Is The Journey Over

[Guest JohnA]

Well tomorrow i take by much loved pre amp to someones house for an audition, if all goes well, it will stay there and i will pick up my new pre amp.

With the recent purchase of a new cdp also, i believe this to now be the end of my 2 channel journey for a few years. Mind you the new cdp is not settled on but it will be either the esoteric unit in my rack now or i will move up to the seperates.

But what a journey its been.

What started off as a very good all in one system comprising b&w 703's

rotel 1098 pre

rotel 1080 and 1075 power amps

rotel 1072 cdp

a system i was very happy with and for the money spent, performed very well.

It wasn't long before the bug hit and i was looking for upgrades in the way of a good 2 channel pre amp

Along come the consonance cyber22 and for $1900 was amazing, along with that also came a cdp upgrade so i purchased the droplet.

Now here was a system that kept me happy for a while, but felt the power amps wer letting me down, so out with the rotels and in with the elektra reference and theatre.

WOW, now i have a system that realy sings, but hang on, if these elektras are that good, and there is word of a preamp finally been made, it was time to see how far this pre-amp could now take my setup.

Luckily one popped up second hand and i didn't hesitate in purchasing it.

Now here is were the bank balance took a huge hit

I met the guys at SGR...and not wanting to upgrade speakers for at least 5 years, i made the mistake of allowing a pair of octagons in my room, well that cost me big time....

so guess my next upgrade, yep speakers....damn SGR

now we have a pair of $40k speakers in my room, been active and coming with the power amps, i had no more need for the elektras, so of they went and got sold.

Now i thought, are there any other pre-amps i may like to try...

It was then i stumbled across supratek. Reading all the rave reviews and drooling over the photos, i took the chance and ordered one.

and just recently i decided my cdp was the final piece of the puzzle. The droplet been a great unit, i thought i could do better, but also did not kid myself, knowing i would have to spend allot of money to better it. Enter the esoteric.

So here we are today, last week i got a chance to audition another preamp in my system, i won't say it was better then the supratek, only it was different, and i prefer the way it presents the music, but there are also a couple of things i prefer about the supratek.

So either way, whatever happens tomorrow i know i will be happy keeping the supratek or moving onto the new pre-amp.

I also know that untill i can afford to start auditioning $20k preamps there is no need to look anymore for now, and by the time by bank balance recovers from this cdp purchase, it will be at least 2 years before i can even entertain the idea of some ultra high end pre amp

[Spearmint]

Hey John,

A great read, thanks for sharing your journey with us.

Good luck with the pre amp, BTW if you happen to be cruising past feel free to call in for a coffee.

[Guest JohnA]

wow mate, what are you doing up already?

didn't you have the big day yesterday...thought you'd be sleeping all day today

Thanks for the offer also mate, will give you a call

[betty boop]

hehe I like how you title it, is the journey over ? john hehe

great to read, I guess whats great is the journey as well as the destination (be it temprorary at times) can always be just as enjoyable

good luck with the pre search as well

[Spearmint]

wow mate, what are you doing up already?

didn't you have the big day yesterday...thought you'd be sleeping all day today

Thanks for the offer also mate, will give you a call

Yes we did have the big day yesterday, but still not sleeping too well.

[OzMillsy]

I have a feeling I know what you are buying John.

I'm guessing you are there now, and are busy putting the Supratek through its paces for the potential buyer.

Do let us know if the Supratek is sold. So I can announce my guess, on your new preamp.

[Drizt]

Knowing you John I doubt the journey will ever be over... itchy feet and such

You have a lovely system, and good luck to you with whatever you end up buying.

[OzMillsy]

Awwwwe, you didnt want to humour me?

Enjoy your nice new P5 John, congrats on the swap over. I hope you enjoy the change.

[Guest JohnA]

i realised you knew what it was Millsy as you were also chasing it

Anyways, here is a quick pic of the new pre in the rack

2 channel rack

[Drizt]

i realised you knew what it was Millsy as you were also chasing it

Anyways, here is a quick pic of the new pre in the rack

2 channel rack

Great stuff mate. Still don't know why LD sold it, tis a great sounding pre.

[Guest JohnA]

thanks mate

as to why he sold it, suppose like all of us, the bug hits again and the what ifs start and money starts burning holes and we look for something that little better, because realy, thats all you get once you reach these levels, that little better.

But hey, i am happy to snap up one mans junk to help fund his next purchase

[OzMillsy]

i realised you knew what it was Millsy as you were also chasing it

haha, I wouldnt say I was chasing it. I enquired about it 3 weeks ago, since then I've been cruising the south pacific. Got back yesterday.

Sent LD a PM this arvo, and bang SOLD today. Timing is uncanny, but it's all good, because I cant afford it anyway.

I look forward to hearing it, after my entry level Onkyo/buffer combo blows your Rotel out of the water, and moves onto your Preamp for competition. ;-p

Congrats again. Picture looks great, nice rack!! (I dont say that to many blokes) .

[betty boop]

i realised you knew what it was Millsy as you were also chasing it

Anyways, here is a quick pic of the new pre in the rack

2 channel rack

very nice indeed john. jees wonder what came over LD to sell it !

oh well onwards and upwards for him I guess such is the journey !

much of a departure john going from the supratek to the moon ?

[Drizt]

haha, I wouldnt say I was chasing it. I enquired about it 3 weeks ago, since then I've been cruising the south pacific. Got back yesterday.

Sent LD a PM this arvo, and bang SOLD today. Timing is uncanny, but it's all good, because I cant afford it anyway.

I look forward to hearing it, after my entry level Onkyo/buffer combo blows your Rotel out of the water, and moves onto your Preamp for competition. ;-p

Congrats again. Picture looks great, nice rack!! (I dont say that to many blokes) .

hehe, is that challenge still going ahead ? I really really look forward to reading about that one. Hope its all level matched and done to the nth degree.... hehe yeah call me anal. Level matching is critical in such comparisons. God you have me excited again about reading about blind tests It is going to be a blind test yeah ???

[Drizt]

thanks mate

as to why he sold it, suppose like all of us, the bug hits again and the what ifs start and money starts burning holes and we look for something that little better, because realy, thats all you get once you reach these levels, that little better.

But hey, i am happy to snap up one mans junk to help fund his next purchase

I look forward to finding out what he replaces it with. I heard a certain preamp in his system when I was over there, wonder if he has been listening to others in the mean time ?

[Guest JohnA]

very nice indeed john. jees wonder what came over LD to sell it !

oh well onwards and upwards for him I guess such is the journey !

much of a departure john going from the supratek to the moon ?

Al, its not a huge difference, but they each did things differently so its a matter of preferance.

I would have been happy to keep either one.

You'll get to hear it if you are coming over on the big day

[OzMillsy]

hehe, is that challenge still going ahead ? I really really look forward to reading about that one.

Well, things are progressing on the sub front, so I would say a trip down south is still on the cards in the forseeable future. And yeah, if JohnA is still prepared to open the doors, and have the showdown, then I'll rip apart my system and bring my kit with me. No worries.

I'm happy to do all tests blind. The old Rotel is gunna be annihialated! Against the moon, now thats a different story, and 1 that I'm looking forward to hearing.

[Juicester]

hey john - slightly off topic but i was wondering if you had ever auditioned the Whatmough Paragon's whilst you were looking at speakers? As you ended up with an Aussie brand, and the SGRs you have are around the same price i was interested in your thoughts. Obviously having personally heard your puppies sing i have no doubt that you were convinced that the SGRs were the best you could get - but i've been hearing a lot of good things about the Paragon's and I was interested if you'd done a comparo between the SGRs and them or not.

Cheers.

Chris.

[Guest JohnA]

Chris

I never did audition whatmough speakers.

I first heard and saw the sgr's at the house of SGR during a GTG and an introduction to the brand.

I loved what i heard, but at the time never could afford anythin in that price point. Besides, i only just got all my b&w gear so was not in the market for any new speakers.

As faith would have it though, around a year or so later a pair of B&W 802D come up for sale, these, or the 800D were the speaker i eventually wanted to purchase (as i knew i could never afford the snails).

Again as luck should have it, i was also offered an in house demo of the octagons, and the rest as they say is history.

[joz]

hey john - slightly off topic but i was wondering if you had ever auditioned the Whatmough Paragon's whilst you were looking at speakers? As you ended up with an Aussie brand, and the SGRs you have are around the same price i was interested in your thoughts. Obviously having personally heard your puppies sing i have no doubt that you were convinced that the SGRs were the best you could get - but i've been hearing a lot of good things about the Paragon's and I was interested if you'd done a comparo between the SGRs and them or not.

Cheers.

Chris.

Having heard both the Paragons and the Octagons I'd say ther Octagon owners made a wiser purchase.As much as I liked the Paragons to an extent,the bass from the SGRs was IMO far superior in its delivery.

The Whatmoughs had a lovely midrange but not better enough to warrant buying over the SGRs, which were I feel bettered the Whatmoughs pretty much everywhere.

The Whatmoughs were more laid back in their presentation,the SGRs had authority by the bucket load.

My 2c..

Edited October 27, 2008 by the joz

[Juicester]

thanks a lot joz. just the info i was after.

[LFD]

The Whatmoughs were more laid back in their presentation,the SGRs had authority by the bucket load.

My 2c..

Having heard both speakers also. I would have to concur with Joz. I was unable to articulate what I heard but reading Joz's post he nailed it.

Well chosen words ("Laid back" and "Authority").

[Guest JohnA]

Joz, thanks for your thoughts between the 2.

From your description i guess we can conclude how personal speaker preferance is.

Some will love the layed back style whilst others will prefer the extra authority.

Speaker choice is so crytical as it can make or break a system, and then it has to work in your room

[WINEDS]

Hi John,

Congrats on the new goodies. They look great mate. I have been out of the loop for a while so good to see you "keeping the faith" in the interim Interesting that you are all solid state now? Is that right?

Cheers,

Paul

[Guest JohnA]

Hello Paul

yes all SS now.

I just prefered how the moon pre worked in my system compared to the supratek.

Don't get me wrong the supratek was brilliant and if the moon didn't impress or didn't pop up i would have happily kept the supratek.

I do prefer the dynamics this combination now has compared to when i hd the droplet and supratek combo, i just felt it too layed back in its presentation as a whole.