..."the unit sounded a little spare, lean..." In my experience, that sonic character is very often associated with marginal phono gain, and when higher gain is provided, the coloration is ameliorated. But if you are saying it sounded lean even after you inserted the Lamm, then all bets are off, except maybe you were hearing the Lamm, which after all is another device in the pathway that could potentially introduce its own sonic character. On the other hand, I am in no way saying the Steelhead is flawless. However, it sounds a whole lot better post-modification. I am now thinking of upgrading the attenuator, but I hate to give up the luxury of the remote volume control.
SUT With a Manley Steelhead RC?
I own a Manley Steelhead RC and am using as my main cartridge a My Sonic Lab Signature Platinum. MSL makes their own SUT that I have been thinking about purchasing, but I'm wondering if it's necessary with the Manley. I find the Steelhead to be the best sounding phono preamp I've ever owned, but I'm always wondering about ways to make it even better.
I sent a message to Bob at Bob's Devices, but his reply to me was ambiguous. He made it sound at first as if there would be little sonic benefit, and also seemed to say that his SUT would be superior to the one inside the Steelhead. I tried to ask more questions but he went radio silent after that, and if I try to call their phone number I can't seem to talk to anyone. This is not a complaint about their company, BTW. I've heard nothing but good things about his products.
Any useful advice is appreciated!
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Nope Lamm did not make it lean, just the opposite- put more meat on the bones, though the frequency extremes were rolled off compared to the Veloce (line stage comparison). As to lacking gain, perhaps that was an issue. It was a couple of iterations ago- sonic memory is imperfect, just remember the processes I went through. The mod you did seems to make sense. I did go back to that Six Moons review- it was apparently edited after the grounding issue was sorted and some newer material added. It's been a while. |
@billstevenson Thanks for your kind offer to lend me your Bob's Devices SUT. I will let you know if I want to take you up on the offer.
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@lewm Yes, I had heard that this is an option. I might try it. Honestly, the gain is not the issue through the MC input. I have plenty. And I honestly have zero complaints with the sound of the Steelhead in general. Just curious if the MSL SUT would optimize the gain for the cart. I guess the only way to know would be to buy one and try it. I tried to buy one when I was in Japan last fall but every store that had a display model would not sell it to me, saying I would have to special order one. I was only there for two weeks so that was really not going to work. Now they seem to be available again, but I don't feel as motivated as I was then. Ho hum... |
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