Manley Stingray Review by Audio Video SA January 2006
FOCUS/INTEGRATED AMPLIFIERS
R22k
of sublime valved bliss
Manley Labs Stingray
VERDICT
Reversion to the
stereo mean…
PRICE
R22 000
SUPPLIED
BY The Listening Room 031-701-7949
And with
this uprising of vinyl, threatening all that is good and true about technology
and music, we have upstarts threatening that valve technology is now also
somehow superior to every established solid state norm.
Frankly
I wonder when we’ll get back to the gramophone suddenly staking its claim to
musical sovereignty. Given the comebacks some technology is making, it can only
be a matter of time.
But, and this is a big but, unlike the Johnny-come-lately vinyl brigade, who
frankly should now do the decent thing and pay humble homage to the disc jockeys
that actually spin, scratch and sweat their LPs on dual turn tables all the
while releasing deafening and somewhat dubious choices of rap, crap, trance and
house music to the gyrating, seething mass of humanity packed on the dance
floors below them, we valve blokes have been around all the time…
And many
of us have embraced valves as the perfect foil to the digital brightness of CD.
Old, lush and warm tube sound is a thing of the past -- now we need a whole new
thesaurus of adjectives to describe the sonic pictures painted by acoustic valve
‘wunder amplifiers’ with ‘uber credentials’ of Pure Class A and low
wattage outputs…
And so
it comes to Manley Labs and their idiosyncratic owner and designer EveAnna
Manley. The offering from this eclectic bunch that ended up with me was the
Stingray. If pictures say a thousand words -- consider yourselves informed as to
the looks of this little amplifier.
On the
tactile side of things the picture will fail to impress what kind of quality the
quirky switch gear has (each side has its own selection -- you can listen to CD
on the left channel and radio on the right) -- which is thunkingly solid and
reassuring. And then the binding posts, the stunning WBT posts that just ooze
confidence of the up and coming performance. The elegant spiked chassis is
nothing short of modern day art deco meets (or is that collides with) EveAnna…
And so
it is with the performance. Switching the amplifier on and watching the valves
do their thing and start to glow is something on its own. Having checked the
balance and calibration of the bias trims as per the handy manual (none
required), the Stingray was put to work.
These
days I care less about specs and how things work. It’s called the information
age – go online and find out for yourself. I care more about what I hear. The
website for Manley Labs is as quirky as the amp itself and certainly provides an
insight into the character of the company. Check out the Mausoleum section…
The
Stingray is surprisingly powerful. It easily drove my Mias, a pair of Van Den
Steens C1s and my new secret weapon of speakers which I can’t tell you about
yet. In all cases the Stingray remained authoritative with good control over
those tricky deep bass notes and delivering a tight, cohesive performance quite
in keeping with a solid state amplifier.
Typical
of valve technology, I found the Stingray engaging with a warmth to music that
solid state designs just cannot match. The amp is reasonably quick in the
midrange with vocals being reproduced naturally and faithfully. Classical and
jazz music in particular are the absolute forte of this amplifier. Better yet,
this is an amp that insists on longer listening sessions simply because one
tends to lose track of time all too easily.
I liked
the fact that the amp doesn’t try to be all things to all people. It has its
own signature in presenting music that is all its own. It’s unashamedly
forward but not aggressively so. Music here is not held back, but neither is it
embellished needlessly. Rather, the music is presented smoothly and without fuss
-- allowing your ears to make up their own minds easily. This is an amplifier
you can listen to for hours on end with no effort whatsoever, and emerge from
the session fresh and eager for more.
Yes,
this is a valve amplifier without a remote control. Yes, it has a quirky, odd
design. And yes, it delivers music more than capably, beautifully even. But is
it worth the asking money?
There
can be only one answer. The Stingray is a ‘yes’ amplifier in all regards and
none more so than in its offering of superb value for money. Hence it gets a
major thumbs up in the price vs. musical delivery department. I hope to hear
more from Manley Labs in the future.
William Kelly
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