Preamp Deal of the Century

Hi Ray,
Yes, I am in Fla. and I do know about good Cuban food. I am glad to hear you are so happy with your Supratek. I just ordered a new TT for my system. The old upgrade path seems to be never ending. Well sure is great fun. Let me know how the NOS tubes work out. After a few months I would like to try a few out. My Cortese should be here in a few days. I am trying to contain my excitement. It is difficult after such a long wait.
I thought about posting my system in the Virtual system section but I really could now see the benefit. I will try it out. I am not sure my skin is thick enough to take the criticism.
I guess we should try and keep this thread on topic so message me by mail any time.
Doc

Hi Ray,
Yes, I am in Fla. and I do know about good Cuban food. I am glad to hear you are so happy with your Supratek. I just ordered a new TT for my system. The old upgrade path seems to be never ending. Well sure is great fun. Let me know how the NOS tubes work out. After a few months I would like to try a few out. My Cortese should be here in a few days. I am trying to contain my excitement. It is difficult after such a long wait.
I thought about posting my system in the Virtual system section but I really could not see the benefit. I will try it out. I am not sure my skin is thick enough to take the criticism.
I guess we should try and keep this thread on topic so message me by mail any time.
Doc

OK..I cheated and have only read some of this HUMONGOUS thread..but where does my Manley Steelhead compare to the aformentioned monster preamps? Can someone enlighten me...before I take delivery??

MC

Musicbead - the Manley is quieter than the Supratek. Less hum and less electronic noise. The Manley sounds good at low volume but tends to become harsh when the volume is turned up. The Supratek sounds good at any volume. I suspect the Manley 7044 tubes (used in the buffer stage) to be the big problem with that preamp and to cause most of the aggressive sound. I changed these tubes but could not find any which sounded better than the stock 7044. I did not try Bendix 6900 or Amperex 7119 which might have helped fix that problem. I found the Tung Sol Black Plate 5687 to darken the sound of the preamp too much.. however, others on this site have found that tube to be an improvement.

Telefunken CCa's are almost always the way to go in 6922 applications. They improve the Manley considerably.

The Phono is good on the Manley but not exactly better than the Supratek - they are different. The often mentioned "flexibility" of the Manley and all its switches is totally 100% over-rated and most of the knobs do nothing audible (very disappointing and very misleading) with typical cartridges. Of the five "adjustment" knobs, I found only one (the load setting) to make an audible difference.

The Manley will also make your woofers pump violently. It freaked me out and I began looking for rumble filters.

According to a local engineer who looked inside my Manley, there are a great many cheap parts used inside and the flimsy chassis acts like a spring inducing resonance.

That said, the Manley is actually one of the better sounding preamps available. A good value because it sounds okay in stock form (at low volumes) but could potentially be improved with some modification (replace parts inside), find better sounding buffer tubes, add a standoff in the center of the chassis which supports the top cover & keeps it from vibrating, add the DACT attenuator with remote.

Is the Manley better than a Supratek? Well... that depends on what you're looking for. To me, the Manley improved the overall listenability of the system (at low volumes) because there was less electronic noise. Electronic noise was a huge factor to me. I have dimmer switches in my home which caused the Supratek to oscillate.

One thing is for sure, you have to spend A LOT of money to do better than the Supratek given all its features, flexibility, and shocking good looks.

Musicubed - there is someone else in this thread that went from a Supratek to the Manley. Do a search in Agon for Supratek and Manley.