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Manly Steelhead - any downside??

I am thinking of going for a Manley steelhead and have read many great reviews.
One thing that is mentioned consistenly is that it is a little lean.
Does that translate to the music being a little too revealing on the not so good recordings?.
Or does it make these recordings sound better and easier to listen to compared to warmer sounding phono stages?

me I want to to be able to listen and enjoy all my records, so ultra revealing is not something I am looking for in any phono stage.

appreciate any thoughts
downunder
downunder OP
1,329 posts
 
Hey guys, after living with the steelhead for a week I decided not to pull the trigger. For me and my tastes it was SOTA in bass, upper bass/lower mid texture, quieter than the Pass Xono, but ultimately I did not get into its slightly forward matter of fact upper mids and treble. It was crystal clean, but did not have enough meat on the bone for me and was ultimately fatiguing.
I did change the sovtec 6922's to JJ/tesla and that was better, but overall I didn;t want to listen to it enough to justify the steep price of admission.

guess this is why there are sooo many hi fi brands out there - everyone has different tastes and bias's.

Looks like I need a slightly warmer phono stage -

any idea's guys?
rcprince
3,070 posts
 
Lamm LP2, if you don't have a really low-output cartridge (it only has 57db of gain), might be more along those lines, or sell the phono and line stage and get a Jadis JP80MC, put some nice NOS Amperex BBs or Telefunken Ccas in the phono section and prepare to be seduced by the sound. Quite frankly, though, the Pass is a good unit, it is not easy to beat.
nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,124 posts
 
Downunder, there is no piece of gear that is right for everyone. I applaud you for giving the Steelhead a good audition and reaching a well reasoned conclussion. Too bad more people don't function the same way.
jtimothya
612 posts
 
Yikes - I was hoping that fishy would work for you. Warmer... hmmm ... there's the Lamm LP2, and, if you can do balanced, the Bat vk10SE. I'd really like to give the Lamm a try myself.

I keep hoping CJ will do a new phono stage w/ their teflon caps, but not sure they see the market for such. Btw, didja ever get an ACT2 in house?
richardmr
90 posts
 
I have owned an Art Audio Vinyl 1 phonostage and currently have a Thor. Both tube. The Vinyl 1 is terrific for any price and it goes for about 2.3k. It is quite warm and welcoming without losing detail. The soundstage is particularly deep. It is amazingly quiet. Really quiet. I would look into it.

The Thor is an improvement in all respects but quite a bit more $. More than the Steelhead. I'm a big fan of Thor.
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