Testimonial to the 'Quality' of Supro Amps

[Tonray's Ghost]

Ouch...

[tonebender]

I remember when the Supro name jumped back in the game. I played through a few at the stores but thought there were over priced. They came on the scene at about twice the price of comparable MIC tube amps.

[Tonray's Ghost]

I remember when the Supro name jumped back in the game. I played through a few at the stores but thought there were over priced. They came on the scene at about twice the price of comparable MIC tube amps.

This guy pretty much tells it like it is, I also have seen him say pretty good things about the little SWART tube amps that he has worked on and some pretty negative comments about the Fender 're-issue' amps in that they are designed in a way that makes failure in 3 to 5 years a higher probability than it should be at the price. It's really an accounting decision because he is able to 'post-engineer' them for much higher reliability for a minimal cost.

[mozz]

I don't work on these or any other brands for a living, as the guys on music electronics forum do, but I don't see any more problems than most all other brands out there. Same designs due to cost limitations. I do like off board input jacks, much easier to repair than the ones soldered to the pcb. Lead free solder is half the problem with bad joints. Electrolytic capacitors go bad over time, cheaper ones fail faster. Again, cost issue, manufacturers aren't going to spend money to extend life when they can have higher profits. Resistors burnt, poor design, cost issue again.

If you want a good dependable tube amp, buy a kit and use higher grade components where needed. Ceriatone, Mojotone etc. There's a lot of techs who will build one for you.

[golem]

I don't work on these or any other brands for a living, as the guys on music electronics forum do, but I don't see any more problems than most all other brands out there. Same designs due to cost limitations. I do like off board input jacks, much easier to repair than the ones soldered to the pcb. Lead free solder is half the problem with bad joints. Electrolytic capacitors go bad over time, cheaper ones fail faster. Again, cost issue, manufacturers aren't going to spend money to extend life when they can have higher profits. Resistors burnt, poor design, cost issue again.

If you want a good dependable tube amp, buy a kit and use higher grade components where needed. Ceriatone, Mojotone etc. There's a lot of techs who will build one for you.

I've seen people sh*t on Ceriatone recently somewhere (probably Reddit or TGP) and was surprised. I had thought, like you, that they were pretty good. Meanwhile, I had a Mojotone built Gibson GA-5 with many cold solder joints. And if @andrewsrea still remembers this I think he'll say it wasn't really that much like a GA-5 circuit wise.

There may be a difference between ordering from Ceriatone directly (they often prefer to ship without transformers) given that they're in MY and Ceriatone in the USA.

[mozz]

"I've seen people sh*t on Ceriatone recently somewhere (probably Reddit or TGP) and was surprised. I had thought, like you, that they were pretty good. Meanwhile, I had a Mojotone built Gibson GA-5 with many cold solder joints. And if @andrewsrea still remembers this I think he'll say it wasn't really that much like a GA-5 circuit wise."

I don't keep up on the latest so maybe quality has dropped on those. The Gibson GA-5 had 2 versions i think, one had the 6SJ7 pentode first tube and the other had a 12AX7, so 2 totally different tubes there and Mojo uses the 12ax7. Gibson would change the circuits often, depending on the day of the week, and keep the same model number. I don't know if they built them in-house or someone made them for them. Anyway, i have bought old amps figuring i just overhaul it and I'll be done. More then a few times i ended up with something with a bad output transformer so parts or reliability weren't perfect way back then either.

I have read up on Weber Kits, some people like them, yet i have also read they use certain cheaper parts. No first hand experience with those so i can only go by what i read.

Nit picking on the video now: He says he doesn't like the input jack, but like i said, at least it's on the chassis not the pcb. No toothed washer, maybe not needed, it will be a long time before any corrosion sets in. As to it not being Switchcraft, it doesn't appear too bad. Cheap ones you see on cheap guitars, thin metal. While yes, Switchcraft makes good jacks, they are expensive, cost/profit again. Most Chinese made are junk yet i have seen the ones Radio Shack used to sell and they were pretty good, nice thick metal and clearly a Switchcraft copy, you can't find them now.

Bulging capacitor, most likely failed or failing. Nichicon /Rubicon are good caps, or were good caps. Could be a fluke it failed, could be a fake, could be old stock. A lot of companies are outsourcing the builds, so unless you have a deep paper trail, you are taking the word of the builder that he is sourcing the parts you speced. Higher cost, better caps,

Tube sockets, not Belton as he said. Longevity? Who knows, i would not worry about a rough finished surface. Time will tell if the heat or voltage gets the best of them. No temperature cycling test when they were designed = cheaper. Resistors in bulk are a few cents, actually the vendors go to a tenth of a cent, they add up. You push 1watt through a 2w resistor, fine yes? No. It will eventually overheat as the picture, start to discolor and eventually go out of spec or burn up. A good build would use a 3w, but cost more, not as common to manufacture.

Other thing that irks me, Why twist all the wires, you only need to twist the filament wires, fine twisting the speaker wires is useless.
I'm done , back to watching the weather channel.

[golem]

This is Psionic? I've also seen posts about people having issues with him doing repair work on their stuff. He loves to crap on Mesas.

[andrewsrea]

As @golem mentioned, I've seen a few kits and reviewed every kit design that I have been made aware of. IMHO, the transformers are typically the weak link of the kits, more so being the difference between really good and sublime.

Weber and Mojotone has great transformers and I believe they use them in their kits. Ceraitone uses imports and are not as good. Anything below 50w, I have a guy in Tennessee hand wind me transformers, which are stellar.

[golem]

@andrewsrea I think if you buy them from the biggest USA dealer, you have to get them with transformers, but if you buy direct from Malaysia they have a bunch of kit options which include the option to have no transformers. They used to really tout the no transformer options because of the weight. I was thinking of buying one of these when I worked in the Middle East because the importers often doubled prices on amps.

Just realized I wasn't being clear that this is about Ceriatone.

[andrewsrea]

@andrewsrea I think if you buy them from the biggest USA dealer, you have to get them with transformers, but if you buy direct from Malaysia they have a bunch of kit options which include the option to have no transformers. They used to really tout the no transformer options because of the weight. I was thinking of buying one of these when I worked in the Middle East because the importers often doubled prices on amps.

Just realized I wasn't being clear that this is about Ceriatone.

I know a guy who can help you build the kit, if you ever go that direction.

[golem]

I know a guy who can help you build the kit, if you ever go that direction.

I'm at the stage where I might owe you an amp kit. LOL.