Is the Manley Steelhead still relevant?

If you use one turntable, I don’t disagree.

@lewm 
@dover 

I was reviewing a pre-amplifier short list.  It looks like the VAC signature mkIIaSE qualifies as having both XLR and RCA.  Any ideas as to how it compares with the A-S MP1?

Thanks.

I have always admired VAC preamplifiers, but I have only ever heard their top of the line linestage, not the phono stage, at least not in a few decades. It was excellent. I am not so crazy about the fact that the website indicates the optional phono section uses six 12AX7s. There’s nothing so wrong with using a 12AX7 as an input tube for gain in an MM circuit, but I wonder how they manage to get enough gain for MC, and I am guessing they use an internal step-up transformer. This is suggested by the spec that says the max load resistance for MC is 470 ohms. That’s what you get if you put a 1:10 SUT in front of an MM stage bearing a 47K ohm input impedance. I am also wondering whether they use one of the 12AX7 sections as a cathode-follower at the output. 12AX7 is very not ideal as a CF.  Some of the other verbiage suggests they use transformer-coupling at the output, in lieu of coupling capacitors. That can be fine, too.  But don't settle for my speculations; you need to do some further investigating, unless someone else here has direct experience.

@drbond
You should be able to get a great preamp for $30k.
In my view I am sceptical of the real performance of many of the 50-100k offerings. Personally I have heard the Solution 7 series at length and quite frankly it was no more resolving than my vintage tube gear ( modified ). Furthermore harmonic structures were missing. The VITUS doesn’t sound anything special ( a friend owns the full set ). The CH Precision stuff to me is like Naim of old - there are about 20 upgrades you have to have so your 60k becomes 200k per component. Crazy stuff.

I personally like the combo of tube preamp with solid state power amp.
The only solid state preamps that woould interest me would be Constellation ( John Curl ), Robert Koda K15EX, ( I know 2 people who have gone from Thrax/CJ to Robert Koda K15EX ) or Technical Brain. The latter 2 are well over budget. The Constellation Virgo is in your price range, and would be an excellent option.

I would be interested to know which is your favourite amplifier driving the Sound Labs. A friend of mine had the A1’s with a full Jadis amplification system some years ago. I noted that many solid state amps when pushed sounded quite strident driving them.

As far as your options go here are my thoughts -

The VAC appears to be not a fully balanced design. It is single ended and uses output transformers to create a balanced output My concern with the VAC would be the output drive -

AS gain 12db - output voltage 32V (peak I would assume )
VAC gain 12db - output volage is quoted as >8V ( not a lot )
CJ Gat2 gain 25db - output voltage 20V.

So you would need to check the VAC in your system before buying to assess its matching.

In terms of sonic signature even though the CJ Gat2 is single ended, its the best linestage I have heard by some margin - that includes Soulution, Jadis, Vitus, Gryphon. It is an extremely organic sound, superb resolution, there is a sense of weight, power, everything cut from one cloth. It is the only preamp I that I’ve heard that I would purchase to replace my own much modified Marantz 7. Its noise floor is phenomenally low. It blows the older Gat and ACT2 preamps away considerably. I would not dismiss this option, because I think its that good and would suit your Soundlabs.

For the others my gut feel is the AS MP1 would be a better choice over the VAC due to its output voltage matching the inefficient gain of the MA1 monos better. The AS is a DC coupled design, no caps in the signal path, and therefore can have a little DC on the output, and may be more sensitive to tube choice etc. This can lead to a little noise. I would expect the CJ GAT2 to be the quietest of the 3 options.

From the forum I did see someone suggest that Atmasphere sometimes has units available for demo directly.

It would be ideal if you could hear before you buy.

Cheers,

Dover

For a balanced phono stage in this price range, I would recommend an audition of Zesto Audio products.

I believe their Andros Deluxe II would compete favorably with the Steelhead.