Manley Neo Classic 300B

[richidoo]

Split from http://www.audionervosa.com/index.php?topic=1552.msg14899

I already have the SETs...


Manley Neo Classic 300B SE/PP with Shuguang Treasure 300Bs    and Treasure CV-181 (6SN7s) on the way...  20W PP, 11W SE, glorious class A tubes.

Zu's high sensitivity would make a great match, but my speaker dance card is full at the moment with Ushers, Feastrex, and some DIY 95dB/m 3 ways I'm planning to build.

I think miklorsmith used Yamamoto A-08 2A3 fleawatters on his Def 2s. At 101dB sensitivity and active bass, Def2 doesn't need much power.

[hometheaterdoc]

you need to bring those over my way to have a listen on the Harbeths... but put some time on the upcoming input tubes before you do it

I found a box of 6sn7s last weekend that I totally forgot I had... had metal base 1940s Sylvanias in it... gotta love unpacking boxes in the garage... never know what you're going to find...

all the best on the new speakers, John.  I've found them very interesting each time I've heard them at shows... I hope they do very well for you!!

[Bill O'Connell]

Best be certain on those CV-181's, they are not a direct drop in replacement for a 6SN7. Check with manufacturer if you can use them or not is my suggestion. Just don't go throwing tubes into a circuit willy-nilly.

[richidoo]

Thanks Shane, I do look forward to hearing them on the C7s. Actually Bill led me to really appreciate current production Chinese tubes, I think I must be the only Morningstar customer who prefered (loved!) the stock minimax preamp tubes??  So this time I insisted on knowing which Chinese tubes I would use before I bought another tube amp. I have never heard a vintage western tube that I liked, signal or power. But we can stick the Sylvanias in if you want to try them, maybe I'll be surprised. The Shuguang Treasures take 300 hours to burn in - if I ever get them.

Bill, thanks for the tip. I had the same concern until I sent the tube spec sheet to Manley tech Paul Fargo, who said these specs are same as 6SN7, 450V plate is OK. I think the designers wisely made the specs closer to 6SN7 to appeal to more users and avoid tube grenades with a mismatch. A real CV-181 can only take 300V. Either case no problem in this amp. Thanks for lookin out for me Bill!

I really love these amps. It feels good to be back in tunes again.

[Bill O'Connell]

Don't you mean tubes again. Sorry buty I'm just a tube kind of guy. As John Lee Hooker would say, "There's just no substitute for love"

[Bill O'Connell]

sorry I spelled but wrong. butt

[Bill O'Connell]

Can anybody tell I've had a a few glasses of wine and am now sipping on a 12 year old scotch (Highland Park) while my wife of 34 years is gone on her work golf outing for the weekend. We had rain today and my second job was rained out and I was home enjoying by 3pm then absence of my beautiful wife.

[richidoo]

No I mean tunes Bill. I'm back in tunes, listening again. I've been strung out since I sold the Snappers - but they had to go. These are even better in class A. Now I listen for hours each day, more than I ever did with Snappers. Midnight is the saddest time, time to shut it off.  

Keep it coming Bill! I'll stay up with you all night. Maybe Ken can join, he is really funny after a schnapps.

[Bill O'Connell]

Rich,
 I have to get up at 5:30 for work, otherwise, and trust me on this, midnight is just the beginning. For some reason Friday nights have been my night. The electricity must just be right, as I swear to you, I've never( OK almost ever never been to bed before 2) I just love listening! My system is sounding so smooth and enjoyable now I find it hard to  pull myself away.

 I know I only have about 45 minutes left in me as the alarm clock will be going off soon but I have a customer who is an aerospace engineer who has a system that would probably rival any, an he makes his own really low capacitance wires, well anyway I talked him into building me a pair( he doesn't sell them) as a favor he sent me a pair. Now I love, really love the JPS SC3 but this pair that he built in my system took the musicality level up another level which I didn't think was possible .I tried these cables first from Well Tempered Reference turntable  to Tom Tutay(Transition Audio Design) phono preamp  and although I only spun about an hours worth of music, I thought no big shakes, so I shut everything down and connected from Transition Audio Design(Tom Tutay custom built linestage preamp) to amps. OHH my GOD. Huge difference, clarity besides inner detail but yet smoother and deeper in its presentation.Well, after some wheeling and dealing he was so kind and trust me on this as his time is extremely valuable as is all of ours but his exceedingly so, I have another pair ordered from turntable to phono pre , plus phono pre to pre plus Apogee mini Dac (XLR output to RCA), although I have a wonderful pair of XLR's to XLR from Lee at Cryoparts, these sound so friggin good already but like everybody else with Nervosa I'm always willing to take a chance and if they do what his cables did for me from pre to monoblock amps, well I'm in for a treat,
 OK buddy, I hear Mark Knoffler calling me downstairs, ShangriLa LP on digital.

 Oh my God , I have to grab about 5 minutes to cool down, (Oh how I wish they didn't random drug test at my work) Otherwise I would fire one up. (grab a piece of tree) Peter Tosh said it correctly."Legalize it"
 Just my opinion , please take no offense, tax it for pete's sake. I don't care. I really hate having to be straight for somebody else's belief of what or who or where my mind should be at. Who are they to say? Who are they?
http://www.last.fm/music/Peter+Tosh/_/Legalize+It

 Really, It's not that I'm a smoker as I have chosen to be a non user while my employer and the government
 demand that I be of sober mind, fine, I just hate the idea that on Friday nights because of some conservative old codger who has the power to legislate law of what is right for me ,has the right to tell me that a toke or two will somehow effect my judgement. The only effect it could possibly have is to vote him out of office.
 Please be responsible for your actions, Myself, I would never drink and drive or smoke if I din't have a designated driver of sober mind. Act responsibly, please,

Truly,enough already, No more WAR( although I support our troops 100%) Thank you! OK, thats about it, way to much time already spent.
 Love you guys,
 Bill

[lonewolfny42]

.... midnight is just the beginning.

Your right Bill....midnight is the start of a new day....and some peace and quiet...
....good time to listen to music....while everyone else is fast asleep.



Rich....very nice....good luck with the Manley's..../

[Black Sand Cable]

I'm here.....who else is still up? I just came from a small get together that was made up entirely of people my wife works with. Oh boy.....what fun.....

I sat in a corner and pounded back about 10 Crown and Coke's in the space of an hour. I'm ready to go.....

[Black Sand Cable]

Maybe I'm not so ready.....room is spinning.

Nighty...night

[lonewolfny42]

The night is young....almost 3AM EST....and your all sleeping ? 

[mdconnelly]

Bill, great rant! 

So is your customer willing to part with the details on those cables?  Just wondering how close to DIY they are.

[richidoo]

I checked in at 10pm but I guess I just missed the party.... Sounds like everyone had fun last night!

Wifey sat and read next to me last night with Trane wailing on the TT. That's when i know it is sounding good. Julie is my own personal canary. She will get up and leave when it is harsh and then it's tough to get her back. She has to hear it from a distance and be lured in. I like to think it is that she wants to be near me, but Trane was very enticing. God it is so gorgeous, even those old crappy Atlantic recordings. About halfway through My Fav Things, the 4th side of the night, piano clogged up and bass was rumbly and distorted. I flicked the booger off the needle and the magic was restored. Damn records

Bill, those new cables sound really cool. No doubt Tutay is a master. Maybe he can license the formula to you for a new line for Morningstar Cables?   

What I love most about these amps is the smoothness without giving up detail. There is no hardness to keep me on guard. I still feel myself tightening up on tunes that I listened to with other amps. I subconsciously get ready for the harshness to bite, so when it doesn't then I smile. Maybe it's the 300b, maybe it's classA.  I can even listen to kinds of music that I HATED before, like Carmen McCrae's more recent albums where she is always out of tune and so full of herself. I just focus on the gorgeous bass and piano and eventually the vocal distraction stops so I can hear the music. Before I would have to change the music and eventually shut it off.