I have a very similar setup, but Totem Forests instead of mani's, and transparent/analysis plus cables, using a sony scd-1 with parasound halo p3/a21 combo. I think it's great, and sounds very much as others have described: clean, transparent, musical, etc., but it all depends on what you think. I was totally happy with my pre/power combo until I listened to some things that cost like 3 times as much. Now I'm looking into getting rid of the halo which my friend has called 'mid-fi'. I was never unhappy with them, and don't think they're mid-fi by any means, I just found something better sounding. At the price point they're tough to beat, unless you're going used. I agree though that they may not have enough WPC to really make your mani's sing. A simple and cheap upgrade would be to buy another A21 and bridge the two.