX521.4 open-baffle speakers (best speakers I have ever heard)]. For preamp I am currently using Ed Shilling’s The Truth. For me a natural-sounding soprano voice is the pinnacle of well reproduced music.

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Showing 2 responses by blackdoghifi

To be fair to Supratek, the later units are better built than earlier ones. Early ones were a complete and utter rats nest of bad connections, poor grounding, and downright dangerous wiring.

However they are still not very neat and tidy inside which does lead to problems.And like Chorus above, I’ve a higher percentage of Supratek, than Atamasphere.

You can see what a new one looks inside here (at the bottom, left photo) on my website. Full disclosure, it's compared to my lower priced preamp.

https://www.blackdoghifi.com/About.html