Hi inmates,
Wow you guys are a tough crowd to please. Ya'll don't like the old designs. That's fine, neither do I. Hey, my Mac 6100 sucks compared to my G4! So we do great amounts of R&D fixing up old designs in some cases AND creating brand new ones. I even list in detail all the engineering changes we did on the Neo-Classic SEPP300B over the old retros on our website, yet Mike who saw the new amps in a hotel ballroom sez, "it looks like it is not VERY different from the previous version soundwise." and then presumes to know everything about these new amplifiers. I mean specifically, Mike, with regards to output transformer saturation point in SE vs. PP, you really do not know WHAT parameters or configurations we are switching in the NEO version by looking at a toggle switch do you? Must be those x-ray eyes... (Hint: it's more than four poles... so we JUST MIGHT be pulling off more clever stuff in there than you can see with your viewing of one toggle switch on the faceplate... sorry your expectations of me and our designs our so small...)As far as how they sounded in that hotel ballroom demo, since you didn't like the way our 250's sounded either, MIGHT you condsider some tiny details like the HUGE UNTREATED ROOM, the across-the-room setup along the long wall, with a sliding partition rear wall, 40 people in the room, the speakers? Cables, source components, choice of CDs and vinyl... hey, I don't think that demo sounded very good either, I didn't set it up, I don't know those speakers, etc. but I HAVE heard my gear in more controlled listening environments and so have our customers. Before one pronounces judgement on some puny little 12-25W amplifier playing [what] tunes in a hotel ballroom, how 'bout giving it a fair chance in an environment it was designed for, with properly matched components, reasonable sized room etc. I'm not asking you personally to do this, I am just suggesting that before one condemns one component out of many in a system in a hotel ballroom demo to stop and think, MAYBE there are some other factors at play here?
That demo in the St. Francis ballroom, upon request of the dealer putting it on, for which I sent up all that heavy gear at MY expense, and flew up at MY expense, and schlepped the very first pair of NEO SEPP300B right off the QC line with MY back onto the United Shuttle, and had them all shipped back to Chino at MY expense, was only meant as an introduction to Manley's newest gear... sorry the demo sucked. Sorry I wasted my time. For those who might have been astute enough to see there may be potential in any of that gear beyond what a hotel ballroom demo can "reveal" maybe they'll contact the dealer for a personal evaluation in their own home, and Jim offers that service. That's all the message was, really... be fair!
Mike, with regards to your comment, "Of course, Manley does not want that much of a trouble in order to take your money, so they did it simple, the hell with the saturation point." Number one, you're absolutely wrong. And number two, I'm sorry you didn't mention what you do for a living? I mean, don't we all take other people's money in the course of business? Seriously, that was a really mean comment you made. You have no idea of the kind of "trouble" we go through to design and manufacture the products we do. Go have a look at our factory tour page on our website to get an idea of the trouble we go through.
Apparently, it's still not enough for some people... Believe me, I could personally do without all this trouble, just copy historic designs,have stuff built in PRC, and run it out of my garage with two people receiving in boxes and shipping 'em back out... but no, we have 40 people, 11,000 sq. ft building, in-house design and manufacture of audio transformers, PCBs, metal-work, hundreds of thousands of doallars of parts inventory, and four hefty R&D salaries, and dedicated customer support if it all goes wrong. This is all serious investment in the product, in the customer, and in the future.
Sure, I wish we could not have to "take" other people's money to pay for this. I wish we could give just you guys amplifiers for free... but, man, I am running a business at the end of the day, and why? 'Cause I really do like building vacuum tube gear!
So give us a break here guys.... while we are doing the best we can, I certainly do welcome your suggestions and comments. As many know, we DO listen!
Cheers, EveAnna Manley, President, Manley Laboratories, Inc.
