Tubes Asylum: REVIEW: Supratek Triode DV6SN7TC (Custom) Preamplifier (Tube) by Dave VH

I am more and more pleased with my Mick Maloney Supratek preamp. It uses a pair of NOS Mullard 6SN7s and has an outboard power supply. The craftsmanship is excellent, the wood-sided chassis is unconventional, but very attractive. The circuit is quite simple, using a pair of high-quality interstage transformers instead of coupling capacitors. I had Mick build it with 4 line inputs and a tape monitor for possible future use in the main system, where the lady of the house listens to and records cassette tapes.

I have found that over the 40+ years that I have been into audio I can read reviews, listen to various systems, read reviews, and now, both lurk and participate at the Asylum, and have a pretty good idea of what will work for me. I have owned big, loud efficient systems (JBL LE15A, 175 & 075 in 16 cu.ft. cabinets), small mid-fi systems, and lots in-between as my tastes and budget changed over the years. I decided I wanted to move slowly into sets, and realized that I could get by with moderately efficient speakers and fairly low power. I looked at a lot of preamps, but only listened to a few. I realized that if I got a simple-circuit preamp with good transformers, I could tweak, upgrade and roll tubes easily if I chose to do so (try this with a sand-preamp!) With minor changes, I can even convert this preamp to 5687's if 6SN7's all get used up.

With a small room, thin condo walls, and my taste in music, this system really works. I have not tried tube rolling yet, because the Mullards I got with it sound great. The preamp is very quiet, and the music in this system is open, easy, and transparent. (Transparency is supposedly a characteristic of transformer-coupled preamps, and this unit demonstrates that quite nicely.) Often, I just want to turn off my noisy computer and listen to the stereo - which I often do by cutting short my Asylum sessions and getting into the music). I'm listening to a Mapleshade CD at the moment (The Euphoria trio - jazz guitar, bass & drums). There is great detail and subtlety in the sound of the acoustic bass, the delicate drum and cymbal playing sounds exquisite, the acoustic guitar is uncannily real. (Of course, the fact that it's a Mapleshade recording makes a big difference).

It's probably a combination of audio experience, skill, recognizing and understanding my current musical tastes, and knowing what I wanted to achieve, that allowed me to assemble this system without auditioning each component extensively. Plus I'm sure that a bit of luck a bit of luck as well. There are probably a number of components that would fit into this system and work, but the Mick Maloney's preamp really does the job in this system. Mick is standardizing on a few models now, and it is my understanding that his new Supratek "Chardonnay" preamp will be a design similar to my custom one. (And I'd love to hear the version of the preamp with the phono stage, as well as Mick's 300B/6C33 SET amps).

Dave van Harn

REVIEW: Supratek Triode DV6SN7TC (Custom) Preamplifier (Tube) Review by Dave VH at Audio Asylum