Manley Steelhead MM/MC TUBE Phono Pre Amplifier first version with varable Vollume.

A Highly Regarded two piece Phono Section LOADED with convenient GREAT  features and even can be used Stand Alone as a Volume control and phono section.

41 Pounds

Serial # MSHLA 172AL

See Stereophile Rave Review @ https://www.stereophile.com/phonopreamps/935/index.html

The Steelhead is the most flexible,
user-friendly phono section I've ever encountered. There are two
moving-coil (MC) inputs on the rear panel, one with RCA jacks, the other
a female DIN connector. There's a single set of RCAs for the
moving-magnet (MM) input. There are fixed and variable outputs, the
latter associated with a front-mounted volume control and three ground
lugs: one for the phono input cable, and a pair by the output jacks
labeled Chassis and Circuit. Also on the back panel is one of those
humongous multi-pin power-supply connectors.

The front panel's
left side features a gain switch with four positions (50, 55, 60, and
65dB), which auto-mutes when you use it so that there are no speaker
explosions; and a three-position input selector switch (MC1, MC2, MM).
On the right side is a "big honkin' " volume control (Manley website
terminology for a Noble audiophile-quality pot) and four pushbuttons,
labeled Standby, Sum, Dim, and Mute. Between those, a smaller "honkin' "
selector switch performs different functions, depending on whether
you're using the MM or MC inputs. In MM, it allows you to select
impedances of 25, 50, 100, 200 ohms, and 47k ohms. Why would you need
those? Read on.

In MC mode, the switch controls a "variable-load
auto tranny" (more Manley lingo), which is the Steel-head
transformer/autoformer that gives the preamp its name. The switch
controls five taps on the proprietary "dual-primary, bifilar wound,
high-bandwidth, low-resistance, and multiple-shielded nickel-core
step-up autoformer," which allows you to choose among 25, 50, 100, 200,
and 400 ohm settings.

By impedance matching the cartridge with
the step-up transformer, you can maximize power transfer. That means
efficient, low-loss conversion of the ultra-low-voltage/high-current
cartridge output to high voltage and low current. When you resistively
load down an MC cartridge, you throw away power, which is why
conventional loading tends to "close down" the sound as well as lowering
the output—sometimes for the better, sometimes not (footnote 1). The
front panel also includes switches that permit individual channel
control of cartridge termination capacitance in 10pF steps up to 1100pF.

Design
The Steelhead looks like a piece of homely
medical equipment from the 1950s. Call it drop-dead ugly, retro studio,
or whatever—I don't think you could ever say that it looks "sleek" or "smart." Apparently, Manley is switching to a steel-colored faceplate,
which should help considerably. As delivered to me, with its gaudy gold
front, large ice-blue LEDs, clunky black knobs, and backlit "Manley
Steelhead" TV screen-like logo, it's about as attractive as a severed
fish head.

An umbilical cord terminated with a gold-plated
16-pin connector provides juice from the heavy-duty regulated outboard
multichannel power supply to the main unit, each channel supplied
independently (hot and ground) via multi-core shielded interconnects.
The RIAA and amplifier sections each use one 6922 and two 7044 tubes in
their circuits. According to the very-well-written and extremely
informative instructions, the circuit "makes the best use of active and
passive components and circuit developments generated over the past
half-century"—which, as I found out when I asked, is an elliptical way
of saying without saying that there's a JFET in the first gain stage.

When I asked Eveanna Manley whether there was a transistor in the
signal path—which I suspected because of the huge amount of gain
accompanied by pitch-black silence—she told me there was a
large-geometry JFET in front of the first tubed gain stage. "The hybrid
cascode gain blocks simultaneously deliver wide-band, high-gain,
low-noise, and low-distortion performance without (large amounts of)
negative feedback." The design is said to make the amplification factor
of each stage insensitive to tube gain or the transconductance
variations that can occur due to tube manufacturing tolerances or aging.

Specifications:

Description: Tubed/JFET, two-chassis phono preamplifier. Tube complement: one 6922, two 7044.

Dimensions:
19" W x 4.125"H x 18"D (allow an additional 6" depth for PSU umbilical
cord projecting out in the center) (Steelhead); 13.5"W x 4.625"H x
12.5"D (allow an additional 6" depth for PSU umbilical cord projecting
out in the left) (power supply). Weight: 19 lbs (Steelhead); 18 lbs
(power supply).
Price: $7300. Approximate number of dealers: 25.

Manufacturer: Manley Laboratories, Inc., 13880 Magnolia Ave., Chino, CA 91719. Tel: (909) 627-4256. Fax: (909) 628-2482. Web: www.manleylabs.com.

Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/phonopreamps/935/index.html#9WD5lrLhm5orIety.99

Manley Labs Steelhead phono preamplifier Michael Fremer July 2002

Michael Fremer compared the Steelhead with the Boulder 2008 in July 2002 (Vol.25 No.7):

Rockport's Antares speakers—400 lbs each and $41,500/pair—had been in my system for about a month when I sat down for my first listen to the Boulder 2008,
so I'd become accustomed to and quite familiar with their performance
using my reference system. The Antares is an impressive, full-range
design. Driven by the Manley Steelhead phono stage, the Hovland HP-100 preamplifier, and the Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300 power amp, their sonic picture was big, full-bodied, and just plain tactile. No pain, but plenty of gain!

So it was with much skepticism that I substituted the 2008 for the
Steelhead. I'll spare you a list of some of the well-known audio pros
who've bought Steelheads. They hear what I hear: stupendous bass
dynamics, transparency, purity, quiet, and on and on. It's a major
accomplishment.

That's what I was thinking as I dropped the
stylus in the groove for my first listen to the Boulder 2008. Would it
be brighter, tighter, faster, "etchier," more transparent, better
organized, more lush? I tried to imagine what the 2008 could possibly
deliver to better the Steelhead and Zanden. One was more analytical, one
was lusher, and both were incredibly accomplished—enough so that,
between them, they seemed to cover all the sonic bases at the very
highest level of analog reproduction. And the Pass Xono wasn't far
behind, if at all, depending on your preferences.

Unfortunately,
my imagination could not prepare me for what the 2008 delivered. I
don't remember the first LP I played, but within a minute of listening I
was no longer concerned with the sound of the music. What the 2008 delivered was the music's meaning. That's what you get for $29,000: communication—a direct connection to the intentions
of the musicians. That may sound pretentious, but it's what I
experienced in those first few hours of listening, with every genre of
music.

I hate saying some of these things because I'm sure I've
said them before, and probably in my review of the Manley Steelhead. The
Steelhead is a wonderful phono preamp, does everything terribly well,
and will keep me very happy until I win the lottery, But when I
reinserted it in my system following my love affair with the Boulder, it
sounded softer, more distant and slow, less dynamic, and less together.
The Boulder was like being hit over the head in a nice way with a 2 by
4, the Steelhead like being flogged with a wet noodle.

That's
gonna make EveAnna Manley unhappy, but the facts that the Steelhead is
still one of the finest phono sections I've ever heard, the one I gladly
bought, and one that costs about a quarter of what the Boulder costs,
should take away some of the sting for both of us.—Michael Freme

Read
more at
https://www.stereophile.com/content/manley-labs-steelhead-phono-preamplifier-michael-fremer-july-2002#z3gjw0kmsbEtZ1CJ.99

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