Building Handcrafted Amplifiers

Handcrafted is the important word -there are hundreds of audio companies around the world building audio amps but only a few completely handbuild from scratch, and even fewer have ONE person responsible for the entire operation .And when that person has a perfectionist streak and enormous pride in his work you are guaranteed that the amplifier or preamp you order will be built to a standard that you will not find elsewhere.

The world is awash with mass produced, cheap labor, built-to-a price audio equipment. Something that is built in a crowded factory , by people who would rather be elsewhere will never atain the class of a product built by craftsmen in a environment attuned to accompishing a superb build quality with passion and pride.

These amplifiers are better than world class and perhaps as good as you can get, after building hundreds of circuits these are my choice as the basis to build the worlds best amplifiers on, combining superb sound and stunning aesthetic design.

OK every audio company in the world has the "best" so why are  these better?  Most importantly - sonic engineering designed solely and uncompromisingly to sound musically satisfying.. By sonic engineering   I mean the way the amp is built without any of the compromises that orthodox audio engineering demands- slavish attention to specifications, ease of quick and easy manufacture and having to build as cheaply as possible to maintain the highest margins.

Over 20 years of almost fanatical building has given me a lot of experience with all the different configurations of tube circuits- I know what circuits measure well and how to get specs that make an engineer happy. But they don’t make me happy-music just isn't that predictable and 90% of the world's audio equipment is just ordinary. The circuits we use are innovative and designed to involve you in your music.

Component choice is important  but  not as important as the circuit design - a $100 capacitor in a second rate circuit design is worthless, but in keeping with the ideal of building world class amplifiers all components are carefully chosen to compliment each other and the circuit. For example, electrolytic capacitors are avoided -polypropylene or non-polarised are preferred. RIAA phono components are hand matched to exact requirements.

Transformers are critically important in tube amps and I use hand wound c-cores, cut cores or EI  transformers- these determine the major parts cost of the amplifier -as it should be. Power supplies are big, heavy and solid-as it should be for tube amps-all power supplies use chokes rather than huge (and cheaper) electrolytic capacitors which give a slow ponderous sound.

This results in substantial parts cost, which from a "major" commercial manufacturer would necessitate a retail price in excess of 5 figure numbers.

The good news-as sweet as a kiss- is that SUPRATEK does not believe in the hype that superb sound equals new car prices. Sure these are not cheap amps but the cost comes from the quality of the components used and a fair hourly wage for construction. Sales solely over the internet  also keeps prices sane.

The Australian dollar is also low in respect to most developed countries currencies- this is of huge benefit and you may be surprised how affordable these amplifiers are.

All products are truly handmade and as such are limited production-we normally have stocks of Chardonnay preamps and Malbec power amps in stock. Other models may require a month or so to build.

All products come with a 3 year  guarantee- I can confidently gives this as all the models are over-engineered to last into the next century. You would have to throw them over a cliff to damage them! Packaging is heavy and designed to get your amp to you in pristine condition-a combination of various foams completely encase the amplifier.