Merlin TSM with Manley Mahi-Mahi?

Map,

Yes, in general, people seem to think that the TSM's particularly sing with tubes. Just trying to find out if anybody has specific experience with the Manley's.

Guppy. Thanks! I've never owned a tube power amp before so I'm psyched about the change. I know that there are pricier tube amps than the Mahi's, but the reviews are strong and I know Bobby likes the Merlins with tubes, so we'll see!

Guys,

Thanks for all the posts.

I remember when I was first changing my amplification from an integrated amp to separates, I was fretting over the whole input/output impedance question. As it turns out, the Shrimp is somewhat unique in that it will "drive almost anything," because its output impedance is only 50 ohms! It is thus, in theory as I understand it, one of the only valve preamplifiers that constitutes a good match for the S300, which has an input impedance of 10k ohms.

In any case, I suspect that the combination of the mahi-mahi's with the Shrimp would be very sweet. I'm thinking about it…

Took the plunge and bought a pair of Mahi's here on A'gon at a very good price! Yay! I'll report back on the results. :-)

Rleff,

I don't really have anything to compare the Bel Canto S300 to, at least not with the Merlin's. I've owned a few amps over the years. I used to have a Unison Unico hybrid, with a tube pre section and SS power section; 80 watts/channel. Sweet amp, but the Ohm Walsh 100's I had at the time needed more power to sing, or at least benefitted from it. That's why I sold the Unico. I got a great deal on the S300 here on Audiogon, and paired it with a Manley Shrimp preamp. The reason I made that choice was that the S300 has a very low input impedance, and the Shrimp was the only tube preamp I could find that would drive the S300.

Speaking of Floyd, I listened to Dark Side Of The Moon on vinyl on the Merlins with the S300 and the Shrimp a while ago. It was FRIGHTENING; the "phasey" parts were all over the room; beyond the walls, behind my head... man!

Well, guys, I received my new, Manley Mahi-Mahi's yesterday! I haven't yet had the opportunity to hook them up, and, due to my work schedule, probably won't get to do so for a couple of days. But I will report back when I have the system up and running again.

Mahi-Mahi + TSM = wow!

Rleff,

Thanks for the good wishes. Here's the tube complement taken from the Manley web site:

Input Tube: 1 x 12AT7EH large plate Eletcro-Harmonix Russian

Driver Tube: 1 x 6414 JAN NOS GE or Raytheon branded

Output Tubes: 8 x EL84 Ships with Russian NOS EL84M (aka 6Pi14Pi-EB) We are out of Ei 6BQ5.

Ryiken,

I will get some photos up this weekend on my system page, I promise. I haven't had much time to do this lately, but my other reason for hesitating is that my room set up is really sub optimal at this point. I'm sort of a slave to my oddly shaped listening room right now, and it doesn't look that great. But, because I know you're curious, I will post something! :-)