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Manley Labs STEELHEAD RC PHONO STAGE WITH REMOTE CONTROL
Manley Steelhead RC® Phono Stage with Remote Control
Clean, quiet, and bulletproof with enormous flexibility, the STEELHEAD is both a tweak-o-holic tube-lover’s dream, and a reviewer’s reference.
 
Two of the three inputs have selectable impedance matching via our beautiful Manley-designed and produced autoformers. Resistive load settings for the third “R” input and any capacitive loading from 0 to 1100pF will mate the STEELHEAD perfectly to any cartridge. Audiophile-grade components are used throughout. VARI outs can drive amps direct. LINE input replaces your preamp. Outboard PSU and RF Remora Remote control included.
 
We debuted to the world a killer frikkin' cool phono stage at CES 2001. It was called, aquatic naming theme continuing, The Steelhead®, as it is an "upstream" device and has a very clever MC variable load auto tranny that we designed and our very own Manley Magnetics department executed (which makes the MC stage so very clever).
Iron = transformer = "steel" makes sense to me...
 
DETAILS
The Steelhead features two inputs with selectable impedance load switch at 25, 50, 100, 200, and 400 Ohms via Mr. Clever "Steelhead" transformer/autoformer. It also has an input with resistive input loading values of 100, 470, 800, 1000, and 47000 Ohms. Very nifty is the selectable-dial-able-in-able-from-the-faceplate-able capacitive loading for all three of the phono inputs from 0 to 1100 picofarads in 10 picofarad steps. This ensures perfect cartridge matching with ZERO penalty.
It's got six tubes: 2 x 6922 plus 4 x 7044 or 5687. It can drive an amplifier directly if you want, bypassing the need for a preamp. It includes variable and fixed volume outputs and all-tube really low Z tube buffered outputs with an inherent impedance of 20 Ohms plus a 47 Ohm resistor, making the real output impedance 67 Ohms. It features a selectable gain switch with auto-mute during changes, providing 50, 55, 60, and 65dB of gain, adjustable to suit your system's operating level.
 
Other key features include a mute switch, a DIM switch for volume reduction, a MONO button, a hyper-regulated outboard power supply, and a motorized volume control. It also has a LINE input to allow direct connection to amplifiers, effectively replacing your preamp for analog sources.

Manley Labs STEELHEAD RC PHONO STAGE WITH REMOTE CONTROL

R300 700,00Price

  • Vacuum tube complement:

  • 2 x 6922 SOVTEK Russian (gain)
  • 4 x JAN NOS GE 7044 or 5687 (output buffers)

  • Fuse type and ratings:

  • 117 VAC operation: 1.5 Amp 3AG slow-blow mains fuse, 0.5 Amp 3AG slow-blow logic fuse
  • 230 VAC operation: 0.75 Amp 3AG slow-blow mains fuse, 0.25 Amp 3AG slow-blow logic fuse

  • Resistively Loaded selections:

  • 5-step user adjustable via fixed low-noise resistors: 100, 470, 800, 1000, and 47000 Ohms (after mid-2020)

  • Impedance Loaded input selections:

  • 5-step user adjustable via multi-tap autoformer: 25, 50, 100, 200, and 400 Ohms

  • Input Termination Capacitance:

  • Front Panel Selectable in 10 picofarad steps from 10 to 1100 pF (1.1nF)
  • Residual input capacitance less than 40 pF

  • Gain:

  • 4-step user adjustable: 50, 55, 60, and 65 dB active gain at 1 kHz referred to the FIXED output jack into a 10 kOhm load
  • Additional gain available via the two autoformer inputs’ step-up autoformer

  • Deviation from RIAA curve:

  • Less than +0.5 / -0.3 dB from 20 Hz to 20 kHz at any gain setting
  • Typically less than ±1 dB from 10 Hz to 100 kHz

  • Inter-channel differential phase:

  • Less than 4 degrees from 20 Hz to 20 kHz at any gain setting
  • Typically less than 2 degrees

  • Inter-channel differential gain:

  • Less than ±0.5 dB from 20 Hz to 20 kHz at any gain setting

  • Dynamic Range:

  • 101 dB @ 1 kHz, 1% THD measured with 200 Ohm source, 47 kOhm input, @ 55dB Gain
  • 97 dB @ 1 kHz, 0.1% THD

  • THD: 0.0042% at 1V output @1kHz

    DIM function level reduction:

  • 24dB with volume at MAX CW
  • 20dB with volume at 50% rotation

  • REMORA RF REMOTE: controls motorized volume control up/down functions; uses 9v battery

    Maximum MM input level:

  • 50 mVrms @ 1KHz for an output of 17 Vrms or -23.8 dBu @ 1KHz for an output of +27 dBu @ 1.5% THD
  • 93 mVrms @ 1KHz for an output of 29 Vrms or -18.4 dBu @ 1KHz for an output of +32.3 dBu @ 10% THD

  • Maximum MC input level:

  • 39 mVrms @ 1KHz for an output of 17 Vrms or -26 dBu @ 1KHz for an output of +27 dBu @ 1.5% THD
  • 72 mVrms @ 1KHz for an output of 29 Vrms or -20.6 dBu @ 1KHz for an output of +32.3 dBu @ 10% THD

  • Maximum LINE input level:

  • 26.5Vrms @ 1KHz for an output of 22.8Vrms or +30.6dBu @ 1KHz for an output of +29.3dBu @ 0.07% THD

  • Operating Mains Voltage:

  • 120 to 240VAC operation changeable with power transformer re-wiring via internal switch and fuse value change.
  • 100VAC operation changeover achieved via rewiring of power transformer PCB.

  • Mains Voltage Frequency: 50~ 60Hz

    PSU Regulation: Good for 65% rated voltage: 75VAC for 117V unit or 150VAC for 234V wired unit.

    Unit weight:

  • Steelhead: 15 lbs.
  • PSU: 18 lbs.

  • Chassis dimensions:

  • Steelhead: 19" wide x 3.5" tall x 15.5" deep
  • PSU: 13.5" wide x 4.5" tall x 11.375" deep

  • PSU umbilical cord length: 5 1/2 feet approx. 1.65m

    Minimum mounting allocation footprint including all projecting parts and controls:

  • Steelhead: 19" wide x 4.125" tall x 18" deep (allow an additional 6 inches depth for PSU umbilical cord projecting out in the center)
  • PSU: 13.5" wide x 4.625" tall x 12.5" deep (allow an additional 6 inches depth for PSU umbilical cord projecting out in the left)

  • Maximum Output: +27dBm @ 1KHz with 3% THD into 100 kOhm load

    Fixed Output impedance: 150 Ohms. Minimum suggested load greater than 1500 Ohms.

    Variable Output impedance: 75 Ohms. Minimum suggested load greater than 600 Ohms.

    Power consumption: 100 watts

    Outboard Power Supply: Factory set for 100V, 120V or 220-240VAC operation for original destination country's mains voltage.

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