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Supratek Owners Thread

Greetings All - 
It appears that the 26-million-plus view, multi-decade "Preamp Deal of the Century" Supratek thread has been removed. I'm not sure why, but suppose there must be a reasonable explanation.
In any case, on that thread I recently asked whether there might be interest in a "Supratek owners thread" and received some interest. 
The purpose of this thread is for Supratek owners to share the details of their system, ask questions, share information about any tube-rolling they have done, and so forth.
I'll kick us off here with a few details about my system -
ancient Linn LP12 with Ittok arm, Dynavector 17D3 cartridge into Cortese LCR phono stage
Power amp is a fully serviced Innersound Electrostatic amplifier
Quad ESL63 speakers (not USA monitors) or JBL 4430 studio monitors
Digital sources are immature and evolving - ancient Fostex CR300 cd player/burner
DacMagic 100 DAC
Nordost Blue Heaven 75ohm interconnect
Due to the fairly long lengths of speaker wire required in the new listening room, speaker wire is Belden 12 gauge wire designed for low-voltage outdoor lighting systems. 
Next steps - dedicated circuit, new power cords, new interconnects, new wires.
markusthenaimnut
aldnorab
189 posts
 

Thank you @jackd . Was ready to order a Supratek and wait 4 months. Before sending the email scanned the ads one last time, to make sure I wasn't missing a super preamp deal. I'm on final break at work and there it is... a Don Sachs D2. Thought it wouldn't last until I got home. It did and now it is on the way. I should have it in less than a week. I may still order a Supertek. Now I can return the borrowed preamp. 

Thanks,

aldnorab

jackd
1,126 posts
 

@aldnorab 

 

Congrats on your purchase.  Of the two that just sold did you buy the black face unit or the older silver face unit with the gain controls?

aldnorab
189 posts
 

@jackd thanks. Bought the chrome model with gain controls. Don Sachs is in favor of deleting them, but I like the extra versatility of adjustable gain and balance, normally a Supratek advantage. Owner sent it to DS for updates, including the new rectifier. Was mentally prepared for Supratek and 4 month wait, now it is DS and a week. Life is always surprising.

Thanks,

aldnorab

jackd
1,126 posts
 

I think the dual gain controls are a big advantage and wish mine had them.  The fixed 18db gain on the newer models gain can be a bit much with many amplifiers if using higher efficiency speakers.  In the combination I use mine in the AVA amp has a high input sensitivity of 2.5 volts and the Rosso Fiorentino speakers are only 88 db so it works out fine.  

aldnorab
189 posts
 

The Supratek has big advantages to those with multiple amps. My VTL is 125k input at 2v. The Pioneer Series 20 M-22 class A amp is 47k at 1 volt. I've had other components that run out of volume control. Is there a disadvantage to putting the largest cap needed on the DS, when using other amps, besides size and price?

Thanks,

aldnorab

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