Mytek Manhattan II as preamp

:)

See?? :)

Best,

Erik

I must say, the Mytek is outstanding performer as a Dac through my Ayre preamp but the sound is dull, not as airy and soundstage much smaller using it as a preamp. I guess I didn’t realize how good and big a difference my Ayre K-5exMP is! Dac with good separate preamp is way to go. 

I  have a Mytek Manhattan II that I tried as a preamp and it was good but not as good as my Audio Research LS-28 line stage. I use the analog volume control setting and that sounds marginally better than the digital volume control setting. Try it and see what you think.

Charlie H and I were friends on FB ( RIP ) and debated this general ? Extensively, you will soon be in a great place to answer the question for yourself. We both settled on pre sounding better, theory be #%?€£¥ !!!!

let us know how it fares but please be exact about level matching

I have a Mytek Brooklyn....

I think it will sound different, in large part due to the Ayre diamond output stage.  Also, and I'm not sure it's the same issue, I've had the Mytek shoot up to 11 upon static shock, so I would never again run it straight into the amps.

I will say that any loss of transparency varies a great deal on the pre. I would not in this case say you will find it better or not, but I do think you'll find it revealing of how the Ayre sounds. :) 

Please try it and let US know instead.

Best,

Erik