Phono preamp review requests: Schiit Mani, Vincent Pho-8, MoFi StudioPhono / UltraPhono

[ClosDeLaRoche]

Sorry if this is not the proper way to request reviews this is the first thread I've created here.

These are three popular affordable phono stages that I'd like to see reviewed.

Cheers!

 

[amirm]

Hi there. I have bought the Schiit mani and will review it soon. The others are not offered for review so not planned currently.

 

[board]

Amir, you will publish measurements of the Schiit Mani, right?

 

[amirm]

Of course. That is the only reason I bought it.

 

[board]

Perfect! I've been thinking for a while that the frequency response of the Schiit Mani won't be linear, since a guy on Youtube did a comparison between the Mani and the Arcam Rphono, and to me it sounded like volume level differences and differences in frequency response (his conclusion was that the Arcam Rphono was inferior). I'm wondering if Schiit has changed anything about the frequency response from the earlierst units to the latest.
Although I haven't been able to do any measurements of the Arcam Rphono, I have it on loan now, and the digital recordings I've made are identical to the ones I've made with my NAD PP-4 (except for a better rumble filter in the Arcam), and the NAD (actually the previous model, PP-3) was measured by Stereophile and had a very linear frequency response with no more than 0.2 or 0.25 deviation from the riaa curve. If anyone is interested, I can show pictures from the plugin CurveEQ, which shows the difference between two recordings, but it just shows an almost completely flat line.
So, I'm looking forward to seeing your measurements of the Mani

As for the MoFi unit, I might buy one to try it out and keep it if I like it. While I can't do actual measurements (and I'm living in Spain, so it would be too much to ship it to you), then I can do the same comparison between that unit and the NAD as I did between the NAD and the Arcam (using the CurveEQ plugin).

 

[ClosDeLaRoche]

I think I know the YouTube guy, HiViNyws? He LOVES the Mani! His reviews are excellent I especially like the sound demos comparing gear.

I recently traded in my old Pro-Ject Tube Box SEII for a Vincent Pho-8. The separate power supply drew me in! He just reviewed the Pho-8; he preferred the MoFi and the Mani. To my ears it sounds like the MoFi/Mani have better treble detail and speed but the Vincent has deeper bass. I wish I bought the Mani or MoFi now!

 

[amirm]

I think I know the YouTube guy, HiViNyws? He LOVES the Mani! His reviews are excellent I especially like the sound demos comparing gear.

I like watching his videos too. Alas, his comparisons are not really scientific and reliable. Here is that video:

All I hear are the artifacts of LP format, not the difference between the two.

Would be great to get the rphono and measure it next to Mani to see we wind up with the same comparisons. I can even do listening tests using a digital source rather than LP to remove run to run variations with LP.

 

[board]

Yes, that was the guy I was thinking of. I posted a comment on that video a while back saying I heard clear volume level differences. I downloaded the video and cut some of the audio up, although not as much yet as I had intended, and saw clear differences in frequency response between the two preamps, but also a lot of volume level differences, sometimes more than 1 dB difference in RMS!
I wanted to dissect the entire video, but didn't get around to it yet.

 

[P_M]

Another vote for review and measurements of Vincent PHO-8.

 

[P_M]

Would also love to see measurements for Phonomena.