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Item: Supratek Cabernet Dual
Location: Was shipped back to Mick Maloney to check and retuned/upgrade. 

Price: $3300
Item Condition: Excellent. Black finish is no longer provided by Mick due to the difficulty in creating this finish. 
Reason for selling: Purchased the Supratek 
CORTESE LCR Preamp as I wanted a phono integrated preamp.
Payment Method: Paypal, 
Extra Info:

In production for over 10 years the Cabernet Dual has the 6SN7 linestage and a seperate, independent 6H30 linestage with its own level control.
Both are then controlled by a master volume. This arrangement is ideal for bi-amping , allowing for very precise adjustment of bass and mid/treble in loudspeakers with bi-amp connectors. It can also be used as a subwoofer control.
Loudspeaker designers are always compromised in selecting the tonal balance of a loudspeaker but with a Dual Cabernet you can easily adjust tone to suit room and your taste. 

 

Preamp has been sent back to Mick Maloney to check and retune/upgrade as required. It will be shipped from WA by Mick. It is in excellent condition. My ebay name is alex789hifi and I have 100% positive feedback. I keep all of my gear in excellent condition. I love Mick's preamps, they always perform way above their price tag. It comes with a remote and user manual. Mick does not believe in ruining the look of his preamps with labels hence they are free of anything that will take away from their beauty other the Supratek badge on the front. Unit has both RCA and balanced connectors. 

 

Review of the Full Music 300B/SE tube

"'While Chinese too, the top TJ/Full Music is a classic again. On both build quality and sonics, it's a Western Electric a bit on steroids. This may not hold true vis-à-vis the fabled original WE but with its rarity and silly NOS prices, that's academic to mere mortals. Why Western Electric has discontinued—or temporarily suspended—availability of popular reissues is anyone's guess. That said, the TJ 300B SE renders the question mute. While flatly expensive, it remains a more affordable option than the $1.200/pr which WE reissues commanded when last I checked. "'

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/tj+synergy/1.html 

 

Review of Supratek Cabernet Dual

'"I've talked about the concept of alchemy. It suggests an answer to the vexing question of how apparent redundancy -- the very existence of this product category -- could do this. I'm convinced that it's a matter of signal conditioning. Like powerline conditioning that works (not all really does), active preamps of the Supratek's caliber are far from superfluous. In fact, I'm beginning to accede that they might be central to our pursuits. They could be instrumental in pushing a system firmly from the mechanical into the organic realm of operation. If you know Mariza's Transparente album, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's all about the breath beyond physical lung action. It envelops everything, all of the accompanying instruments, in particular Mário Pacheco's weeping Portuguese guitar. Forget notated scores. They tell what notes to play. They don't begin to suggest how to suspend them as living things in temporal space; how to make them dance. Transparente then becomes a poster child for the Cabernet. And the album title is equally fitting. If this kind of review talk rings your bells, the Supratek Cabernet Dual is your kind of device. It's a terrifically inspired piece of the advanced audio design arts. Black arts - for white magic..."

https://6moons.com/audioreviews/supratek3/dualcabernet_2.html 

https://6moons.com/audioreviews/supratek3/dualcabernet.html


Pictures:

 

 

 

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Edited by alex789hifi
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Fantastic sounding preamp. I can't part with mine. I can see why you're just going for another Supratek to get an equivalent quality phono stage. GLWTS.

Edited by Ittaku
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52 minutes ago, Raffinator said:

This might be a sacrilege to ask, but does this preamp allow HT bypass on input from an AVR? Listening space for me is shared with family room for movies and TV.

I belleve supratek pre have come with this option. but yes something to clarify with the op in this particular case if included in particular model feature set :) 

 

edit ref below review

 

 

https://6moons.com/audioreviews/supratek3/dualcabernet.html

 

 

"Two three-pole toggles in front of the transformer covers set the output impedance for the bass circuit for each channel while a top-mounted Alps potentiometer fine-tunes the circuit's precise output signal strength prior to the master volume. The 3-pole toggle between the transformers sets standby-mute/power, its central position turns input 5 into an HT bypass (mains volume bypassed)."

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Hi,

Yes I was using it with HT bypass back when I had a surround sound setup. You set the volume at 12 o'clock and turn on the unit, connect via RCA. The volume is then controlled through the Receiver as you need to complete the surround room setup. The user manual details this, it is with Mick so I cant quote from it, but in short yes it can be done and it sounds great as the left and right channels have the nice tube signature sonics.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Am somewhat curious, and definitely looking at tube line stage options to fit with a rather brittle SS sound from my power amp. Also have family (well ... in-laws) down in Margaret River and head down that way from time to time.

However I don't really have plans for bi-amping in the traditional sense, or to split a signal to subs, or to multi-room. Would that rule out much of the value I might find in this (very beautiful) preamp?

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Hi David,

 

The irony is that while I had the preamp I only used the 101D section which I changed to the amazing sounding 300B tubes. I never used the amp in bi-amp mode. I now have the Cortese (with integrated phono stage) which is not suppose to be used as a bi-amp preamp (due to it not having level control) and I am using it in bi-amp mode. I have 2 Supratek Mondease power amps for the horn section of my JBL 4367 and they have volume control. The bass drivers are being run by a pair of Primaluna's. I also have a pair of Carbon limited REL subwoofers which is a new edition. I couldnt believe the difference a pair of subwoofers makes when properly integrated. Can never go back to no subs after hearing them in my system.

 

The moral of the story is that regardless of whether you use the pre amp with 1 power amp or in bi-amp mode you have the option available for both and both will will sound amazing. If you can down the road, add a coupe of REL subwoofers, you will be very impressed. It doesnt matter how bigger your main speakers are. Just my opinion.

 

The polished silver and the gloss black is the best looking combination but unfortunately Mick does not make these anymore due to the difficulty in painting the gloss. Am sure Mick can show you amp if you are in the area but not sure, would have the ask him. Hope all that helps.

 

Thanks

 

Alex

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Thank you very much @alex789hifi good information indeed.

I have a "wots a good preamp?" thread going somewhere. Supratek mentioned multiple times. One "bite" that stood out was:

"ultimate transparency and the added warmth, body, control and microdynamics whilst still maintaining neutrality"

If that is true - ie  a masterful touch of warmth while keeping things transparent and neutral - then that is exactly what I am looking for. Getting more than somewhat interested now :)

And you have reminded me that I need not fear the sub and its crossover messiness. Did hear some electrostatics recently that had me gob-smacked and completely unable to pay even polite minimal attention to the HiFi shop staff that were chatting to me at the time. Transfixed. Those will need a sub.

thanks again
David T

edit: agree on the finish. it looks superb. would easily pick it over the other Supratek styles
edit: got confused DHT / Dual :) 

Edited by n0bleINtP
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44 minutes ago, n0bleINtP said:

edit: got confused DHT / Dual :) 

The dual means it's basically a 2 channel in 4 channel out preamplifier with completely separate gain stages for the 2 sets of outputs, unlike a regular preamp which may have multiple outputs, but only the one set of gain stages. You don't need to use the separate outputs of the dual if you don't need them, but if you do it means the subwoofer being connected is not going to adversely affect the output going to the main channels at all. However even if you don't use it, you will need to keep valves in that position. The design of this one advertised here is different to Supratek's current design, but it's also almost half the price!

 

DHT stands for Direct Heated Triodes which usually are tubier sounding and have a more lush warm romantic airy sound but (usually) deviate more from neutrality.

Edited by Ittaku
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Hi David,

 

Yes the amp is warm and has the classic tube sound which I love particularly with the 300B tube. I am not sure exactly what neutral sounds like to comment to be honest. As Con has mentioned it is close to half the price and has been checked and tweaked by Mr Supratek himself. It wasn't cheap shipping it to WA to have it checked and adjusted. I wanted the purchaser to be confident in buying the amp knowing it is in excellent condition and in a colour that no longer is available.

 

I love electrostatic's also, they have a distinct sound in the same way as horns do. The best part of HIFI is trying all the different types of equipment and hearing the differences. There is no best sound, only different shades of sound to enjoy. Its the journey not the destination:)

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"nuetral" is not a good terminology here. correction accepted and agreed with :) 

Assume it refers more to frequency bands getting objectionably more or less emphasis. More useful for discussing speakers rather than line level components where correct behavior would normally be a given ?

The value is certainly not lost on me. Will PM ...

 

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David,

 

One thing people haven’t mentioned is that the Supratek Dual Cabernet two stage preamp sections can be used as a tone control. You will need two stereo amplifiers and a bi-ampable loudspeaker. In theory, your Krell could be hooked up to the bass drivers and a nicer/sympathetic sounding amp (say a valve amp) could be hooked up to the mid-treble of your speaker. You could then turn either bass or mid-treble volume controls on the Cabernet up or down, like tone controls to boost or cut the frequency response. This helps with adjusting room interactions too.

 

I note that you like and use a subwoofer. The Dual Cab can feed the sub separately and control output to the sub from the preamp rather than turning the knob on the sub. Also, apparently the 6H30 tube used for the bass section of the Cabernet preamp is said to be a ‘super tube’ with ideal characteristics for tight clean bass. As different from the 300B tube sound, which potentially has a looser bass signature.

 

Having owned a Supratek Dual Cabernet preamplifier ...they are well thought out and handy devices.

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

 

 

.

Edited by Steve M
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1 hour ago, Steve M said:

One thing people haven’t mentioned is that the Supratek Dual Cabernet two stage preamp sections can be used as a tone control. You will need two stereo amplifiers and a bi-ampable loudspeaker. In theory, your Krell could be hooked up to the bass drivers and a nicer/sympathetic sounding amp (say a valve amp) could be hooked up to the mid-treble of your speaker. 


Yes, became a part of the decision - a cheaper route to bring tubes into the power section. Unsure how much power needed above say 200Hz vs below. But certainly won't need a big $ power amp with tubes.

A nice option to keep around should I want that. 

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