I'd be very glad if this review of mine of the U.S. tube integrated amp were mainly read by the young Internet surfer. Unluckily I'm well aware that, reading the Manley's sale price, this part of my public has already skipped to next page, and that many of them are likely to not have entered at all just after having seen the cover pic.
That is truly a pity, since this Stingray is an amp conceived for them as well: " With Stingray we were aiming to get an harmonious blend capable of fulfilling the sonic need of both the audiophile and the rocker" (with these words Eve Anna Manley shows out her creature in the fine Internet pages of her American House at the URL www.manleylabs.com)
Well that's the way it goes, a girl steering a well known and prize-winning company mainly focussed on producing pro recording devices, she's the mind behind the Stingray (named after the sea fish) and hers is the signature on it as well; her idea is running along the paths that made Hi Fi great with names like McIntosh or Marantz, just to quote a couple of 'em: going back to the roots to find the warmth, the harmonic richness, the sweetness that tube sound can deliver, with that dynamic punch that new generations love.

When Mr. Editor offered me to carry out this review I hesitated a bit before accepting, because never had I taken into consideration the purchase of a tube amp; therefore I had no interest in getting accustomed to one, me - a son of modern technologies, one who trusts in digital devices and works with them as well, one who has always owned solid state amps, provided with a remote control where possible. But thinking it over I asked myself "Why not? Let's get into the shoes of a chap wishful to buy an amplifier today, a person who's been put in the condition of choosing between tubes and transistors, then let's make out whether this is a sensible choice or not".

But life runs so fast that …
We cannot keep ourselves concentrated on anything longer than a moment, we are constantly in need for the new, we burn out everything so quickly that we're always searching fore something new, ultimate, more technological. In the Audio - Video field the rush to new formats (DVD and SACD, multi channel, multi media and so on) is driving the Audiophile World towards lands that don't show any clear border yet: will it be a better and more democratic (music) World or will it plunge into chaos with the dead of Hi Fi and its transformation into a different matter ? Waiting to find an answer to these questions, we can see that some people still exist, who think our future comes from the past, and assembles tube devices: is it worthy to keep betting on this technology and - futhermore - does it make any sense investing money in R&D for it, in a field apparently under crisis and with all that new technologies pushing ahead to overwhelm each other?

With those questions in my mind I took my Cyrus 3 with its good PSX external power unit away from the electronics table to make room for this guest from the U.S. Just when opening the box, here comes the first surprise: this amp is delivered with its tubes already fit in their place, protected by a package expressly conceived to avoid damages to its fragile load - a classic plug'n'play so, good; I run into the operating manual as well, English language only, a good and complete piece including a guide to Hi Fi. Then I realize that the power cord is missing, can't say whether for choice or forgetfulness. So here it comes our heavy little fish, I'll try not to get longer in its description, leaving that task to the pictures. Unusual and handy are the four cone-shaped feet: two of them, stiff, are external and placed on left and right sides, while the remaining are two rubber pieces placed underneath, one in the fore and the other in the back part. The first character that strikes the eyes looking at this unit is that it's fully dual mono, a layout driven by the intention to make the signal path as straight as possible by placing the inputs next to their matching circuit, being each input provided with four gold-plated RCA posts (crafted at Manley) and with its own input selector. All these inputs are line ones, so the vinyl lover will have to go for an external phono preamplifier; a tape-loop for a recorder is missing as well, but it can be factory installed upon request along with a sub-out connection. The rear panel shows an IEC socket compliant to EC technical rules, the power switch and a fuse. The front panel bears two top quality potentiometers, the balance one on the left side and a 20-step volume one the right; in between a window is placed, back - lighted when turning the unit on, reading "Manley Stingray".

Turning to the upper deck, valves are in good sight beside the Manley-made transformers and the capacitors: a pair of 12AT7 at the inputs, two 6414 for the drivers and two pairs per channel of Ultra Linear, Push Pull - connected EL84 that take this Stingray to a rating of 50 Watts per channel. Eight checkpoints are set to tune the bias for each tube, the negative pole for the voltmeter is placed in the tail of the stingray fish picture laying in the front part of the upper deck, while the trimmers for this task are placed in front of the mains transformer and can be reached through some holes in the upper panel. The user's manual clearly explains how to carry the biasing out (in this case, 250 mV with a quarterly check). All that you need for an audiophile listening is there, with no room for gadgets except for the balance control; under an aesthetic point of view the color pattern is a rather American-style one, showing a black, gold and chrome-steel blend.

Now, what would I say to the young reader about what this Manley sounds like…
First I'd tell him "ring up the sales representative, ask him where to find the amp in your area, pack your favorite CDs, go to the dealer and ask him to let you try it out"; in my opinion, this is the best way to know how it works; otherwise, go on in reading this review hoping I'm capable of participating to you the feelings I had. I didn't leave my Marantz 63 KIS CDP and my Monitor Audio Studio Threes unplugged for a long while, since my curiosity of trying the machine was big; I turn it on and after just a few seconds it's ready, the maker suggests a thirty minutes warm-up but I'd say sixty will be better, tubes shine wonderfully in the shade, for once my wife and son all agree with me. I had some well-known CDs ready for testing this device, but the sound coming from the U.S. tube amp was so involving and "new" to me that step by step I listened to a large part of my favorite CDs longing to discover how "that one piece" would sound like now. What it sounds like - I was saying… Sure it sounds different from my Cyrus, first impressions were of a crystal-clear, detailed sound, with great mid and a surprising low frequency response that can fight it up with the beautiful bass of the Mission amp, I'd say that the soundstage is a bit confined between the two loudspeakers, but what is reproduced in that room shows an exceptional 3-D effect. What made me most enthusiast was the reproduction of the piano and of the acoustic guitar, the first being reproduced with a unique sense of physical presence: I was fed up with pianos that were always moving around my listening room, well with this Manley it's squarely placed in space, with its real dimensions. Try to play Keith Jarrett's Standard in Norway (ECM) and you'll find yourself with a grand piano just in the middle of your listening room. Acoustic guitars are reproduced with a remarkable harmonic richness, the playing skills of Antonio Forcione get exalted and wonderful harmonics come out of his Ghetto Paradise CD (NAIM Audio), his guitar becomes material in space, allowing you to appreciate the skills of his two hands upon the instrument; I wished to try with an oldie guitar place, Horizons by Genesis, where Steve Hackett exhibits in an arpeggio dressed up in harmonics: well after all those years that sound seemed to be regenerated. Sonic impact is truly noticeable for a tube amp, never had I to turn the volume control beyond one half, with my 90dB loudspeakers; Manley say that minimum required efficiency must be 85 dB and that this amp is optimized with 5 Ohm loads, so here we have an integrated amp that is very good for rock music too, with a beautiful and deep bass; to try this out I put it under test with my Suono "Riferimento" (Reference), a pair of 88dB bookshelves, and what I have to say is that the result is, in terms of sonic impact, mostly the same. In that configuration I also discovered that the Stingray better matches non-metallic tweeters (those of my Suono are silk-made) because of its brilliant attitude.

The main sensation I felt in my long listening sessions has been one of sound naturalness; with Classical music - especially with small ensembles - the response from the Manley proved so neutral that the sound coming out resembled a live execution. Human voices, very natural and present, take advantage of this naturalness as well. Then I tested the Manley with large orchestras, in these conditions the response has always been outstanding, except for some limitations when the sound impact got very hard: in these conditions instruments tended to cramp towards the center of the soundstage and - turning the volume knob well after its mid level- sound tended to harden a bit though keeping an high quality level, but this is a sensation that should be double-checked with different loudspeakers too. I can do nothing less than suggesting to listen to this amp, then everybody will decide whether the targets that the US company has set for itself have been met, "yes" is my opinion, but the price hurdle stays: at this price level choice is very wide and cuts the youngsters off; that's truly a pity since it prevents the new generations from testing the big qualities of this breed of amps. I have a hope left, that of seeing it in one of the new-borne school music labs, so that young people can taste all the alternatives that the audio world shows, before rushing to the next supermarket to buy the ultimate "Supermegabass" compact stereo.