It may be more beneficial to demo the unit instead of being concerned with what tube type is in the Chinook. It's essentially a stripped down version of Manleys top dog-Steelhead which is an $8K piece.
I have demoed the Chinook. Its everything one expects from a tubed phono stage.
Quiet, realistic presentation and with patience, can be found near half the retail price here, on Agon.
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Near half the retail price? He be a waitin' till the cows come home! |
I recived my Chinook in march of this year .After two days of use It became defective and was a REAL problem . Manley handled the issue and replaced with a new unit . Now that I've run the Chinook for four months,Its Great . The stock tubes are very good ,I would not roll them for 2-3 months until unit is broken in. It does take time to break them in and you may find these stock tubes perfect. I just put in 4 NOS Amperex Gold pin 7308 that came from Upscale Audio . Maybe Its just me , it gets better ever day, these will be the only tubes I use !
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"Near half the retail price? He be a waitin' till the cows come home!"
Retail around $2200. Who pays retail on new equipment?
Negotiating a new one should be under $2k right off the bat.
Used take another $3-400 to start..it's USED.
The OP could by a standard Chinook and just replace 2 tubes and he good to go.
Patience, and willingness to pounce is key. |
USED isn’t a bad thing if the manufacturer offers good support to 2nd-hand owners. What I’ve heard about Manley is very unfavorable to that, though. So yeah - used is a bad thing in this case :-P |
I bought a used Chinook here on Audiogon. I had for about a year and it started to hum pretty loud. I called Manley and they were fantastic on the phone. I actually boxed up the Chinook and took it to The SHOW in Irvine where they had a booth. They allowed me to drop it off and they took it back to their shop. They totally upgraded it and within 2 weeks they shipped it back to me. Cost for everything: NOTHING! That was a year ago and it is perfect. They are a fantastic company in my experience.
My Chinook's serial number is 011 so it was literally the eleventh unit produced...about 5 years ago I believe...and they knew I bought it used.
I rolled the tubes once but put back the originals soon after. The stock tubes were much better.
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My mistake then...that is excellent service. In the past I'd heard they weren't too kind towards servicing 2nd hand gear. The Chinook looks like a great stage. |
Thanks for the info. I might just get a used Chinook. If I don't like it I will
sell it and not lose too much. |
My understanding is the Chinook is warranted for 5 years to any owner as long as the original owner sent in the warranty card when it was new, so if buying used get the serial number and call them to ensure it is still under some warranty? I think they were released about 5 years ago now so some of the early units, like mine, may be nearing the end of warranty. |
I bought the Chinook special edition with the NOS tubes and ended up replacing them with the stock tubes. IMHO the stock tubes are better at least in my system.
Manley customer service is second to none.
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I remember a while back some people posted they much preferred the sound of comparable Allnic and Herron phono pres over the Chinook. I have no idea -- just passing it on FWIW.
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+1 tablejockey, have had the Allnic 1201 and a stock Chinook at the same time and the Allnic was clearly better, with that said the Chinook was a very good phono stage especially at the prices I have seen them used. |
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I read that the Allnic rolls off some of the bottom end. I also read the same about the
Chinook. I called Manley and they say it's flat to 20HZ. I love deep bass. I was looking
at a Pass Labs but I prefer tubes. |
dill rod-
I wouldn't get too hung up on reviews if you can try one in your system. YMMV as we all say.
Demoing the Chinook through my system , I heard full, deep bass as it's supposed to sound. I simply found my existing phono amp(all tube including rectifier)a tad hissy at extreme levels which, was still acceptable once the music kicked in. The deal breaker was a subtle bit of more "real" compared to the Chinook.
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So do I, regarding deep bass and tubes. That's why I don't have a tube phono yet because I don't think that anything below, say, LAMM would be good enough. No rolling of high end for me either, or restrained dynamics.
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