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Schiit Mani 2 Review (Phono Stage)

Rate this product:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 24 13.8%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 92 52.9%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 55 31.6%

  • Total voters
    174

DHT 845

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2dB to 4 dB lower SINAD than the Cambridge audio duo nice!
Yes, but 1 or 2 cheap caps in right place would make it better and cancel the nasty spike!
 

hyperNov

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Would a different transformer likely improve the noise? There’s a bunch on AliExpress but no idea if they’d do anything to help, or just make it even worse. Like https://m.aliexpress.com/i/33004756346.html

Wondering whether to keep my Cambridge Duo or swap to this; published measurements make it look better, the ASR measurements suggest it performs worse?
 

abdo123

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Would a different transformer likely improve the noise? There’s a bunch on AliExpress but no idea if they’d do anything to help, or just make it even worse. Like https://m.aliexpress.com/i/33004756346.html

Wondering whether to keep my Cambridge Duo or swap to this; published measurements make it look better, the ASR measurements suggest it performs worse?
They’re more or less the same with the duo having better RIAA.

The impedance matching features of the Mani are kind of nice but without a test record it’s difficult to know whether you can make good use of them.
 
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PeteL

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They’re more or less the same with the duo having better RIAA.

The impedance matching features of the Mani are kind of nice but without a test record it’s difficult to know whether you can make good use of them.
I think that the cartridge specification and a bit of maths can tell you if the impedance matching features are useful for someone.
 

617

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For the money, and the level of customization, I like it.
 

Toroid

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Is there anyway to reduce the mains noise or it is what it is?

Also, a bit confused on the SN ratio. Schiit reports it at 96db (which would smoke the competition). But, ASR found it to be only 81db? That is a pretty big discrepency and seems like the Cambridge DUO still wins?
 

abdo123

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Is there anyway to reduce the mains noise or it is what it is?

Also, a bit confused on the SN ratio. Schiit reports it at 96db (which would smoke the competition). But, ASR found it to be only 81db? That is a pretty big discrepency and seems like the Cambridge DUO still wins?
S/N measurements are gain and input voltage specific.

For example the duo is measured with more than double the input volume so you need to substract ~7 dB from its SINAD if you want to have an apples to apples comparison.

The Mani was also measured with 5dB higher gain, i don't know how much of an influence that will have on the noise exactly.
 

thegeton

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We were getting less transformer noise from our AP. Might be due to a delamination in the transformer we sent. Sadly, it happens.

I am sending Amir a new one. Should see better results without a humming transformer.
Not intended to come across antagonistic, but what will be your plan moving forward to reduce the possibility of this occurring if we order one online?
 

T.M.Noble

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Not intended to come across antagonistic, but what will be your plan moving forward to reduce the possibility of this occurring if we order one online?
Not antagonistic at all! We actually changed our supplier of wall transformers to an American company that sourced the product from Taiwan about two to three years ago. We found the were more reliable overall than our previous supplier.

We test all transformers internally before they go out. When they leave here, they are functioning correctly. These types of failures are impossible to predict in the field. When you are trying to hit these types of price points, spending the amount of cash you would need to spend to eliminate any in the field failures makes the product untenable. But we see so few the cost of a failure does not outweigh the expense. It's the dynamics of running a business. One can know the best possible solution to the problem, that doesn't always mean it's the right thing to do.

But for the customer, I would send you a new one and apologize for the inconvenience.
 

T.M.Noble

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Just a little inside baseball. I hooked up a Mani 2 to our AP we have in Texas. One is A weighted and one without. You can also see how we measured it. Hope that helps as well.


IMG_2163.jpg

IMG_2164.jpg
 

technophreak

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I tried 2 of the Mani 1s and both exhibited radio interference in my system. A local station would come through no matter what volume I had my preamp at. Only phono preamp I've owned that did this, through 2 samples. Has anyone else had this experience with the original Mani and could any fixes in v2 address this issue?
 

T.M.Noble

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I tried 2 of the Mani 1s and both exhibited radio interference in my system. A local station would come through no matter what volume I had my preamp at. Only phono preamp I've owned that did this, through 2 samples. Has anyone else had this experience with the original Mani and could any fixes in v2 address this issue?
An artifact of an older product. Filtering has solved that issue.
 

PeteL

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I tried 2 of the Mani 1s and both exhibited radio interference in my system. A local station would come through no matter what volume I had my preamp at. Only phono preamp I've owned that did this, through 2 samples. Has anyone else had this experience with the original Mani and could any fixes in v2 address this issue?
I have heard of this from other, never had that at all here. For what it's worth tough, Most people I know in my city can get like 5 TV channels out of an Antenna... In my building I get one... So I may not be the average.
 

Laserjock

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We were getting less transformer noise from our AP. Might be due to a delamination in the transformer we sent. Sadly, it happens.

I am sending Amir a new one. Should see better results without a humming transformer.
@amirm will you retest?

Do you have a turntable?

I have a Mani (1) and haven’t used or listened in awhile but didn’t hear any issues with it.
 

Multicore

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I will need a phono preamp soon, to go with the MiniDSP Flex and Buckeye nCore I ordered. I considered Mani but I think ART is more my style, looking less audiophile and more DJ. Fewer $$ too.

Looks like there's been a facelift to the ART since @amirm tested it. It's months before I'll get a Flex so I could send one to him, if there is interest to retest it.
 
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amirm

amirm

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@amirm will you retest?

Do you have a turntable?
Sure, I will retest. And yes, I have a turntable (kind member donated it for testing a while back :) ).
 
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