I demoed a Chinook and end up purchasing it as well. I replaced a Ray Samuels Nighthawk with the Chinook. It's hard to imagine, but the Chinook is actually quieter than the Nighthawk. The Nighthawk picked up some hum due to it's location and there wasn't really any place that I could move it to alleviate the hum. The Chinook is on the same rack, but does not suffer at all from whatever caused the Nighthawk's hum. The loading and capacitance options are fantastic and really help fine tune your cart. I would, at the very least, suggest you try to demo the Chinook if at all possible.
Should I upgrade to a Manley Chinook phono pre-amp
I recently upgraded to a VPI Classic One turntable with a Lyra Delos cartridge.I am using a Belles 20A phono pre- amp that I have been very happy with but now that I've upgraded the turntable I would like to upgrade the phono pre-amp.I read some nice reviews of the Manley Chinook and was wondering if this would be a significant improvement.