Supratek Owners & Discussion Thread

[Guest Mdieterk]

3 minutes ago, THOMO said:

Well it is the budget model and there would be at least a $1000 worth of parts in it.Seems like a bargain to me .A while back I had some pretty simple electrical jobs done in my house-ceiling fan installed and some extra power points and meter box rewire  and it came to more than that.

As a furniture maker I get comments like that from some potential buyers.It  will cost how much?And then they don't think twice about paying twice my charge out rate just to have their car serviced!It gets pretty frustrating.

No way is there$1000 parts! And I wouldn't call a $4,000 audio component budget my current preamplifier which I was hoping the supertech would beat far performs it in it cost $1,600 us all tube including a photo stage with high quality parts and much better built

[THOMO]

16 hours ago, Mdieterk said:

No way is there$1000 parts! And I wouldn't call a $4,000 audio component budget my current preamplifier which I was hoping the supertech would beat far performs it in it cost $1,600 us all tube including a photo stage with high quality parts and much better built

You have obviously never had anything built locally.Getting anything custom fabricated in small numbers here is expensive.Supratek is also priced in $ US and the exchange rate is not helping at the moment.At other times that $4000 was more like $3000.And who knows what parts are really in those Chinese preamps.They are notorious for using fake components which look like the real thing.Probably made using political prisoner slave labour!

Anyway some preamps simply do not combine well with some power amps.I have four good preamps and 5 good power amps and some combinations sound fantastic and some not so good.You can't even assume that preamps and power amps from the same maker and model series will be an optimal combination.Unfortunately that is just how it is.You have to keep trying different combinations until you find what you prefer.Or you might just get lucky from the start.

[Gryffles]

This was a good decision. Just arrived today

 

Cabernet Dual 300b

 

[xlr8or]

31 minutes ago, Gryffles said:

This was a good decision. Just arrived today

 

Cabernet Dual 300b

 

 

Time to tube roll.

[Gryffles]

22 minutes ago, xlr8or said:

 

Time to tube roll.

I'm tube rolling in my head before it even arrived......sad but true

[Guest deanB]

On 28/09/2022 at 11:24 AM, Mdieterk said:

Doge 8 which is also tube design it is absolutely correct.

I auditioned a Doge 8 in my system and rejected it for being dark, bass heavy and slow. So I can see how the Supratek might sound a bit lean to somebody that found the Doge absolutely correct (whatever that means).

Sounds like you should move on from your Supratek experience, although you have bagged the Chardonnay out pretty good so you might struggle to move it on.

And I see you've actually described it as wonderful sounding in your classified ad but you're not so praiseworthy in this thread. So which is it really?

 

[muriwai]

Damn 

I must be on slow mail or notifications?

I can’t see the add yet?

[Guest Mdieterk]

39 minutes ago, deanB said:

I auditioned a Doge 8 in my system and rejected it for being dark, bass heavy and slow. So I can see how the Supratek might sound a bit lean to somebody that found the Doge absolutely correct (whatever that means).

Sounds like you should move on from your Supratek experience, although you have bagged the Chardonnay out pretty good so you might struggle to move it on.

And I see you've actually described it as wonderful sounding in your classified ad but you're not so praiseworthy in this thread. So which is it really?

 

A lot of people think it's wonderful 

Correct means correct tonality, something only possible to hear with classical music, as one has a reference to real instruments. 

With the right tubes the Doge 8 clarity is not dark and it is very fast. 

I now have an Allnic l3000 which leaves both preamps far far behind. But the Supratek has cheap parts and sounds lab and harsh, much more than 'a bit lean'

PS I've been in the audio industry 40 years so in sure I've heard much more gear than you

[sir sanders zingmore]

1 hour ago, Mdieterk said:

A lot of people think it's wonderful 

Correct means correct tonality, something only possible to hear with classical music, as one has a reference to real instruments. 

With the right tubes the Doge 8 clarity is not dark and it is very fast. 

I now have an Allnic l3000 which leaves both preamps far far behind. But the Supratek has cheap parts and sounds lab and harsh, much more than 'a bit lean'

PS I've been in the audio industry 40 years so in sure I've heard much more gear than you

 

There are a number of sweeping generalisations in your post that are unnecessarily provocative.

We get that you don't like Supratek. Time to give it a rest 

[Gryffles]

Is it ok to use 6L6 or 6L6G in the 2 psu regulator positions or just 6L6GC / KT66?

 

I have some Tungsol 5881 that I’d like to try and also some ST shaped 6L6G

[amdan]

On 01/10/2022 at 7:22 PM, Allan said:

Hi,

 

I’ve placed an order for a Cabernet 6SN7 and have a few questions.  Rather than annoy Mick with questions he’s probably answered a million times, could anyone advise what comes as standard in the Canbernet 6SN7 pre please...

 

Balanced In and Out?

Adjustable Gain?

HT Bypass?

Bias Setting Instructions?
 

Has anyone a owners manual they could pm me please?

 

thanks

 

 

I doubt there is a standard that anyone knows about aside from Mick. I have purchased two from him over the years and both times he has built it to my needs. 

[xlr8or]

5 hours ago, Gryffles said:

Is it ok to use 6L6 or 6L6G in the 2 psu regulator positions or just 6L6GC / KT66?

 

I have some Tungsol 5881 that I’d like to try and also some ST shaped 6L6G

 

If you use the tube bias calculator link below you'll find that the KT66 is rated at 25w maximum power dissipation and the 6L6GC is rated at 30w maximum power dissipation. If you assume cathode biased at 60% of the maximum power dissipation for the 25w value that's probably going to stress the 6L6G as it's rated at 19w maximum power dissipation. No problem with the 5881 as that's rated at 26w maximum power dissipation.

 

https://robrobinette.com/Tube_Bias_Calculator.htm

[Gryffles]

3 hours ago, xlr8or said:

 

If you use the tube bias calculator link below you'll find that the KT66 is rated at 25w maximum power dissipation and the 6L6GC is rated at 30w maximum power dissipation. If you assume cathode biased at 60% of the maximum power dissipation for the 25w value that's probably going to stress the 6L6G as it's rated at 19w maximum power dissipation. No problem with the 5881 as that's rated at 26w maximum power dissipation.

 

https://robrobinette.com/Tube_Bias_Calculator.htm

Cool. Chucked the Tungsol 5881's in and working fine. Slight change in sound being a bit smoother then the Ruskies. Cool with me

Now waiting for my NEC 6SN7's to arrive......

[xlr8or]

13 minutes ago, Gryffles said:

Cool. Chucked the Tungsol 5881's in and working fine. Slight change in sound being a bit smoother then the Ruskies. Cool with me

Now waiting for my NEC 6SN7's to arrive......

 

Were the Ruskies KT66's or 6L6GC's? The early black plate Nippon Electric Coorporation 6SN7's are wonderful sounding tubes. They'll complement the tonal characteristics of the TS 5881's very nicely. Please post some photos of the 6SN7's when they arrive.

Edited October 11, 2022 by xlr8or

[Gryffles]

3 hours ago, xlr8or said:

 

Were the Ruskies KT66's or 6L6GC's? The early black plate Nippon Electric Coorporation 6SN7's are wonderful sounding tubes. They'll complement the tonal characteristics of the TS 5881's very nicely. Please post some photos of the 6SN7's when they arrive.

6P3SE or whatever they are. Mine are the grey plate NEC with copper rods and halo getter. Sure I'll post a pic when I get them

[Gryffles]

Anyone used EML 300b in their Cabernet?

 

Im considering a new pair of 300b and wondering about the EML mesh. 

[Gryffles]

Spooky quiet in Suprateks homeland…..surprising

 

Well my mesh plate EML 300b are in the country. Looking forward to listening once burnt in

[Dantheman91]

 

Hi All

Bought a Supratek Sauvignon pre-amplifier last weekend for a fair price my tech has done a quick bench test it powers up and the music plays through it but It needs another look over though does anyone know the history of these units not an awful lot online to go through looking for Spec sheet and how to use and more importantly what does this pre add to the sound with a Power Amplifier one up and running will be using a Quad 303 , 405 or Technics SE A909S

 

The are scarce here in the UK it was cheap so hoping to get it working from test the far end in the input and the last one is to the power amplifier How would i go about using the Female XLR - the switch one the back what does this need to be set too as its a high gain pre would need to attenuate 

 

Thanks all look forward to hearing from you 

 

[Allan]

I've just received a new Supratek Cabernet 6SN7, using it with digital (Lumin D2 & Pontus DAC) and Levinson 27 amp and some Proacs, so out went an Onkyo P3000R preamp and in place went the Cabernet. The Onkyo sounded absolutely gorgeous in this system, very resolving with swags of texture, well balance from top to bottom.

 

On my Cabernet, the PSVane 6SN7-SE's look brand new whereas the 6N3C's are probably used as there's dust on the underside near pins.. no issue with that.  So, my question is how long does it generally take a new Supratek to break-in and open right up? I've 24hrs non-stop use so far and currently, it sounds a little restricted in the lower mids and bass is a tad on the wooly side, it also seems like the dynamics are yet to really open up. Top end is nice but doesn't sparkle.

 

Thanks Allan

 

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by Allan

[Gryffles]

50 hrs and you should be good to go @Allan

The coupling caps and probably more importantly the film caps in the psu need time.

Perhaps there will be some small changes after 50hrs due to the Teflon wire Mick uses

 

You probably already know but it needs to be playing music for break in to happen 

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by Gryffles

[Allan]

@Gryffles  I tried searching the web but couldn't really find anything related, I appreciate the feedback.. thank you.

I plan rolling tubes at some stage but would rather let things settle first. Yep will keep the tunes playing and enjoy the ride

It now has about 24hrs on it and this morning I noticed its a little more relaxed compared to yesterday, it doesn't seem so tight chested, mids have become more pronounced. I had an idea the caps would play a part in break-in as also I've a couple of FW amps here that did the same, I changed PSU caps in the F5 after about 100hrs and it took another 50 odd thereafter before it settled again.

 

So far the Cab is sounding very nice.

 

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by Allan

[Allan]

I'm about to embark on a tube rolling exercise for my Cabernet so I'd like to know what people recommend from personal experience for the 6SN7, 5N3C & 5U4C tubes. I already have some NOS tubes to try so now I'm after tubes still in production that people have personally experienced. My criteria is;

 

• tight bass with good resolve, ideally it has texture, not wooly
• mids where strung instruments resonate, overtones exist
• highs where symbols ring and dont just crash
• soundstage width and depth is not as important as sonic resolve

 

Price is no object!

 

Thanks Allan

 

 

Edited June 29, 2023 by Allan

[Allan]

Geez I guess everyone is busy listening instead of posting

 

... in an case, rather than annoy Mick can anyone tell me with my Cabernet (3×RCA &  1xXLR outlet) can I simulaniously tie in a sub on another RCA outlet?

 

Thanks

[THOMO]

As regards tube rolling what is best depends on the rest of your system.Different 6SN7 s have slightly different sound but what might be best on my system might not be the best on yours. The differences are not huge.Some are also more microphonic so that might be a consideration.The cheap Russian militay OTKs are like that but otherwise sound good.The Shuguang Black Treasure [CV181 I think] are well regarded and very quiet but a bit dull sounding in my system.Find something you are happy with and stick to it.People who end up with a box full of different valves just for the sake of trying  [or fooling themselves] to hear a difference are a bit tragic really.They can end up spending as much on them as the preamp or amp itself.And they end up wearing out the sockets.

 

Running an active sub from the second RCA pre out should work fine.Indeed that and biamping is what it was designed for.

 

 

[Allan]

thanks Thomo. I use socket savers while juggling.  If XLR is selected for main out will RCA still work for the sub?

 

Thanks AL

Edited July 15, 2023 by Allan