What's A Good Upgrade From A Manley Steelhead?


I'm on a mission to improve my vinyl front-end. Starting point is to replace the Graham 2.2 on my Basis Audio Debut Gold Vacuum, followed by a new compatible cartridge, next will be a different phonostage.

I like the Steelhead but I'm sure there's something better out there. I've around $8K  to play with and prefer to buy used. Has anyone stepped up from the Steelhead successfully, if so, what did you buy and how much of an improvement was it?

Appreciate any thoughts/ideas? 

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Showing 1 response by pindac

It is very difficult to find tubes from a NOS Production Period such as the from the 60's Period, that are perfectly matched for the purpose of being used in a Phonostage.

I have Siemens and Mullard Brands which took months of searching and arranging a purchase condition where if a Tube did not measure to a certain level I was allowed to return it.

I got there in the end, one Tube came from Japan ands another from Germany to make a matched pair.

Tube dealers will supply tubes that will produce music and have a decent usage life.

To get Two Tubes with the Four Halves across the Two Tubes all measuring close and above manufacture Spec' is a challenge for certain era's of production.

This is where the real magic is to be found for a usage in a Phonostage, fortunately, these same owned Tubes are transferrable to a used DAC as well.