Manley Labs The Wave Tube Preamplifier / DAC Combo [Template]

An excellent, versatile all-tube preamp from Manley Labs, most known for their exceptional Pro Audio gear. This is the last DAC that Manley produced and the unit was discontinued in 2011.

I’ve owned this unit for approximately 10 months and loved it — I used it to transition away from integrated amplifiers to dedicated power. I’ve now purchased another pre-amp and a dedicated DAC and no longer have a need for the two this unit provides. The 24 bit, 96 kHz bitrate of The Wave's Burr-Brown DAC is not your typical high-throughput audiophile DAC — it is not going to handle your DSD or huge AIFFs like some newer DACs will. It will, however, effortless churn through TIDAL's streaming at 16 bit, 44.1 kHz (or 24 bit, 44.1 kHZ for MQA). The AES input option should be regarded as a nod to Manley's Pro Audio focus as this unit can be connected to a control board.

The main unit has some minor scuffs on the top of the unit that is only really visible with oblique lighting such as a flashlight -- I tried to capture it as best I could manage in the photos. It appears as if they were added after a previous owner stacked some components on top of it a bit sloppily. The visible areas are in excellent condition. I've rated it as Very Good conservatively as such.

The inner-workings are immaculate. I've replaced the 12AX7s with a matched & balanced pair of low-noise rated Electro-Harmonix tubes — the originals will be included with the unit if in case you want to do some preamp tube-rolling in your spare time.

I’m reluctant to sell, as I really do love this unit, but house-buying takes precedent and downsizing would not do anything bad for the wallet. I really want this unit to go to someone who can appreciate it as a central component to their stereo and love it as I had.

I can be persuaded to be flexible with price, shipping, etc. if interested. Original packaging, manual, and remote will be included.