De baiting major changes.

[goraman]

I have improved the Manlylabs Stingray first gen. Using Audio Note , Aden caps, Elna silnic 2 and using solon films to filter all the electrolytic s ,even the big Audio Notes , I have upgraded the tubes to Telefunken's, the Drivers are Raytheon triple micas and the 8 EL84 tubes are Genulex Gold Lion N709.

I listen in Triode never switching to UL.

I am thinking of letting go of my so much loved Stingray , and moving to a Class A pre amp Sonic Frontiers SFL-2 . uses 8 6922 and has a separate power supply using all film caps , with the exception of 3 or 4 very small electrolytic s. And 2A3 mono blocks 3 watts per channel .

It is such a big difference, I'm nervous about it. My speakers are very sensitive and I listen to blues and lots of Torch singers these days.
Like Julie London and Diana Krall , The 2A3 has the same beautiful shimmer as the EL84 but the 2A3 is sonicly angelic with some recordings bass is maybe a little better with the Stingray but not much.
I am honestly tormented.
As you can see all the power supply capacitors have been replaced and I used higher voltage caps by 100 volts , so If a cap was 350 or 400 volts I used 500 volt rated and went for the higher hours life. The Stingray is real dynamic with a very black background ,far better than new.
Also electrolytic s have been vibration dampened , to keep internal resonances from transients at bay.

[goraman]

Here are the 2A3 amps.

Any thoughts?

[struth]

stingray looks like a nice amp..

[Jimbo]

Maybe you can take a listen to the new amp before you sell your Stingray to be sure you like it?

[sailor]

I really like the Stingray but it is a total bitch to work on. I replaced the 2 caps next to the ecc81/12AT7 for a good friend. The caps were fine until he happened to drip sweat down the side of one cap whist cleaning. There fortunately was not too much damage. I replaced them with Panasonic TSHA which are excellent. The individual board I needed to remove needed solid links unsoldered to do this .

The amp, about 12 years old, has performed without fault except for the very low level on the subwoofer out. An email to Evanna Manley did not provide any help. He is still using the original output valves, the Russian 6P14. I swapped out the original drivers for a pair of Brimars which were a nice upgrade from the Sovteks.

Care to share what you heard from your mods?

[Lawrence001]

Sometimes it can take a few months to appreciate if a system change is better or worse for you. Other than anxiety is there any reason you need to sell the Manley straight away?

Also, you can improve your system with better speakers before you upgrade the amp. Unless you've tried lots of more expensive speakers and decided the Missions are just to your taste.

[goraman]

This is easily the best upgrade I could make The DAC is extremely upgraded nearly everything but the transformer, it is class A 12AX7 ouput.
The Sonic Frontiers pre amp is class A the separate PSU is all film caps. All cables are pure silver in Teflon, The Mono blocks are direct coupled 2A3 Class A . very few parts 1 Audio Note copper cap and 3 Audio Note silver resistors and James Audio Transformers.

The speakers are very reminiscent of Missions at first glance but they are Tekton Lores with very upgraded crossovers.

The Manley Stingray with way better capacitors and better tubes is a whole different animal in dynamics and detail, black background.
But it is time to move on. The Stingray is truly a great push pull and amazing in its own way ,but I got board if I'm honest.

3 watts per channel of pure Heaven .

[Macca]

All active pre-amps are class A.

I agree with the advice that if you don't need to sell the Manley stick it under the bed. You might get bored again in a couple of years!

[Pigmy Pony]

All active pre-amps are class A.

I agree with the advice that if you don't need to sell the Manley stick it under the bed. You might get bored again in a couple of years!

Macca returns to Marvin's Mattress Emporium: "This mattress you sold me is rubbish, it's just as lumpy as the old one"

Keep it, but keep it on show. looks too cool to hide away :)

[struth]

if 3 watts is all you need for speakers and you dont intend replacing them then go for it...

[goraman]

if 3 watts is all you need for speakers and you dont intend replacing them then go for it...

The speakers are 98 db. 1 watt @3 ft. I'm not sure if it's true but my couch is just over 20ft. from the speakers and I can easily get 90+ db.

I love the Stingray and have several octets of EL84 tubes and enough drivers 6414 and same goes for the 12AT7's.

Being we live in a condo just under 1,000 square ft. 2 bed 1 bath I really don't have room to collect amplifiers.

[goraman]

There is textures, and separation of interments the Stingray just can't achieve.
It really shows up in vocals and small arrangements.
This is my first date with Class A or single ended Triode.
I was always told class A was thin sounding , I am not finding that ,it has body and soul ,its fast .