Schiit Mani w/ Ortofon 2m Blue?

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I have an Thorens td203 tt w/ Ortofon 2m Blue and cheap Berhringer pp400 phono pre into a Mystere a11 tube amp w/ Seas Froy 3 speakers.
The sound is veiled yet thin w/ shrill highs on many vinyl recordings. My budget is small and I'm considering the Schiit Mani to upgrade the phono preamp. Is this pairing good w/ Ortofon Blue and will it add more body in addition to the added detail.
Thanks
Mike

[steve-z]

The Schiit Mani is a very good phono stage for MM cartridges, I had one for quite a while and during that time it worked well with the Nagaoka MP110 and Audio Technica AT120EB, not sure how it will match the 2M Blue, but I doubt it would be problematic. The Mani can be difficult to come by, I had to wait for quite a few weeks before Schiit.EU had any stock. I only sold mine as it doesn’t work well with MC cartridges due to the ridiculously low input impedance they set, which only suits a small minority of cartridges. Due to the rarity value I actually sold mine on ebay at a reasonable profit on what I paid. If you intend to stick with MM it should be fine.
For quite a bit less money you could consider the Angle Audio phono stage which is very well liked on here.

http://www.angleaudio.co.uk/

Or for a similar price the Edwards Audio Apprentice.

http://www.talkelectronics.com/phono-stages/edwards-audio-apprentice-mm-equaliser/
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[Crackles]

I am using an Ortofon Blue at the moment while my Shure V15 is being re-tipped.

I've used it with a Trichord Dino and an Audio Innovations valve stage and I really like it with both. Not a massive step down from the Shure tbh.

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I live in USA so the Mani is easier to get for me. The Angle Audio and Tricord look nice, but I'm not sure if they're available here.

[steve-z]

Although I’ve not heard one personally I’ve heard several people describe the. 2M Blue as thin sounding, as I’m not familiar with your speakers I’m wondering if there might be a mismatch if your speakers are a little on the bright side of neutral and it could be that a change of phono stage might exacerbate the problem rather than improve it.
Ideally you could really do with trying the phono stage before you go ahead and buy one. If a smoother stage is what you need then perhaps a Rega Fono MM or a Graham Slee Gramamp would be better, they’re both very detailed and smooth sounding.


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Thanks Steve Z. I was thinking the Rega Fono would be a good match but a little more than I have to spend now. I may have to endure what I have a little longer.

[Stryder5]

Is your cartridge alignment correct?

Try aligning your cartridge slightly tail down, this may help and costs nothing:)

Gary

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Yes aligned perfectly.
I'll just have to try Mani, since it's my budget, and see if any improvement.

[STD305M]

Hi
The schitt mani is a mighty fine phono stage, i had one and only parted with it as i moved to mc.
If i ever went back to mm i wouldn't consider anything else unless under 400 quid

Steve...

[struth]

Yup had one too. Prefer the one I have now but they were fairly close For money it's hard to beat

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Hi
The schitt mani is a mighty fine phono stage, i had one and only parted with it as i moved to mc.
If i ever went back to mm i wouldn't consider anything else unless under 400 quid

Steve...

Thanks Steve, that's quite an endorsement.

[Sal1011]

I'm useing that combination as we speak and listening to Brubeck-Take Five. This is a very good combo. I also have a Grado Statement out for retip, and though it's a .05 mv cartridge the mani can be set to 59db output (it's normally at 48db), which is enough if your speakers are somewhat efficient as my Def tech. are with the subwoofer set on the "B" speaker outs of my Arcam integrated amp.

[REW]

I have an Thorens td203 tt w/ Ortofon 2m Blue and cheap Berhringer pp400 phono ...
The sound is veiled yet thin w/ shrill highs on many vinyl recordings...
Thanks
Mike
I had a similar sound issue with a unipivot arm and various carts including Denon 160, all through a Project phonobox. I only solved it when I changed to a Rega arm but I am now convinced the problem was the low mass of the unipivot arm, the Rega being higher. I wonder if adding some mass to the headshell end of your arm to raise the effective mass would be a cheap thing to try? The 2M Blue has lower compliance than earlier similar Ortofons and was designed with Regas in mind.

Just a suggestion.

[Light Capture]

I had a similar sound issue with a unipivot arm and various carts including Denon 160, all through a Project phonobox. I only solved it when I changed to a Rega arm but I am now convinced the problem was the low mass of the unipivot arm, the Rega being higher. I wonder if adding some mass to the headshell end of your arm to raise the effective mass would be a cheap thing to try? The 2M Blue has lower compliance than earlier similar Ortofons and was designed with Regas in mind.

Just a suggestion.

Thanks for you insight into possible mismatching. I may be getting a Schiit Mani phono stage for Christmas. I'll see how that changes the sound then. Anyway, after what I have has played as the weeks go by, either I'm adjusting to it or its breaking in more. Still thinner w/ less body than what I feel it should be. And not a convincing and authoritative a sound either. I report back in after Christmas.