Manley Chinook

Disclosure: We are a full line, five year tenured, Manley Laboratories Retail Dealer.

We carry a considerable number of phono amplifiers ranging in price from $145 to well over $20K and can say that this may be one the nicest values to come along in some time. Our experience, specifically in the competing $2K to $3K range is that this is the best value we offer. Performance is disproportionately close to the Steelhead and exceeds that of many other pieces we carry. If a tubed option with considerable gain and load setting flexibility is of interest in the under $3000 range, the Chinook is a "must audition". I must leave specific brand comparisons to end users, but I do recommend looking up your local dealer for a demo.

Good Luck and Happy Listening!

I was able to take home my local dealer's demo about a week ago; bottom line, I was very impressed with the performance and I am going to purchase the Chinook. I would characterize this phono stage as very dynamic, just slightly on the warm side of neutral with a wide and deep soundstage. You get the richness of tubes while still retaining the speed and dynamics of some of the better SS phono stages. One thing of note that was icing on the cake for me was that it was the least susceptible to hum between 3 other phono stages I have tried in my system. Even in the MC mode with the gain at +60dB, I can turn my pre-amp pot up to the 12 o'clock position and it is very quiet; no hum and just the slightest bit of tube rush. Other phono stages I have had in my system started humming around the 9-10 o'clock position and in one phono stage, I could hear a local radio station coming through. The design/layout of the Chinook seems to have taken susceptibility to hum into account.

I'm going to try to demo the Chinook soon. I read the manual and asked the dealer, but neither have been able to answer my question. Can you adjust the load/capacitance settings during playback?

Both are set via dip switches located on the back of the unit so if you have an easy access while you play your records, then you can probably adjust the values. However, it seems to me unless you have a preamp with a remote or a knob that allows you to adjust settings with one touch, you should not do that. I'm sure such luxury comes at a cost, which would explain why preamps with such functionality cost a few k more than the Chinook. I'd rather the designer focused on what really matters rather than accommodate audiophile OCD.