Jack summed it up nicely. Smooth/classic vs. more dynamic/lively. Its subtle but instantly noticeable and interestingly both still very much retain that ‘Supratek’ house sound. Mostly likely due to the regulators. A feature very few other builders incorporate. Couple that with the ease of repairs due to P-P wiring and you have sonic pieces of art that can literally be handed down for decades to come and will sound as good if not better 50 years from now with only some very minor maintenance.
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.
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.
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- 501 posts total
As to the different finishes the only differences are the cost and the fact that in the current supply chain environment the copper/chrome finishes will result in what could be a much longer wait time. I prefer the black chassis finish anyway so I have one with a black case and one with the Jarrah wood case. They don't sound any different. The Supratek's will be my last preamp and all the others will eventually be for sale. Would love to hear Aric's take on the 6SN7 preamp but not going to buy one just for an audition. |
@firstgrowth can you please explain a little bit about what you mean by you "rewired everything"? It sounds like you had to rebuild the preamp. I'm guessing that what you meant was that you simply reconnected everything in your system and re-seated the tubes. And sorted out the switch. Is this correct? |
- 501 posts total