[artur9]

If there were excess Sol parts laying around I would love to create my own plinths and work with the platters, motors, and tone arms. Naturally you need to keep some around to cover warranties.

Now that is something that I'd be willing to torture my wallet for...

 

[BraveNewWorld]

I'm still an avid FM listener. Several hours a day when I don't have bandwidth to be choosing what to listen to. Lucky to have a good listener-funded station, CKUA, and a good college radio station, CJSW. Plus good ol' CBC. Trying to justify the cost of a Magnum Dynalab antenna as my condo is in a bit of an FM shadow.

My Denon receiver has an adequate FM section, but it's not anywhere near as good as my old M-D FT101 was.
.

As am I. Here is my M-D FT101A Etude in action. A plus for me are the meters glowing!

 

[ImagesbyMurray]

Soldered jumpers. Or just posts so you can add your own resistors and capacitors. That'll be fun.

No idea if this is using a riser, or pcb mounted dip switches?

How about a user option on the dip, that would terminate into a rear mount din connector?

 

[FLTWS]

As am I. Here is my M-D FT101A Etude in action. A plus for me are the meters glowing!

That was one terrific tuner, owned one back in the 90's. When I moved in 2004 it turned out I was right smack dab in the usual approach pattern for Willow Grove NAS and it played havoc when trying to listen so eventually I sold it. They made a nice whip style FM antenna too, I still have that packed away somewhere.

Their latest offerings look very eye-pleasing https://www.magnumdynalab.com/

 

[33na3rd]

As am I. Here is my M-D FT101A Etude in action. A plus for me are the meters glowing!

Is that a Tortuga Audio Preamp on the right?

 

[wilsonhines]

Hey all,

I said we'd have a couple of new things this month, and that might still happen. Getting into production is a bit slower than expected, but things are moving along well. By this, I mean:

1. We have boards for one of the crazy products, bottom chassis for both, and top chassis for one. Unfortunately none of them line up to complete products yet. Still hoping for February. We'll see.
2. We have boards for the craziest product of all, but no chassis. The chassis on this one is a bit more complex. We'll see when this hits. Maybe all 3 crazy/craziest will hit at once.
3. Urd drives came in and were wrong because we ordered the wrong ones. We swapped those for the more expensive metal drives and then discovered the control board is wrong, but that wasn't our fault. So still dealing with normal stupid getting-to-production stuff on that.
4. I'm getting production documentation going on MJ3, which is the boring part, but it needs to be done. Fingers crossed for summer.

In the meantime, there are a ton of under-the-hood changes going on here, all based on data we've been gathering from ERP and online marketing/ads/channels. Most of this is not very exciting. That said, we are looking into something to address our biggest out-of-control cost: PCB assembly. As in, we're looking at doing some boards ourselves. We have a handful of high-production boards that may prove practical to do assembly ourselves.

This is very important, because of all the crazy inflationary cost increases we've seen, assembly is by far the craziest. Now, things may calm down this year as the economy cools off and PCB assemblers start getting hungry again (we've already seen this starting elsewhere), and we may decide not to do it, but the preliminary estimates and projected savings make this definitely worth investigating.

If we do this, we'll have greater control of our production, and more of it will be done by us. Both of these are exciting possibilities, but they're also tempered by having to staff and maintain a new portion of the business. So, again...we'll see.

In other news, I've decided to start poking at a higher end phono preamp.

(STOP. Don't get excited. If you're looking to get a Mani 2, buy with confidence. IF we do something else, it will be MUCH more expensive. Note the "IF" and "MUCH.")

So...keeping this open ended, what might you want to see from a higher end Schiit phono preamp?

And...making this more pointed, let's talk:

1. Multiple inputs (is this really important?)
2. Simple vs complex (how many gains and how many loads do you really need?)
3. Discrete vs op-amp (thoughts, do you care?)
4. Balanced vs SE (system matching, don't care, gotchas?)
5. How important is great MC vs MM performance (and vice-versa?)

You may notice I haven't mentioned tubes. It's not that I don't like tube phonos, it's just that, if done right, they'll be more limited. As in, if you want to have a pure tube phono preamp with passive RIAA, you'll need a separate MC stage or SUT, and you'll need to stick to one type of tube for rolling unless we use lots and lots of tubes, etc.

Anyway, just thinking out loud. Looking forward to any input.

And, again: IF it happens. MUCH more expensive. Mani 2 is a fantastic phono pre. It took me a long time to be convinced we should look at anything else.

All the best,
Jason

Jason, a multi-input ManiX would be sweet! I run two turntables and going back and forth is...well...a chore.

 

[theeclone]

Jason, a multi-input ManiX would be sweet! I run two turntables and going back and forth is...well...a chore.

Oh yeah, that reminds me: multiple outs would be nice, especially for those of us that archive our vinyl.

 

[33na3rd]

And...making this more pointed, let's talk:

1. Multiple inputs (is this really important?)
2. Simple vs complex (how many gains and how many loads do you really need?)
3. Discrete vs op-amp (thoughts, do you care?)
4. Balanced vs SE (system matching, don't care, gotchas?)
5. How important is great MC vs MM performance (and vice-versa?)

1. This can be useful for some users, but then you almost have to have the loading adjustments on the front. I think that most users that have multiple turntables, have multiple phono units too for different flavors, just like many headphone users have more than one pair of phones or amps.

2. 4 gain choices. 47K at 100pF for MM. RCA loading jacks for MC, you could include 100 & 400 ohm loading plugs.

3. Circuit Designer's choice.

4. Both would be nice.

5. Great MM performance is a must. Great MC performance would be nice too.

6. A Mono button. A feature that you didn't ask about, but is important to serious vinyl fans who spin early Jazz or Rock LP's.

 

[Dr. Cube]

1. Multiple inputs (is this really important?)

I've thought about adding another table to my system for 78s (as though I need more record storage problems), but that's the only situation I can see needing multiple inputs, and I'd need a defeatable RIAA stage in that case anyway. I know that's not true for other people who like to have multiple tables for modern vinyl for various reasons, which I assume is a vastly more popular configuration.

(About the extent of the flexibility I have in my setup is a couple of different stylus options for my VM540, mainly because the compliance of the ML stylus is a marginal match for my arm, and the lower-compliance elliptical will track badly off-center records without dancing away...)

1. Simple vs complex (how many gains and how many loads do you really need?)
2. Discrete vs op-amp (thoughts, do you care?)
3. Balanced vs SE (system matching, don't care, gotchas?)
4. How important is great MC vs MM performance (and vice-versa?)

The gain, load, and output options on Mani 2 have covered everything I've wanted in a phono preamp. I've stuck to MM for decades, largely because I care more about being able to replace the stylus myself immediately, without the hassle of shipping it back for retipping, and because I feel like the setup changes I need to accommodate a new stylus on the same cart are much less of an inconvenience than redoing the setup for a second cart.

However, I do think that it would be hard to sell a TOTL phono preamp with limited MC support to people who want a TOTL phono preamp.

I was never really surprised by the use of opamps in the Mani series, because the gain requirements for a phono preamp are eyebrow-raising to say the least and there's an endless appetite for a low noise floor. This is, frankly, something that I would ask you to decide because you're the one who knows how to design analog amp circuits.

 

[corndog71]

Hey all,

I said we'd have a couple of new things this month, and that might still happen. Getting into production is a bit slower than expected, but things are moving along well. By this, I mean:

1. We have boards for one of the crazy products, bottom chassis for both, and top chassis for one. Unfortunately none of them line up to complete products yet. Still hoping for February. We'll see.
2. We have boards for the craziest product of all, but no chassis. The chassis on this one is a bit more complex. We'll see when this hits. Maybe all 3 crazy/craziest will hit at once.
3. Urd drives came in and were wrong because we ordered the wrong ones. We swapped those for the more expensive metal drives and then discovered the control board is wrong, but that wasn't our fault. So still dealing with normal stupid getting-to-production stuff on that.
4. I'm getting production documentation going on MJ3, which is the boring part, but it needs to be done. Fingers crossed for summer.

In the meantime, there are a ton of under-the-hood changes going on here, all based on data we've been gathering from ERP and online marketing/ads/channels. Most of this is not very exciting. That said, we are looking into something to address our biggest out-of-control cost: PCB assembly. As in, we're looking at doing some boards ourselves. We have a handful of high-production boards that may prove practical to do assembly ourselves.

This is very important, because of all the crazy inflationary cost increases we've seen, assembly is by far the craziest. Now, things may calm down this year as the economy cools off and PCB assemblers start getting hungry again (we've already seen this starting elsewhere), and we may decide not to do it, but the preliminary estimates and projected savings make this definitely worth investigating.

If we do this, we'll have greater control of our production, and more of it will be done by us. Both of these are exciting possibilities, but they're also tempered by having to staff and maintain a new portion of the business. So, again...we'll see.

In other news, I've decided to start poking at a higher end phono preamp.

(STOP. Don't get excited. If you're looking to get a Mani 2, buy with confidence. IF we do something else, it will be MUCH more expensive. Note the "IF" and "MUCH.")

So...keeping this open ended, what might you want to see from a higher end Schiit phono preamp?

And...making this more pointed, let's talk:

1. Multiple inputs (is this really important?)
2. Simple vs complex (how many gains and how many loads do you really need?)
3. Discrete vs op-amp (thoughts, do you care?)
4. Balanced vs SE (system matching, don't care, gotchas?)
5. How important is great MC vs MM performance (and vice-versa?)

You may notice I haven't mentioned tubes. It's not that I don't like tube phonos, it's just that, if done right, they'll be more limited. As in, if you want to have a pure tube phono preamp with passive RIAA, you'll need a separate MC stage or SUT, and you'll need to stick to one type of tube for rolling unless we use lots and lots of tubes, etc.

Anyway, just thinking out loud. Looking forward to any input.

And, again: IF it happens. MUCH more expensive. Mani 2 is a fantastic phono pre. It took me a long time to be convinced we should look at anything else.

All the best,
Jason

USB input?

Kidding.

 

[Dr. Cube]

USB input?

Kidding.

Or output...?

 

[rfernand]

I'm getting production documentation going on MJ3, which is the boring part, but it needs to be done. Fingers crossed for summer.

Proof reader/beta tester signup link?

And...making this more pointed, let's talk:

1. Multiple inputs (is this really important?)

Nah. The set of folks who have a mono and a stereo cart in turntables in the same room side by side is smaller than the universe of folks that roll cartridges and tonearms. And they already have a switcher or two phonos.

1. Simple vs complex (how many gains and how many loads do you really need?)

I favor a little more complexity. I struggle (a little bit) with Mani 2 because my Grado Master3 cartridge is low output. I feel like I‘m one magic gain setting away from heaven. But it’s not like I’m in purgatory either. Mani 2 is really f*ing good.

1. Discrete vs op-amp (thoughts, do you care?)

Don’t care. Whatever sounds Best.

1. Balanced vs SE (system matching, don't care, gotchas?)

Balanced would be appreciated for the nervosa, but quite frankly, SE on vinyl has been “just fine” for ages…

1. How important is great MC vs MM performance (and vice-versa?)

Clearly I’m in the “make MI great” camp, so I lean MM.

And, again: IF it happens. MUCH more expensive. Mani 2 is a fantastic phono pre. It took me a long time to be convinced we should look at anything else.

I’m reading $1500 here. More things: No more wall wart, please. Don’t care if it’s Gungnir-sized. Multi-curve could be a fun gimmick. Defeatable rumble filters as in Mani 2 are cool to keep.


Cheers!

 

[US Blues]

For those of you who love vinyl, this is an excellent documentary about the fall and rebirth of vinyl over the last 30 years. 93 minutes.

 

[Ripper2860]

Defeatable rumble filters as in Mani 2 are cool to keep.

Frequency can be set via dip underneath, if necessary, but enable/disable on the front panel, pretty please.

 

[OldRoadToad]

Forgot about the new pro-ject line. Otherwise i guess I thought it would be extremely rare.

I can not hear any difference in headphones that use balanced or unbalanced. The cables on the balanced 'phones look cooler tho'...

But on a phonograph they are going to be hidden, so nope. I don't want to pay for something I can not see nor can I discern an audible difference.

ORT