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Open to all owners plus those contemplating the purchase of a Graham Slee HiFi System Components audio product and wishing to use this forum's loaner program: join here (Rules on posting can be found here)

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Topendz View Drop Down
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Joined: 31 Jan 2021
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Points: 16 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Topendz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Feb 2021 at 9:44pm
One last question if I may... if you can humour me.  With my setup would I benefit more from changing my cartridge from MM to MC and getting say a REFLEX C or similar or would just upgrading to a REFLEX M or similar give me just as good results.  opinions here are all welcome. 

I purchased a used Schiit Mani pre-amp this week just to test my ears to see if I could hear any difference between that and my Fluance PA10 both very low end items I know. To my untrained ear I couldn't really tell the difference.  I know I have the loaner option too but I still wanted to ask this question if you don't mind. Thank you so much.
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patientot View Drop Down
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Joined: 28 Nov 2018
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Points: 1525 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote patientot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Feb 2021 at 9:50pm
Originally posted by Topendz Topendz wrote:

One last question if I may... if you can humour me.  With my setup would I benefit more from changing my cartridge from MM to MC and getting say a REFLEX C or similar or would just upgrading to a REFLEX M or similar give me just as good results.  opinions here are all welcome. 

I purchased a used Schiit Mani pre-amp this week just to test my ears to see if I could hear any difference between that and my Fluance PA10 both very low end items I know. To my untrained ear I couldn't really tell the difference.  I know I have the loaner option too but I still wanted to ask this question if you don't mind. Thank you so much.

Topendz, I used to own a Schiit Mani. Despite impressive numbers on paper it picked up RFI and was very noisy and hissy in practice. The customer service department at the company seemed to have a contempt for customers also when I raised the issue with them privately. I also had some issues with another product from them, but I won't get into this any further. Bottom line, I will never buy another product from them again. 

Now, that was a few years ago, and I've been told they improved the Mani since. However, I doubt a Mani would sound better if you pit it against the Reflex M side by side. I think the Mani would lose there. I have a Reflex M and do not miss the Mani AT ALL. 

I cannot help you with the PA10 because I never heard one. 

RE: MC carts, I don't want to beat a dead horse but unless you have the budget for a fairly nice one, which can be expensive, I'm not sure I would recommend going that route. A good MM/MI cart will give you excellent sound with a G.S. phono preamp. 
SL-1200 MK7 (modified) + Reflex M + PSU-1 used with AT150-40ML, AT VM95ML, Stanton 680mkII + Ogura, and Shure M35X cartridges.
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Topendz View Drop Down
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Points: 16 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Topendz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Feb 2021 at 10:18pm
Originally posted by patientot patientot wrote:

Originally posted by Topendz Topendz wrote:

One last question if I may... if you can humour me.  With my setup would I benefit more from changing my cartridge from MM to MC and getting say a REFLEX C or similar or would just upgrading to a REFLEX M or similar give me just as good results.  opinions here are all welcome. 

I purchased a used Schiit Mani pre-amp this week just to test my ears to see if I could hear any difference between that and my Fluance PA10 both very low end items I know. To my untrained ear I couldn't really tell the difference.  I know I have the loaner option too but I still wanted to ask this question if you don't mind. Thank you so much.

Topendz, I used to own a Schiit Mani. Despite impressive numbers on paper it picked up RFI and was very noisy and hissy in practice. The customer service department at the company seemed to have a contempt for customers also when I raised the issue with them privately. I also had some issues with another product from them, but I won't get into this any further. Bottom line, I will never buy another product from them again. 

Now, that was a few years ago, and I've been told they improved the Mani since. However, I doubt a Mani would sound better if you pit it against the Reflex M side by side. I think the Mani would lose there. I have a Reflex M and do not miss the Mani AT ALL. 

I cannot help you with the PA10 because I never heard one. 

RE: MC carts, I don't want to beat a dead horse but unless you have the budget for a fairly nice one, which can be expensive, I'm not sure I would recommend going that route. A good MM/MI cart will give you excellent sound with a G.S. phono preamp. 

Thank you... to be clear I had no expectations of the Schiit mani and wasn't thinking of comparing it to any Graham Slee in particular. I picked it up for my own curiosity really to compare to my current preamp. Both low end and I didn't have high expectations it was more a test for my ears Big smile
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Topendz View Drop Down
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Points: 16 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Topendz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Feb 2021 at 10:25pm
Oh and thank you for answering the cartridge question. No I don't have a ton to invest in this hobby so it sounds like sticking with the cartridge I have and pairing it with a Graham Slee is the way to go. I just have to decide how much I am willing to spend on a preamp and to set my expectations.
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patientot View Drop Down
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Joined: 28 Nov 2018
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Points: 1525 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote patientot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Feb 2021 at 10:30pm
Originally posted by Topendz Topendz wrote:

Oh and thank you for answering the cartridge question. No I don't have a ton to invest in this hobby so it sounds like sticking with the cartridge I have and pairing it with a Graham Slee is the way to go. I just have to decide how much I am willing to spend on a preamp and to set my expectations.

No problem, just keep in mind that is my opinion only and other people have different opinions. 

The great thing about the loaner program is that you can try units at different price points and see what works best for your system and budget. 

It's hard to generalize too much when I don't know your whole system, your personal tastes, what kind of music you play and so on. 
SL-1200 MK7 (modified) + Reflex M + PSU-1 used with AT150-40ML, AT VM95ML, Stanton 680mkII + Ogura, and Shure M35X cartridges.
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