What's A Good Upgrade From A Manley Steelhead?

@rauliruegas   OK, I feel embarrassed to have used the word 'musicality', it was lazy of me. I try to avoid words like that, they include 'organic', 'palpable', and a few others. But I think we're on the same page insofar as understanding what I meant.

Yes, I take your point and agree that (most) modern equipment is capable of delivering accuracy in a way that's also emotionally engaging and without driving you from the room. 

Tubes have a generic signature, it's there to varying degrees in any equipment that uses tubes and there's something about the nature of the sound of tubes that's appealing. It's what makes us go through the troubles associated with tube ownership. When we remove tubes from the circuit we might gain in other ways, but we invariably lose 'something' and it then becomes a case of having to weigh the pros and cons as objectively as possible. I find that nowadays it's harder for me to make these trade-off assessments easily without having both units side-by-side for a period, which was the crux of my comment.

I haven't dismissed anything at this point. I like the look of the Moon gear, I've owned their stuff in the past and it has always performed extremely well.

Rooze

@rooze 

Don't let @rauliruegas bully you into thinking anything in particular.  He doesn't know what you prefer at this point in time.  I think most know what you mean by "musical".  If you like the musical bloom of the tubes, then that's what you like.  It may not be "the absolute sound", but it's no doubt a very enjoyable listening experience.  It does look like Moon offers a listening trial, so take advantage of that and compare the phono stages.  It will no doubt sound differently, and in some ways better, and in other ways, probably worse.  Personally, I think that you will have to search a while (and possibly save more funds) to improve on the Manley Steelhead, but perhaps I'm wrong:  if it weren't one of the best phono stages, it wouldn't still be selling 20+ years after its introduction!   

Dear @rooze : " but we invariably lose ’something’ and ..."

Trade-offs always exist in the audioworld and unfortunatelly for the tube lovers are accustomed to those high kind of distortions and these is what you lose changing to the SS alternative but is not a "sad/good " lose. In the same way that you will miss in the short time that " lose " in a short time you will start to " accustom " of the new kind of " distortions " ( if any ) with the 610LP.

Every one of us have their specific targets in our room/system, mine is to stay nearer to the recording and if with my SS phono stage I add and lost the less of what cartridge pick up from the LP grooves then I’m nearer to the recording because through tubes that add/lost is higher that what you could imagine.

My feeilng ( I can be wrong ) is that you are a MUSIC lover that know the live MUSIC kind of sounds. Now if you are waiting that the SS alternative gives you " more of the same " but " better " then don't take that " road " and stay as you are.

My take too is that @drbond ( I can be wrong ) think that you are just an audiophile and follower of the corrupted AHEE. I don't.

R.

Are you using it with an SUT?

Using what with a SUT?  The Steelhead has three pairs of phono inputs.  Two are for MC cartridges, and one is for MM.  You can choose up to 65db of phono gain.  So there would be no need for a SUT with most LOMC cartridges down to about 0.2mV output. (I actually used mine successfully with an AT ART7, which outputs only 0.12mV, but that is probably owing to the fact that the Beveridge amplifiers are "sensitive".)  Right now I am using it with Koetsu Urushi, and the attenuator is not even at its midpoint for very high SPLs in my large basement room.  But maybe you did not refer to the Steelhead.