Manley Chinook SE MK2

I had a Steelhead (first version, not the earliest, but before the remote control version) and rolled high quality old tubes. I wound up using the MM inputs, because I had a hard time finding a good spot using the autoformer; some frequencies shone life-like but others seemed to be cancelled or suffered from ringing. This may have been down to the system -- Avantgarde Duos, which were originally driven by the curious Audiopax mono blocs, eventually swapped out for Lamm ML2s (glorious).

I eventually replaced the Steelhead with an Allnic H-3000, which some find "burnished" but with the right rectifier in the power supply, sings beautifully in my system. (Some would consider this a lateral move from the Steelhead, but it matched my system and sonic preferences better). I did have an e-conversation with Eva Manley at one point- about her "less is more" approach. I found that adding a line stage, rather than using the passive volume control on the Steelhead gave me more "meat on the bones."

I think it is hard to isolate one component and make judgments about how it sounds within a given system, partly due to all the variables as well as user preference.

Try before you buy is preferable- given the direct sales model, that is possible so long as the return policies are not prohibitive. Otherwise, a good dealer can be a blessing.

I did run a Lamm L2 Reference for a long while, and swapped it out for the Veloce, which is sadly no longer a commercial product, though Vytas is still around. (He was working as the tech director of OMA for a while).

So much is synergy, it's hard to say what is "best" in isolation.  For what it's worth, running all tubes, the system is dead quiet, even though the Duos are extremely efficient and reveal all kinds of nasties if the inter-component grounding is wanky or the power grid is having a bad day. 

@samzx12 

Turnaround was less than a week for both.

Whart thank you for the detailed response.  A fellow audiophile had a Steelhead and didn't care for it whatsoever.  He ended up with a BAT but not sure of the model. He also had Audiopax and Duo's. His system sounds phenomenal.  His room is treated professionally which I'm sure helps greatly plus his analog system is 1st rate. 

I purchased the Modwright from TMR so I'll have a return policy if not satisfied but my gut tells me it will be a notch or two above the Chinook.  

@theflattire good to know thanks. TMR didn't have the T model in stock but once the PH9.0 is broken in,  more than likely I'll send it in for the T upgrade.  

@samzx12 

Check out the Modwright PH9.0 tube rolling thread too.

Good advice and reviews there.  I don't run the stock Sovteks.

I did both upgrades at the same time so I cannot really attest to how much the tube rectifier did to the sound.  Maybe ask around for someone who did the upgrades one at a time.