This Little Piece of Schiit!

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This Little Piece of Schiit!

Postby zenaudio » Fri Aug 03, 2018 8:39 pm

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The Schiit Mani. http://www.schiit.com/products/mani
There's a lot of reviews on the web of this $129 Schiit, this one from Stereophile among the better-written ones. https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-6

I don't want to add another review, just want to share how the addition of the Mani made my system more flexible, particularly due to its various gain settings.

The importance of phono gain settings can't be overemphasized in matching carts and amps. Here are two threads in another forum that cover this in detail.
(The advantage of forums like this over FB is the archival and search-friendly properties.)
This one is more technical and mathematical, specially in calculating optimum phono stage gain. http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/question-about-selecting-appropriate-phono-preamp-gain.595994/
This second one is more subjective but no less insightful. http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-good-bad-of-too-much-gain-on-mm-or-mc-carts.349916/

Going back to my system, the analog input sensitivity of my integrated amp is 200mV. Applying the formula for a 5-mV output cart gave me an optimum gain of 32 dB at the phono stage. Most phono stages have around 40dB gain (my integrated's built-in phono stage has 38dB). Suffice it to say that using the Mani at 30dB gave me the best result for the Shure M55E.

The character of the Mani, described as "Dyonisian," and the dynamics and "ebb and flow of the music" from optimum gain came through in spades. Perfect for sinking into on rainy nights. Or to rock.

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"And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll"
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Re: This Little Piece of Schiit!

Postby jadis » Sat Aug 04, 2018 7:25 pm

Congratulations, Nes. Sounds like a nice piece. :)
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Re: This Little Piece of Schiit!

Postby zenaudio » Sat Aug 04, 2018 9:20 pm

Thanks, Philip.
Yes, it’s a nice little piece. :D
Amazing what today’s gears can deliver. And for not too much money. :up:
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Re: This Little Piece of Schiit!

Postby the porcupine » Sun Aug 12, 2018 11:29 am

I got one of these to try out after reading so many good things about it. In my setup, the Mani sounded a bit grainy at the top end and the mids quite scooped.Very digital sounding in my case. I thought it was just clipping so I lowered the gain to 30dB. In the end, I just went back to my Rega phono preamp.

On the plus side, the bass was well defined and intricate sounding on the Mani which made it more holographic and three dimensional.
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