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

Showing 2 responses by cjfrbw

Hi, Downunder,

Yes, I think you need to roll the tubes to get the best possible sound. The character of the sound changes a lot with tube rolling. Not that it is shabby in stock form at all, it is just capable of a more lucious sound. I thought it was lean at first, but after tube rolling and listening, I realized I just hadn't heard that level of fidelity before and now use it for preamp as well as amp. Vettrone's recommended tubes are spot on.
I run the Steelhead through the transformers and prefer the MC transformer input sound quality over the MM. I find with my cartridge that the transformer coupled sound is silky and very enchanting. However, I think that Michael Fremer in his review also preferred the Steelhead through the MM inputs. So this may be a matter of taste/ cartridge/ synergy. However, how many phono stages even give you the option of going transformer/tube or all tube (or all tube/jfet if you prefer)?