How much difference will a phono stage upgrade make?

12hz, this is a sideways answer to your interest in the Chinook.

I owned a Manley Jumbo Shrimp and Snapper amps for a couple of years.  I was very pleased with the sonics of both but a problem developed with unstable bias in one amp.  I lived in SoCal then and ended up taking the amp to the factory for repair.  It was a weird problem to diagnose and required two tries, but I was still pleased by how fairly they treated me (it was out of warranty).  

Also I was able to take their factory tour twice and I was quite impressed by their operation.  Also I've spoken with EveAnna a few times and enjoyed her enthusiasm and knowledge.

I do not have direct experience in auditioning the Chinook, but have no hesitancy in recommending Manley products.  I believe they are a first rate company.

I will also say I've auditioned Herron electronics at shows and a friend's system, as well as talking with Keith.  I've been impressed by him and his products as well and endorse them if they fit one's budget.

A good phono section will have less ticks and pops even though it is wider bandwidth. Its always nice to find out that your LP collection isn’t as bad off as you thought it was.

What most people don’t realize is that the phono preamp, in addition to enough gain and proper EQ, must also be stable and resistant to Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). This is because a significant amount of RFI is generated by the cartridge itself in the form of bursts of energy at the resonant frequency of the inductance of the cartridge which is in parallel with the capacitance of the interconnect cable. The RFI can cause ticks and pops due to overload of the phono section input. That resonant peak I mentioned can be about 30dB!!


Many designers don’t realize that- hence phono sections that don’t deal with this issue very well.

A side benefit of RFI immunity and stability is that the cartridge no longer has to be ’loaded’ to sound right. This allows it to be more supple and can thus trace high frequencies easier. IOW loading a cartridge causes it to do more work and that in turn stiffens the cantilever, just like shorting the terminals of a woofer makes it stiffer.

I lost 50 IQ points just reading that one. On the bright side though I don’t need to clean my records, just buy a better phono stage. So I got that going for me.

@atisv99 - thanks for checking in. The bottom line is that I really like the Manley Chinook. How does it compare to other phono stages like the Herron? I don’t know because I’ve never heard one in my system. Going back to my original question, however, yes, it made enough of a difference in sound quality to justify the expense. I have a very low output cartridge (Ortofon MC Black) and the extra 5 dB of gain that the MKII offers seems to be a significant benefit to getting the Special Edition.

I would be curious to hear more about the EAT phono stages if you decide to go that route. I briefly looked into that as an option but for whatever reason I was fixated on the Chinook. (I was interested in the Herron, too, but it was beyond my financial reach.)

On a side note, but relevant in terms of support and customer service, the first Chinook that was sent to me was dead in the water. It wouldn’t fire up at all. After minimal back-and-forth with Kat at Upscale, a new one was express shipped to me and I sent the first one back directly to Manley. Both Upscale and Manley worked to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Disappointed but not deterred, I waited an extra couple of days to get one that worked, but it was all very painless. The second one lit right up and has been working beautifully ever since.

Thanks to all on this forum who offered useful advice on this topic.