WRM57 and I are dopplegangers~ I also ran a Steelhead for a number of
years and rolled the tubes- found that NOS Teles gave it the most
holographic sound using it through the MM inputs, and bypassing the gain
control into a separate line stage. It was a very good phono stage, but its
chief virtues, aside from build quality and incredible support, was its
flexbility- being able to change settings from the front panel. At the time,
and for the price, it was considered a state of the art piece.
The H 3000 sounds significantly more organic than the Steelhead in my
system and also does a better job of placing the instruments in defined
spaces, not just laterally but front to back. (It also took a couple hundred
hours to burn in).
It has an ease that sounds less 'reproduced.'
Whether these differences are as marked in the entry level models of each
company's products is something I don't know- I haven't heard either the
Chinook or the H 1201. I can tell you that the build quality of the Allnic is
easily on par with the Manley gear, and that I've gotten first rate support in
the States, though the product is manufactured in South Korea.
I don't usually get on these forums to say 'buy what I have' but if you can
extrapolate, as WRM suggests you might, the Allnic would be a winner.
years and rolled the tubes- found that NOS Teles gave it the most
holographic sound using it through the MM inputs, and bypassing the gain
control into a separate line stage. It was a very good phono stage, but its
chief virtues, aside from build quality and incredible support, was its
flexbility- being able to change settings from the front panel. At the time,
and for the price, it was considered a state of the art piece.
The H 3000 sounds significantly more organic than the Steelhead in my
system and also does a better job of placing the instruments in defined
spaces, not just laterally but front to back. (It also took a couple hundred
hours to burn in).
It has an ease that sounds less 'reproduced.'
Whether these differences are as marked in the entry level models of each
company's products is something I don't know- I haven't heard either the
Chinook or the H 1201. I can tell you that the build quality of the Allnic is
easily on par with the Manley gear, and that I've gotten first rate support in
the States, though the product is manufactured in South Korea.
I don't usually get on these forums to say 'buy what I have' but if you can
extrapolate, as WRM suggests you might, the Allnic would be a winner.