Giving someone a present is…
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In the name of journalistic ethics (footnote 1) I have to come clean. David Manley once gave me a gift. He presented me with a large, rather heavy, Russian-made watch at the 1995 Las Vegas WCES. A very manly watch: In fact, it said "Manley" right on the dial. The watch worked fine for about six months. Then it developed a very subjective approach to timekeeping. Time stood still, and my life wasn't even passing before my eyes. The watch has become a nice, albeit slightly ugly, mini–boat anchor; now my rubber ducky stays where I put it in my bathtub.
The Soft-Start setting also protects the amplifier against brownouts. Unlike most tube amps, whose owners often leave them on permanently to insure optimum performance, the Manley 240 can be left in Soft-Start mode. Then, if your local power company decides to brownout (suddenly dropping the voltage), the subsequent surge should do no damage. In an amplifier with a regular standby mode, such surges may damage components, since all but the B+ rail is still fully powered.
The Manley's Soft-Start setting is not the same as a mute. Not only will music still play through the Reference 240…
When listening for pleasure, I usually select the triode switch on the Reference 240s. Combined with a warm fire, a glass of brandy, and my beloved, the Manleys in triode mode can instill a sense of well-being and cosmic contentment that banishes even the most exasperating daily frustrations. If, on the other hand, I need to know what is really going on in a mix, or I'm wearing my reviewer's cap (the one with the big Mickey Mouse ears), I flip the Manleys into tetrode mode. For full orchestral recordings and "serious" rock and roll at "realistic" levels, tetrode is obviously the way to go.…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: All-tube monoblock power amplifier with class-AB, push-pull output stage. Output power (at 1.5% THD): 240W into 5 ohms (21.8dBW) (tetrode mode); 100W into 5 ohms (18.0dBW) (triode mode). Input impedance: 100k ohms. Output impedance: transformer secondary set to 5 ohms. S/N ratio: 80dB. Input sensitivity: 1V for full output. Power consumption: 30W, standby mode; 815W at full power.
Dimensions: 19" W by 11" H by 13" D. Weight: 63 lbs each.
Serial numbers of units tested: R24025 & R24026.
Price: $9000/pair (1996); no longer available (2009…
System
For this amp review the following equipment was used: Analog sources were a VPI TNT Jr. turntable, with cost-effective upgrade and outboard flywheel, on a Bright Star base and a Townshend Seismic Sink. Tonearms were the Graham 1.5T/C, and Clearaudio/Souther TQ-1. In my small room, a VPI HW-19 Mk.IV with a SAMA and mounted with a Clearaudio/Souther TQ-1 sits on a Bright Star J-7 base. Cartridges included the van den Hul MC-1 Super, Dynavector XX-11, AudioQuest MC-200, Fidelity Research/van den Hul FR-1, Denon 103/van den Hul, and Denon DL-S1. Digital front-ends were PS Audio…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
A complete set of measurements was made on the Manley Reference 240 in both the triode and tetrode modes using the balanced inputs. Selected measurements were also made using the unbalanced inputs.
The Manley Reference 240 was warmed up for one hour at 60W into 8 ohms, one-third of its rated maximum power in the tetrode mode. Although the top plate became very hot, this was not enough to be an operational concern. However, it was hot enough that the amplifier should be kept out of reach of small fingers. (The same might be said of the sharp edges on the…
And every time, this thought hit me: It wasn't a record she was handling. It was a fragile soul inside a glass bottle.—From South of the Border, West of the Sun, by Haruki Murakami
Back in early spring, I stupidly sprained my ankle while running (footnote 1). At 2am. The injury kept me off my feet for a few weeks, and I found myself spending time reading and actually participating in a hi-fi forum, an activity I generally try to avoid. One thread that caught my attention was on the Stereophile forum, and the subject under discussion was the Furutech DeMag device. In brief, Stephen Mejias…
Willie Nelson: American Classic
Blue Note 5099926719726 (CD). 2009. Tommy LiPuma, prod.; Al Schmitt, Steve Genewick, engs. AAD? TT: 45:33
Performance ****½
Sonics ****
Blue Note 5099926719726 (CD). 2009. Tommy LiPuma, prod.; Al Schmitt, Steve Genewick, engs. AAD? TT: 45:33
Performance ****½
Sonics ****
In 1978, in partnership with Booker T. Jones, Willie Nelson decided to throw the music business and the listening public a curveball with Stardust. Stepping out of the "outlaw" country persona that had revolutionized and saved country music—which, by the early 1970s, had become formulaic and isolated from the changes sweeping American society since the late '60s—Nelson became a hip cabaret singer. The set was…
Though taller, narrower, deeper, more gracefully sculpted, and even more mantis-like than the MAXX Series 2 that I reviewed in the August 2005 Stereophile, at first glance the Wilson Audio Specialties MAXX Series 3 seems little more than a minor reworking of its predecessor with a major increase in price: from $44,900 to $68,000 per pair. But first looks can be deceiving. Take a closer, longer gaze—or, better yet, spend some time listening (especially if you've spent time with the MAXX 2)—and you'll quickly realize that while the familiar Wilson design concepts remain in play, the MAXX 3 is…
While the MAXX 3's cabinet resembles the 2's, closer inspection reveals it to be completely new and far more refined-looking, particularly when viewed from the side. But if you didn't like the MAXX 2's looks, or speakers finished in automotive paints, you probably won't like the looks of the taller, even more imposing MAXX 3.
Four years with MAXX 2
I owned a pair of MAXX 2s for more than four years and thoroughly enjoyed every listening minute, while never deluding myself that it was the perfect loudspeaker. There's no such thing. Had I had such delusions, my reviewing of other…