Wiring.

Well I've tried to let this go for years, but I guess it's time to address it.

In the past, my preamps received criticism about the internal wiring.

In my opinion it came after my preamps were compared to other manufacturers product and were heard to be clearly superior.

The only recourse these manufacturers , and some miffed owners of other gear ( I guess it's not so much fun when your $25,000 pre gets blown away by something a tenth of the price) was to criticise the internal wiring of the Suprateks, which to be truthful did look a bit messy.

But there was a good reason for this :  I built maybe a hundred prototypes before I decided to go into the audio manufacturing world , they were all point to point wiring, where every component is connected to another either by wiring it to a terminal or using it's own wire leadout. They are wrapped around the connecting terminal and then soldered.

In theory , the pre would work with no soldering at all, just the hard wired connection between each connection.

But all the commercial audio products used printed circuit boards (PCB's) so  I had one designed and made for the first commercial Supratek linestage.

Very quick and easy to build but it didn't sound like a Supratek .

So I asked the PCB designer to do it again, with a different earth configuration , as I hoped that was the problem.

Still not nearly as good as the hard wired prototype. It was ok, but just not as dimensional and open as the hard-wired preamp. It sounded boring.

So I then tried a compromise between a PCB and hard-wiring with small stereo boards containing the electronics components and the signal and output wiring all hard-wired.

This was better but the magic was still not there- it was 90% , but that last 10% was what made the magic happen, and the prototype was still audibly superior.

I then got the idea in my head that it was the fact that all the connections in a PCB are connected by a small round dob of lead (Pb) rather than a direct wire wrap.

 I decided then that I did not want anything to do with PCB's and would just have to hardwire the preamps and power amps.

And I'm not alone in that- there are plenty of manufacturers who hard wire , so I set out to rewire the preamp the way everyone else did it, with a grid of bundled wires folded into straight lines and right angle turns with lots of cable ties.

As an aside , back in the 1930/40's there was a clash between audio guys who wired "spaghetti" style and "new york street" style ( everything at right angles), so this is nothing new.

But this was still missing the magic - I dont know if its the small capacitances between the bundled wires, the considerably longer lengths , but the advantages of spaghetti wiring were certainly audible to my ears.

I keep coming back to talking about dimensionality , the 3D effect you get with good audio.

With PCB's it's diminished drastically, with bundled right angled wiring , much less so, but its still diminished .

I knew that spaghetti wiring is generally frowned upon, it does look messy and gets viewed as unprofessional, but I and others were clearly hearing that "spaghetti" was audibly superior.

To me its all about the sound quality, nothing more, nothing less.

I decided to do it my way, and a a result of that , my preamps got some pretty good reviews and I made a lot of people happy with their purchase of a Supratek.

That's when the criticism of the wiring started, and I could see it was going to be an issue that could polarise the situation.

Lets be clear- I could have made a lot more profit, and built many more preamps if I had used PCB's or bundled wiring.

It definitely affected some sales as the criticism did get through to some potential buyers .

But I like to think I stick to my ideals and I was, and still am 100% committed to getting the highest sound quality out of the preamps.

Point to point wiring may look a bit less "anal" but it actually provides the most direct route for a signal to travel. Unencumbered by length or the need to be on the same plane and direction.

I admire good engineering , and the Suprateks are a  fine example of it, massive power supplies, expensive chassis and most important of all, a state of the art design that's focused on one thing only - the finest sound quality that can be got from a tube.

The $2000 Chardonnay linestage preamp has its own separate power supply, tube recification, tube shunt regulation  (this is a big deal), a highly evolved circuit that will drive any power amp and  exquisite looks to boot.

There is nothing comparable to it at this price, and yes it is completely handmade with internal wiring that would still attract criticism from the anal audiophiles that seem to care more about this than how it sounds.

The other issue is reliability. PCB's have all the resistors , sockets and other heat generating parts all stacked on the same plane and in close proximity to each other - PCB's get hot and heat is the number one enemy of reliability.

All of the "spaghetti" wired Suprateks are still going strong , some are nearly 20 years old, and some are on original tubes.

And if something does go wrong it's a hell of a lot easier to fix than having to remove a PCB or unbundle a heap of wires.

Having said all this, over the years I have changed the wiring - lots of built preamps, and the experience that comes with it has resulted in minimising the wiring , getting the lengths between components even shorter and more direct.

I know there will be still be some who think it "untidy" - sorry but your ideals about what is important about audio are different to mine.

Below is a pix of the inside of a phono/linestage  preamp.  It has 6 tubes and 8 transformers which are positioned in place with a heat resistant adhesive.   Notice how close to each other the components are, there's a direct solid connection between each part that forms a flow of the circuit with minimal disruption and maximum effect.

The signal and output wiring is still to go in, but its all as direct and short as possible .

I know this wont be the end of the criticism, some audiophiles are focused on what they've been told and nothing can be done about that.

I'll continue to do it my way, which I believe delivers the finest sound and reliability.

                      Chardonnay Line Stage  , comes with matching power supply $US2000

www.supratek.com.au

More questions...

I received an email with questions about a Cortese phono preamp.
Quite interesting questions so i thought I would make a blog with the answers.

 I have a good idea when I hear things if i like them or not. But I’m in no way an engineer and while I can tell you I like silk domes much more than metal domes or that I like the timbre and space tubes can add. That some of the things I appreciate are saturated timbres and dynamics  vividness and an alive  quality some refer to as musical. I like to hear space but I’m not overly concerned w the size of the soundstage and image specificity   I don’t like a bright etched or grainy top end or tipped up highs masquerading as details. 

Sounds exactly like a Supratek preamp, but you do get a big soundstage, much appreciated with the right speakers.

Dynamics are the big thing with The Suprateks- the high gain is there for a reason- it results in BIG dynamics with the added realism that brings. The gain control at rear end of circuit can bring gain down to suit any power amp/speaker , but doesn't affect the dynamic nature too much. 

  So I have a Kiseki Purple Heart I will keep I like a lot its .48 mV. So I think would be ok w your lcr at 70db my pre has only 10 dB gain I think and pass power amp may be 25dB.

0.48mV is getting up there for a MC cartridge, but the LCR (and the standard Cortese) has a very high overload tolerance. Its capable of much higher inputs, with a very clean  output, up to 20V which , while low distortion,  is very high,  so I like to recommend no higher than 0.5mV. I think you'll find that you like the really low output cartridges  a lot more with a Cortese. 

Dont forget you can adjust linestage gain .

 I got a new table a thorens 124 I had rebuilt and got an arm for it ordered another so I will run one mono cart the Miyajima zero   I had asked you about  because it is per the designer developed specifically for step up transformer as opposed to active gain. Now I understand that not all engineers/ designers agree so I was planning to ask a few people I know what they thought about this. I do see the importer is selling a current phono pre now so I was under the impression this IS ACTIVE so he must feel it ok. 

Well I've made it pretty plain that I dont like step up devices, even the really expensive ones cant relay the dynamics of an active device. 

Most manufacturers go to step up devices because they cant get an all active MC phono stage quiet. It is a big task as with so much gain , the noise floor can become audible.  It took me years to figure out how to do it, with stereo ground lines, layout and power supply design all contributing.

I've been told the LCR Cortese is quieter than the $30,000 phono M.Fremer uses with a step up. 

  In addition I had bought a cheap Denon DL103 to play around w till I have the carts. For the stereo cart I was thinking to go w an Ortofon SPU a Miyajima stereo or a Koetsu rosewood. Still not decided. 

Ive got a lot of experience with the Denon, the SPU and the Koetsu. All are fantastic, I get the 103 rebuilt by Expert Stylus in London, who put a special cantilever and diamond in it, worth every penny. 

The SPU is the most musical, engaging cart you will hear, a little warm perhaps, but again Expert Stylus revamped it , and its my favorite cartridge.

The Koetsu's are always special.

  Too the best of my knowledge have never heard an lcr phono just that they sound really great. So I believe most I’m familiar w would be cr type. Is there anything you can tell me that could be thought of as generalized differences ?or typical sound traits / characteristics of the lcr type? 

Kind of like the difference between the Expert 103 and the Expert SPU- both are very good, but the SPU is just more engaging, fun and exciting to listen to. 

Essentially the signal is straight through on a LCR, while with the CR it goes through a couple of capacitors. Thats quite simplified explanation, there's more to it than that, but that's how it sounds.  

  Also could I get it w 2 inputs? 

Yes

And would it be possible to switch the loading from the front / top/ side so I can switch between carts w out move the unit?

No, but the switch is at extreme back side and really easy to access. Its a slide switch that goes from top to bottom. 

When you dealing with a voltage that is 5 ten thousandths of a volt (0.0005V) you dont want too much wiring , switches etc. 

  And I think I read balanced is available as a cost extra? Is there a benefit in terms of noise resistance?  It would not be a balanced circuit just allow balanced cables?  

RCA and XLR balanced are standard. But there is absolutely no advantage in using balanced cables if the following power amp isn't fully balanced, better to use a good set of RCA cables with the RCA output.

Yes if the following power amp is fully balanced there is a noise reduction, but the Suprateks are already so quiet you wont hear any difference. 

  One last thing. The information available is slim.

True, I need to put more info on web site- I will do that. 

 Not many reviews but they are usually b s anyway. I do think Srajan from 6 moons is great and conveys what I think of as very accurately the sound of a product ( from the few reviews of his I’ve read AND know the product) I have found a few things on forums  people who claim to be owners have for the most part great things to say.

Thats what I rely on, I'm too small a company and not enough profit to advertise and get reviews , and as you say, they dont mean that much. 

I tend to sell to people who are on the end of their audio journey, they've been through the bullshit and know what they want, and recognise it in the Suprateks. 

Unfortunately, for me, they are very happy and dont spend much time on forums listening to the baying of the hounds. 

 I do want to ask you about I have read a few complaints about the wiring scheme and the way the caps are secured or not secured. I only read this and saw a few photos. Is there a reason that it appears to have no organization?

Many years ago, a  few manufacturers didn't like that in a comparism, my preamps were obviously superior to theirs, their only comeback was to incessantly carry on about my wiring , which is all point to point , hardwired and soldered. 

It is true that the first preamps, 20 years ago, were a bit messy, but they sounded so different to PCB boards, I couldn't bring myself to go down the (cheaper) road.

The preamps I build today are much neater , but they are still point to point. 

Here's a reply I made to one of the internet "gurus" who posts pix from many  years ago.

"

The wiring I do these days is maybe a lot neater , but what makes people think PCB boards are superior to hard wiring.
PCB's are used to simplify construction and because they are great for economics. 

It takes me a week to build a LCR preamp. If I used PCB's, which isn't hard to do , it would take a day.
Why dont I use PCB's then? Because they sound like plastic, they sound like they look, one dimensional and boring. 

There are many hundreds of hardwired joints in my pres, everyone making solid contact, before its soldered.  With a PCB the lead solder is making all the contacts.
The other isssue is reliabilty, the 20 year old preamp with the "messy" wiring is still going strong, with only one change of tubes , no reliability issues at all, unlike some other manufacturers I could name. 

The Suprateks aren't a 1950's tube design tarted up with "options" .
They are state of the art tube designs which will drive any or multiple power amps. They have power supplies which would drive a big tube power amp, with tube rectification, and tube shunt regulation, which makes for a big sound that is as quiet as a tube pre can be.

They have a signature sound which is unlike any other tube preamp, and if you like 3D imaging and realism, which a lot of people seem to do, then thinking outside the box and looking past conventional  constraints (PCB, 1950 design, soft power supplies)  might be very rewarding.

 Do you have many units returning for repairs. As I live in the states it would be long and expensive to ship.  

There are many Suprateks 10-20 years old still running on the original tubes, they are very reliable, I get a few back , but mostly for upgrades. Point to point is also very easy to work on, dissipates heat better than any PCB can do. 

I make a big deal out of reliability, there is no preamp more over-engineered than the Suprateks. 

  One more thing if I was to go w a phono and was happy could a line stage be added later ?

Yes, but the Cortese is a complete preamp that is designed for phono and linestage to be optimum package , and its incredible value.


 And would the high gain be too much for my system. My speakers are Devore 0’96 @96dB phono(current) 50-70dB pre(current)10dB amp 25 dB . 

No one of my systems is a full horn 4 way system of 110dB - its perfect with Cortese.