I like them at least 2ft into the room, 4ft is better, but they are better than decent - probably great 1 ft away. They're just not their best unless well away from the wall. |
What kind of distance to the wall do the Mani's need to sound decent? That might be a problem in my room. |
Challenges with manis:
1) right amplifier for best (not just good) performance with all kinds of music at target listening volumes
2) Need distance to walls for best results that justify the investment (not an unusual thing at all)
3) THey can sound a touch hot and less laid back compared to some lines, like PSB, for example in some setups, especially with some SS amps. Addressable via many common tweaks as needed though, nothing unusual there either.
I would love to own Mani IIs as a possible step up from my current smaller Dynaudio monitors if I could justify the expenditure. Maybe someday. |
Jerroot,
The main reason I am not completely sold on the Mani-2's is only because I haven't been able to listen to them (my Totem dealer doesn't sell the model). I know some will say that you shouldn't consider a speaker without auditioning it first, but I already know that I like the Totem sound and given the things I've heard about them, I can only assume that I'd probably love them. However, not having a way to hear them still creates some inherent doubt. Additionally, I have heard some people say that the Mani-2's can be a challenge, just like you said. I'm looking for something with a strong midrange + midbass that can produce a great focused image. The Hawks seemed to satisfy those desires above what my Rainmakers can do, but I'm curious to know how they would compare to the Mani-2. How would you describe the Mani-2 sound, and what challenges did it present? |
I think Bggregory is on the right path.
Mani's I have heard of McIntosh amplification lead s me to believe the might trend towards being a touch bright with some amps (similar to my Dynaudio monitors) and digital sources. Not a good or bad thing inherently. Tube amp might sound good but would need to be beefy to always sound good in any room with any kind of music. I'd go with a beefy high current capable SS amp and tweak things from there using setup, ICs, pre-amp, DAC as needed until dialed in. |
Rossbernstein-
Yeah, I figured out my misread shortly after my post. What is it exactly about the Mani's that you find yourself not sold on? Just curious. At times I have issues with them, other times they're just perfect. That's very likely no different than any other speaker I might have purchased. They were by far the most challenging speaker I've owned to figure out how to drive, but that's probably because I wasn't hitting them with an amp of sufficent power. I did find however that it's easy to find retailers who will tell you that the amp they are selling will match wonderfully with the Mani's. They were, well...selling.
Jerry |
I think you will just need to try yourself. I found that I preferred my Butler 2250 (hybrid 250W amp) into my power hungry SP Tech Minis, but the Rogue Stereo 90 into my Von Schweikert VR-4s. Once you get past basic amp-speaker matching considerations, synergy becomes a bit more mysterious. The SP Minis in my small space were in no way straining the Rogue, but the Butler did sound better. It may have been the extra power or something else. |
I doubt you will like the NAD (though I've never heard it) better than the Rogue with Mani's. I don't think 150W of SS power is enough to make that much difference. |
Actually, I already have the Cronus Magnum and I am contemplating getting a pair of the Mani-2's. It's good to hear how much you guys like the Mani-2's in general though, because I'm still not completely sold on them (I'm considering the Totem Hawks as well, and other speakers). I have the Rainmakers now, and the Hawks sounded very nice to me. I'm mainly looking at floorstanders, but I assumed that the Mani-2 might have a very full sound despite being a bookshelf speaker.
I also have an NAD C375BEE integrated amp, rated at 2 X 150W into both 4 and 8 ohms. I thought my Rogue Audio amp was much better, but would the NAD's higher power rating make it a better match for the Mani-2's? |
I think Bdgregory is right, the answer is....maybe. I was driving my Mani-2's with a Cary CAD-120S Mkii which was putting out a rated 120 per into 8ohms and it sounded wonderful, perhaps a little "loose" in the low end for the bass heavy Mani's, but still very, very good. I wish there was a yes or no answer here, but depending on your listening tastes and room the lower output of the Rogue may or may not do it for you. If you are not able to audition the Cronus, you might consider finding a used unit which can, if it doesn't send you, be flipped costing you pretty much only freight. I'm now running mine with Rouge M-180's and I'm nothing but smiles. The Mani's will gladly and hungrily take as much power as you can give them, but I find they very much return the favor. |
I drive my Mani-2's with SS mono block amps rated at 400 w@4ohms, which is the right power for all listening. I previously owned a TAD 60 tube amp, and for fun I set it up with the Manis and had it running in triode mode - 30 watts/ch. It sounded wonderful (and I mean wonderful!) for acoustic and some jazz music (eg trio) - but would not drive them for anything dynamic like rock where you want more volume - even though it did sound good at lower volume. In Ultralinear mode (60 watts) it was a little better on dynamics, but that amp sounded so much better in triode. I saw somewhere that your Rogue is rated at 90 watts using (KT90 tubes)? This may be enough, but if you like hard driving rock or jazz fusion it may still leave you wanting. |
