Manly Steelhead - any downside??

Shane, I am running the Manley Steelhead with a Dynavector XV-1s cartridge. The XV-1s pairs very well with this phono stage. (Given the flexibility of this phono stage, I am hard-pressed to name a cartridge that does not pair well.) You will find that you have the flexibility of running your cartridge into either the MM section or the MC section of the Steelhead.

I am running the XV-1s into the MM section of the Steelhead with 55dB of gain. I find that the sound is a bit more immediate and transparent through the MM section than it is when run through the step-up transformer, but the difference is subtle.

As for impedance loading, I have found that the 100 ohm setting is optimal with most LPs in my system. However, if a recording tends to be bright, I find that the 50 ohm setting sometimes results in better tonal balance. Perhaps the ideal impedance setting is somewhere in between these two values. FYI, the U.S. Dynavector importer tells me that most XV-1s owners are loading the cartridge somewhere between 30 ohms and 100 ohms.

Interesting Bob. I'll start off at 100 ohm's and work from there.

Strange thou that with my previous two phono stages the cj prem 15 and Pass Xono, both sounded better in my system loaded at 47k. I have been using the XV-1 and now s for the last 5 years or so - luv the sound of it.

The rhea I have just tried liked 125 ohms better and the ayre P5x back at 47k.
I hope the steelhead works out as I would like to get my old Linn lp12 up and running again with a more reasonably priced cartridge like the Denon 103 for some fun listening.

cheers Shane

Shane, the specifications of the XV-1s cartridge would indicate that the upper end of the range for optimal impedance loading would likely not exceed 200 ohms. Loading the cartridge at 47k ohms should tend to emphasize the treble frequencies and attenuate the bass frequencies. Is it possible that you gravitated to the higher loading value in order to compensate for something else in your system that is leaning the sound of your system toward a dark or bass-heavy character?

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So Raul, Have you ever had a Manley Steelhead in your system or are you giving advice based on the specs you read and your disdain for anything with tubes ?
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Here you go again, out on your mission to mis-inform the public.
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Downunder, the Steelhead is MUCH quieter, slightly more dynamic,has more body to the notes and grabs the bass notes by the shorthairs and does not let go, compared to the Rhea anyway. And, except for the noise, I liked the Rhea a lot. The Steelhead is just in another league.

I run my XV-1s at 100 ohms. Tried 50 ohms, and on the records I listened to, it was a little too subdued on the top, but as Bob said, it was a subtle difference. Even a 500 ohm setting was not bad, 100 just seems best to me. I also run through the MM section w/ a 60 db gain setting. Again Bob's description of the differences between MM & MC were spot on with my experience.

As far as tubes, I spent about $100 bucks for all six tubes and that compliment of tubes was only slightly bested by a pair of $300 NOS Siemens CCa's. If I had to do it over, I would not have bought the CCa's and stuck with the $40 Amperex 6922's.

Oops...sorry guys, I forgot, you better ignore my thoughts on bass. Raul told me today on another thread that I don't know what real bass is because I like the ZYX UNIverse cart. In fact, did he tell me here that the Steelhead will sound severe and colored (is that PC?), the step ups will degrade the sound and since it has tubes it will be too noisey? I think he did say that! You better ignore everything I said about the Steelhead since I must not know what the hell I am talking about. I think all of us Audiogoners should get down on our knees and thank the Lord that we have such an omniscient member such as Raul that can lead us mere mortals through this maze of stereo gear. Thank you so much Raul!