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My New Manely Steelhead

I just received my new audiogon Manley Steelhead preamp. I let it warm up and I checked the tubes to make sure they were seated properly. I put it into the rack and turned it on. Lights are always a good sign. I turn the knob to MM and 47K for my cartridge Grado The Statement. The only settings I know to change. I played it for a couple hours thinking this sounds dry analytical. It did not have any life. I switched from a ARC PH3 and I was missing the romance of the PH3. The Manley does top to bottom better but lifeless. I looked at the Manely thinking what am I going to do. Sell it, but I just bought it. Then I noticed the gain setting was on 65. I changed it to 55 and immediately the sound stage grows wider and the music comes alive. Wow I just wasted 2 hours. The PH3 is now going. What a great unit. I hope nobody else makes the same mistake.
coxhaus
apachef1
164 posts
 
Probably one of the best. I have the vs.2 and this is one very flexible phono pre.
If you have the extra $ get a quad of 50's Bugle boy 6dj8's and a quad of Tungsol Late 40's ladder black plates. You will throw the stock tubes in the trash. What a huge difference!

Play with the settings and never mind the MC MM standard settings, you can really tailor the sound with all the setting combinations given. Manley recommends to tweak away.

swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Yep, its a good'un. It stands up to quite a few v good phono stages.
coxhaus OP
231 posts
 
I am interested but what are Tungsol Late 40's ladder black plates? Why do need a quad of 50's Bugle boy 6dj8? Won't the Steelhead only hold 2? Where do I find Bugle boys good enough for a phono preamp?
apachef1
164 posts
 
My bad only two Bugle boy 6dj8's from the 50's or early 60's Tungsol 5687 black plate quad (very rare but can be found) I buy all my tubes here on the Gon from a small handful of purveyors. You dont need NOS but a decent matched pair & quad will keep the cost down

They are not gonna be cheap for NOS but the combination sounds incredible if you plan on using a higher end MC cartridge
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
I've done a bunch of tube rolling in the V2 and the best tube combination for my ears is Tung Sol 5687/Siemens CCa.

YMMV

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