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I'm looking for a set of tube monoblocks to replace my old CJ integrated that I sold back in March.
Does anyone here have any experience with this set or seen a review of them?
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A lot depends on their output impedance and the impedance curve of your speakers. Some of Manley's older amps, like my 120 monoblocks, had pretty high output impedance, which made them a good match for some speakers but not others. Suggest you pop a note to EveAnna and ask her. She responds right away, knows her stuff, and tells it like it is.
Certainly, $2k per pair is pretty great price, and I can put up with lots of scratches for that.
WW
"A man need merely light the filaments of his receiving set and the world's greatest artists will perform for him." Alfred N. Goldsmith, RCA, 1922
Thank you for your suggestion. I'll drop her an email to see what her thoughts are.
I think it's a great price and the power output is not bad.
My speaker efficiency is only 90dB so I'm not ready for a SET amp at this point.
So I asked Manley if there were any reviews out there for me to read and the answer was not that informative. Basically, "No but here is our website page." So I think I will pass.
I have a line on a pair of very low hour, in-box, PrimaLuna Prologue 7s that are just a bit more expensive that I may pursue.
Just above my budget but I can always eat sandwiches and drive without AC for a few days to get the extra cash. :)
Edits: 09/25/14
Sorry, these Retro 100's are not really production models as they were rebuilt as different amplifiers from the originals and there have ever only been less than 20 pairs of them in the world so we have never submitted them for any magazine reviews.
We have two pairs remaining that we have listed on our eBay selling page.
--
Cheers, EveAnna Manley
Only 2 pair remaining? I never knew these existed but at $2k a pair they sound like a bargain worth scooping up!
I had a pair of glorious sounding Manley Neo-Classic 250 EL34 amps and heard a similarly nice sounding pair of Snappers at a friend's house. I still have a couple "Tubes Rule" stickers I picked up at RMAF courtesy of Manley Labs. ;-)
Yep.....those look like a much safer bet.
...I have not heard these but have owned many different Manley amps over the years since the late 1980s before Manley and VTL split to become two different companies.
I have always like their sound and they have gotten better over the years. I still use a pair of 15 year old Neo-Classic 250s.
Having said that, whether you like these amps will depend on how that mate with your particular speakers.
Speakers are to be upgraded very soon to something more efficient, newer and probably smaller :)
What I have now were purchased in the late 90s for HT.
When I bought my first "decent" stereo equipment back in '73, I could only afford one piece of the system at a time.
I was convinced by the salesman to buy speakers first as they would make the biggest noticeable impact to my existing cheapo system.
Then add the amplification and last the turntable/source.
At the time I believe he was totally correct and I was blown away each time I was able to add the next upgrade.
This time around I have no room to add speakers until I determine what to do with my existing ones.
So, I want to start by replacing my CAV50, sold it and now regret it, with tube monoblocks if a nice quality set comes along at a reasonable price.
I plan to upgrade the preamp and source also one step at a time.
...I always advise finding speakers you love first, then matching them with an amplifier that makes them sing.
The speaker is the single most important component, IMO.
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