V21:
you might want to consider a bendix 6106 rectifier in the chardonnay. that's what i used when i owned a chardonnay and i thought it was much better than the sovtek 5AR4 mick provides. alas, i'm having to sell all mine on eBay as mick stated that the cabernet cannot use a 6106. c'est la vie. |
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twclark:
i would suggest you just order an extra long umbilical cord and move it out of the way where you have room. once you go modifying the chenin's power supply to fit into a small case, you've basically thrown it's resale value out of the window. |
outlier:
from what i recall of my chard, it does have 2 preamp outputs, so there should be no issue connecting 2 monoblocks and 2 subs. |
Ivarmorten:
i used a 6106 and sovtek KT66 in my chardonnay without issue. mick is building a cabernet for me which is about done. he told me that the 6106 wouldn't gel in the cab's circuit. |
welcome to the wonderful world of supratek, mrjstark! |
clipsal:
mick is building a cab for me as i type and he stated in no uncertain terms that the 6106 should not be used in the cab due to it's voltage drop. he told me that if i really wanted to use the 6106, i would have to send him one so he could adjust the power supply and then i could only use a 6106 thereafter. |
powers:
i opted for the 6SN7-101D configuration. |
merry christmas and happy new years to you and yours! may the joys of music and our lives never escape us. |
dracule1:
i don't own a cabernet (yet), but clipsal owns the dual and uses it with 94dB sensitivity speakers. i don'ta recall seeing him ever complain about it being noisy. if i can ever convince mick to finish my cabernet, i'll be using it with von schweikert dB99 SE speakers. |
clipsal:
i read that article this morning. i asked mick in regard to my cabernet dual and he stated that it is coming equipped with auricaps. he did not speak kindly of the v-caps. my cabernet dual is presently sitting at my local fedex sort facility. i presume i will receive it monday. until then, i can only wait. |
well...after many months of waiting, my cabernet dual has arrived and is burning in as i type. i'll reserve judgement on it's "sound", but what i'm hearing straight out of the box is VERY impressive. if i had pick one word to describe what i'm hearing right now, it would be detail. loads and loads of detail without the slightest hint of harshness or grain. lemme take two words and say effortless detail.
being the nitpicky person that i am, one thing i would prefer the cab dual have that it doesn't is gain controls for the 101D section. the 6H30 has a gain control between the tubes, but there is nothing for the 101D. not even the high-low switches next to the 6SN7's that my old chardonnay had. unfortunately, i sold my chardonnay so long ago, that any audible comparison between the two would be an exercise in futility. of course, this is only a matter of functionality and not sound quality. if i had my druthers...
as with anything bearing the supratek name, the fit and finish is beyond reproach. i still marvel at how mick can sell such visually and, more importantly, audibly beautiful preamps at such a low price point. packaging is extremely sturdy. it's almost impossible to pry the preamplifier from it's packaging. i was worried i would scratch the piano black finish pulling it out, but everything appears tip top.
one thing i noticed right away is that this thing is super high gain! paired with my yamamoto a-08s (using EML 45 solid plates), i can't turn the volume knob past the 8 o'clock position without blowing myself out of the room. standing next to my von schweikert dB99 SE speakers with nothing playing, i can hear some hiss and hum. however, i can't really hear it at my listening position and it doesn't interfere with the music at all. this may be due to positioning and/or vibration control. the cab dual is sitting on top of a salamander synergy stand with the yamamoto directly between the preamp and power supply.
well that's enough, perhaps i'll post some more later, but for now, i'm gonna go listen. and as always, a very special thank you and debt of gratitude to slowhand for introducing me (and us) to these amazing preamplifiers. |
you could try reprogramming it. according to the manual:
"hold down the code key and press power, the red light will flash, enter 1 1 4 1 4 and the red light will go out if correctly programmed."
be sure you're aiming the remote toward the center of the cabernet as that's where the IR "eye" is. i've heard that sometimes the volume knob sticks due to the tight tolerances mick uses. good luck. |
why do other people try to latch onto to this thread to pimp other brands preamps? i'm sure the h-cat, audio horizon, and dodd preamps are excellent in their own right, but this is a supratek discussion thread.
if you've compared the h-cat, audio horizon, or dodd preamp to a supratek preamp and want to share your experience, then by all means post away. if you're just trying to shill for the other companies, there are other threads already going for this.
i suppose the thread title is what confuses people. can we change it to "Supratek - Preamp Deal of the Century"? maybe i'm just over-reacting to this. am i the only one? |
I bought a set of XLR-RCA adapters for the preamp output of my Cabernet to see if it would reduce a hum issue I was having. The adapters did eliminate the hum, BUT it ABSOLUTELY killed the dynamics, bass, and overall volume of the music.
The manual does not state what the xlr pinout is, but I did email Mick and he stated that pin 2 is hot, so I believe the Cabernet follows the USA XLR standard (Pin 1 = Shield ground, Pin 2 = Positive balanced signal, Pin 3 = Negative balanced signal). The XLR-RCA adapter was made to the USA XLR standard according to the maker of the adapter.
I'm connecting the Cabernet to a Yamamoto A-08S. As stated before, I wanted to try the adapter to see if it would effect the hum issue which I have. I had previously built my own RCA to XLR cable (Pin 2 to RCA Center, Pin 1 & 3 to RCA Ground) and I had the same problem with my homemade cable that I had with the adapters - death of dynamics, bass depth, and overall volume. I thought I just botched my cable job, but apparently the problem is different.
I'm guessing the problem is with the Cabernet. Before I received the Cabernet, I had the Yamamoto connected to a Denon receiver and did not have the hum problem that I'm having now. I haven't changed the RCAs, power cords, or speaker cables. The only change was the Supratek.
As far as addressing the hum before the adapters, I have tried floating the ground on just the preamp, just the amp, on both, and on my speakers (Von Schweikert dB99-SE). However, all the ground floating did nothing.
I reconnected the RCA to RCA this morning, but left the adapters still connected to the Cabernet XLR out. I noticed the same reduction in hum as well the constriction of dynamics, bass, and volume. Once I unplugged the adapters, the hum came back, but so did the "life" in the music. If anybody has any suggestions to reduce the hum, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks much. |
Marius:
Which tube out of the bunch would be the likliest culprit? The Cab Dual uses two 101D, two 6SN7, two 6H30, two 5881, and a single 5AR4. I'd be fairly pricey to completely retube the Cabernet as the 101D's aren't cheap. I figure I can start with the 6SN7 first to see. Any other opinions? |
Abe:
I don't have a scope nor any access to one that I'm aware of. The hum sounds like a typical ground loop hum to me (60 Hz). I can try the shielded cable route, but I'd likely have to build it. What you're saying is connect the ground and shield at one end of the RCA and just the ground at the other end? |
abe:
the yamamoto is a 45 tube amp and it is tube rectified. i have a few 80 tubes that i can roll to see if that reduces the hum. i emailed kevin covi and he seems to believe the hum is caused by the 101D tube as when i switch the amp to mute, the hum disappears. |
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. |
abe:
i built the cable as per your instructions, but the hum is still present no matter which way the cable is oriented. i'm going to try to spread the cabernet, cabernet power supply, and yamamoto as far apart as possible tomorrow just to be sure it isn't some kind of interference causing the hum. any other ideas? thanks. |
first i've heard of it. that totally sucks, but i guess i'm glad i got my dual cab when i did if it is true. hopefully mick will post to this thread and let us all know. |
here is what kevin covi had to say:
"The hum is coming from the 101D's, and unfortunately hum (and microphonics) are all-too-common attributes of directly-heated triodes."
i sent him a picture of my setup to which he stated:
"I can see right away that the Cab power supply is too close to the preamp, as are the components sitting on top. The DHT's are quite sensitive to external fields so it is essential to keep them far away from any equipment that contains a power supply. The output transformers are also susceptible in this way. The extremely high sensitivity of your speakers just compounds the problem. You also might try building electrostatic shields around the 101D's. As an experiment try placing an empty tin can over each tube to see if the hum goes away. Or maybe aluminum foil. Either way make sure the shields touch the chassis to shunt the noise to ground." |
i'll sell you mine for $15k. i might even throw in a power cable at that price. :) |
i'll throw in shipping & insurance within the US only. act now, and i might even consider splitting the paypal fees!! :P |
very interesting. now that supratek is defunct, i wondered how long it would take before modifications to the circuit started being proposed. while i am naturally intrigued by this, i don't think i'll mess with my dual cabernet if for no other reason than the sheer terror that would befall me frying the preamp. |
for what it's worth, when i first received the malbecs, one of them had an annoying popping, spitty sound which turned out to be the bias resistor on one of the KT88s. if your tech friend couldn't find any issue with any of the resistors, then i guess you could just email mick or kevin covi for assistance with trouble shooting. |
there's a pair of piano black/chrome malbecs on eBay for $3500 plus shipping if anybody is interested. they aren't mine for what it's worth. i just found it interesting that supratek gear is popping up on eBay. |
i've seen the internals of my chardonnay, malbecs, and current dual cabernet. true enough they do look messy, but every solder joint looked clean to me. further, all the wires felt "tight" in their positions and not flopping around inside the chassis.
apparently some people only want to see shiny pcb's with thick traces inside their gear. in my experience, the shortest most direct signal path sounds the best. my preamp is point to point wired and so is my amp. even my DAC has a short signal path / minimalist approach (47 labs shigaraki dac).
the other benefit of point to point wiring is it's relative ease of repair. now that supratek has closed up shop, we owners can still have our preamps/amps repaired by a skilled technician. we're not left out in the cold because an oem supratek pcb burned up. |
simon:
you might consider buying a cheapie learning remote such as the universal remote control R7G (URC-R7G) and shipping it to someone who has a functioning supratek remote. i would be willing to program the learning remote with my supratek codes if you shipped it to me, but i'm in america. i'm sure there are some supratek owners in australia who would be able to help you out. otherwise, drop me a line and i'll get you my address information. good luck. |
any happenings in the world of supratek owners? anybody moved on to different preamps? new/exciting mods to their supratek? i hate to see this thread die, but i guess that's just how it will be. |
maril:
yes, those were my malbecs. i traded them for the cabernet dual i currently own. mick told me to hold onto the malbecs while he made the cabernet dual. i shipped the malbecs to kevin covi in new york once i received the cab. what became of them after that i can't say, though i'm not as brazen as you are to say that they were resold to another person as new. |
interesting experiences some have had. some people love their suprateks and apparently some people got screwed out of money. very interesting to say the least. i guess i was one of the lucky ones. |
i'd say the supratek packaging is good to mediocre. i've seen better and i've seen worse. the saving grace is typically the shipment method and the speed of delivery. from australia to the usa in 3 days is amazing.
i've received a chardonnay, malbecs and cabernet dual all in perfect condition. i've shipped the chardonnay to puerto rico and the malbecs to new york in the original supratek packaging and they arrived without incident. |
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chelvam:
i was wondering what was up with that site as it was horribly made. i hope mick didn't pay much for that. good luck with you chardonnay. i owned one, but sold it and moved up to a dual cabernet. now that i'm getting into vinyl, i sometimes think i should've gone with a cortese instead. c'est la vie. |
has anybody seen this site: http://www.mentalpixel.com/supratek/index.htmlit's copyrighted 2007. the front page looks decent, but the rest of the site looks like somebody had no idea what they were doing. anywho, does anybody know who manufacturers the supratek remotes? i'm trying to get the hex codes for it so i can program my squeezebox remote to control the volume of my dual cabernet. |
chelvam: if i'm not mistaken, when looking at the back of the chardonnay, the two sets of rca jacks to the right are preout 1 & 2. then the sets starting from the left are inputs 1, 2, 3, 4. there may be a tape loop in there somewhere between input 4 and preout 1. look at this picture for reference: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/supratek/3.jpg |
chevlam:
i can't recall which is the hot for the balanced outputs, but you should be emailing mick for some of these questions. i've emailed him twice already with some basic questions regarding tube compatibilities and he's always responded in less than 24 hours. hopefully somebody else can chime in and help, but mick can tell you just as quickly. |
Still loving my Dual Cabernet. I'm just regretting not getting a Supratek with a built in phono now that I'm getting my feet wet on vinyl. Anybody have a sub $2k phono stage recommendation? I'm currently leaning towards the Aqvox unit, but not really committed to anything yet. |
The remote control volume from my digital cable box happens to control the volume of my Dual Cabernet. Just the TV function of it though. My television is an older Philips/Magnavox. Perhaps you could find a Philips TV remote or code that might work. Good luck. |
On his old website, Mick used to state that any competent tech could repair his units. I'm sure he would be willing to provide the tech with info/schematics.
I remember a member of Audio Asylum (Michael Samra) did some power supply repair/changes for another member. I hadn't heard about Kevin Covi leaving. Let us know what happens. |
