Manley Chinook

I was able to take home my local dealer's demo about a week ago; bottom line, I was very impressed with the performance and I am going to purchase the Chinook. I would characterize this phono stage as very dynamic, just slightly on the warm side of neutral with a wide and deep soundstage. You get the richness of tubes while still retaining the speed and dynamics of some of the better SS phono stages. One thing of note that was icing on the cake for me was that it was the least susceptible to hum between 3 other phono stages I have tried in my system. Even in the MC mode with the gain at +60dB, I can turn my pre-amp pot up to the 12 o'clock position and it is very quiet; no hum and just the slightest bit of tube rush. Other phono stages I have had in my system started humming around the 9-10 o'clock position and in one phono stage, I could hear a local radio station coming through. The design/layout of the Chinook seems to have taken susceptibility to hum into account.

I'm going to try to demo the Chinook soon. I read the manual and asked the dealer, but neither have been able to answer my question. Can you adjust the load/capacitance settings during playback?

Both are set via dip switches located on the back of the unit so if you have an easy access while you play your records, then you can probably adjust the values. However, it seems to me unless you have a preamp with a remote or a knob that allows you to adjust settings with one touch, you should not do that. I'm sure such luxury comes at a cost, which would explain why preamps with such functionality cost a few k more than the Chinook. I'd rather the designer focused on what really matters rather than accommodate audiophile OCD.

Just traded in my beloved EAR 834P Deulxe for this phono stage, purchased new, so it hasn't had enough time to really break in yet. I run a Lyra Argo i and have the phono pre set on the MC setting at 100 Ohms, 0 capacatiance. Opening the unit up to make this setting chance was total eye candy, so beautifully it is built from high quality components. From a build quality perspective alone, it greatly exceeds the 834P.

Initial impressions after 10 sides of vinyl playing in a variety of styles indicate:

1) tighter and deeper bass
2) increased low level detail retrieval
3) about the same width and height of soundstage, but there are times when the width becomes "larger" than the room dimensions
4) deeper soundstage, a bit more foraward but also backward into the front wall
5) markedly improved dynamics, possibly due to the White configuration with the 6922 tubes in the driver stage, this one aspect is most noticeable between the 834P and this phono stage
6)my DG pressing of Martha Argerich/Abbado demonstrates how more accurate piano reproduction is, this alone make a compelling reason to move up to this stage if that is important to you
7) Classic Records Dave Brubeck Take Five: wow, the piano has never sounded as defined and natural, the bass moves the room and the brush textures on the drum kit are all there and palpable; I can feel the sounds on my skin so my sense that the reproduction of low level ambient cues and timbre is greater, my wife concurred
8) overall noise floor is substantially lower, this helps with the increased and apparent dynamic range

So far I am quite pleased with this upgrade and I will comment again after a week of break in has occured.

Manley does take it to another level.
Steve

I had a Steelhead for a long time. Tube rolling made a dramatic difference in the sound of the unit, and I would assume that to be true of the Chinook too. Not to lead you down the path of darkness....