The end of Mana Audio
- Thread starter michaelab
- Start date
cliffpatte
Speed camera anarchist
john said:
I'm not sure about iGary since he seems to me to be just anti-anti-Naim. My own Mana experience started out about 6 years ago, when I joined the Mana forum, where amongst other thinks I was told I would be a ****** if I did not go down to Bristol to hear the Stealth amp, which I was assured by JW would "Blow me a way".
I went, I heard it, I heard it on Mana frames, and it was crap.
So why on earth would I bother putting any Mana shit in my system ?
cliffpatte
Speed camera anarchist
The conversation I had with my mate that day went like this:
Eddie: "Cliff, is this amp supposed to be good"
Cliff: "Dogs bollocks I've been told"
JW Wanders into room, changes the CD, and whacks the amp up to turbo
Eddie: "Jesus Christ, thats ****ing awful"
Cliff: "Does it sound like clipping to you?"
Eddie "It just sounds shite to me ...."
Eddie: "Cliff, is this amp supposed to be good"
Cliff: "Dogs bollocks I've been told"
JW Wanders into room, changes the CD, and whacks the amp up to turbo
Eddie: "Jesus Christ, thats ****ing awful"
Cliff: "Does it sound like clipping to you?"
Eddie "It just sounds shite to me ...."
Cliff,
I too heard the same dem and was also not that impressed. I think it only fair to add though that the amps were being driven straight from a Krell(?) CD player with a proper pre-amp in the system and were driving what I believe were some Neat prototypes (MFS9s?). So we had two prototype products, no pre-amp and a Krell CD player all set-up in a hotel room. Laying all of the blame at the door of the stands does seem to be a stretch.
Having said that I can easily see why somone having heard that particular demo would not think it worthwhile making the effort to listen to the products again.
Demos at Hi-Fi shows are always problemmatic. The only decent sounds I have heard have been (all at Bristol in various years) the Royd room a few years back with Naim kit driving the RR2s. The Michell room in any year. The big Naim room when they did the DBLs active with 500s. I've never heard the Chord room at this show sound anything other than cold and sterile....even when using a cabling loom whose list price was more than I paid for my entire system! Hence I feel the same way about Chord.
Bottom line as with anything is try for yourself and trust your own ears. There is no substitute for trying with your kit in your home.
I too heard the same dem and was also not that impressed. I think it only fair to add though that the amps were being driven straight from a Krell(?) CD player with a proper pre-amp in the system and were driving what I believe were some Neat prototypes (MFS9s?). So we had two prototype products, no pre-amp and a Krell CD player all set-up in a hotel room. Laying all of the blame at the door of the stands does seem to be a stretch.
Having said that I can easily see why somone having heard that particular demo would not think it worthwhile making the effort to listen to the products again.
Demos at Hi-Fi shows are always problemmatic. The only decent sounds I have heard have been (all at Bristol in various years) the Royd room a few years back with Naim kit driving the RR2s. The Michell room in any year. The big Naim room when they did the DBLs active with 500s. I've never heard the Chord room at this show sound anything other than cold and sterile....even when using a cabling loom whose list price was more than I paid for my entire system! Hence I feel the same way about Chord.
Bottom line as with anything is try for yourself and trust your own ears. There is no substitute for trying with your kit in your home.
sastusbulbas
pfm Member
Cliffpatte,
Why not give HI-Fi news a call, I am sure they would bend over backwards and pay a fortune for someone who can judge a product in any system in any enviroment and locate what is doing what part of the performance, you sound like you could be the first HI-Fi reviewer surgeon, able to disect and locate every detail of system performance and cut out the offensive offal just by sitting in the same room.
Seriously though , how can you tell what part of the equipment you found offensive ?
I go to Hi-Fi shows when I can, and have came to the conclusion you can only judge basic system parimeters, and give yourself an idea of what may be worth trying.
I dont look for the best sounding room, I'm there to see if there are any small things that get me thinking of performance elsewhere.
I don't think I know all, but find it easy to judge what I like,
At the last HI-Fi show I attended, it was quite easy to hear Tact was not as described in the magazines, and that the Krell/Sonus faber home cinema multi channel was not as impressive as the Krell/Sonus faber strereo set up with the same movie clip.
The nordost room was very poorly set up, just by walking around you could hear this, no wonder so many think of it as forward sounding.
The Audiovalve stuff and Living voice I enjoyed also.
And the Leema had the most impressive sounding bass and an attractive girl.
I would not be able to point out one part of the above system items and blame it for the performance, it seemed obvious that room interaction, new systems , different music and the general bustle at the show make that sort of judgement laughable.
Steve
Why not give HI-Fi news a call, I am sure they would bend over backwards and pay a fortune for someone who can judge a product in any system in any enviroment and locate what is doing what part of the performance, you sound like you could be the first HI-Fi reviewer surgeon, able to disect and locate every detail of system performance and cut out the offensive offal just by sitting in the same room.
Seriously though , how can you tell what part of the equipment you found offensive ?
I go to Hi-Fi shows when I can, and have came to the conclusion you can only judge basic system parimeters, and give yourself an idea of what may be worth trying.
I dont look for the best sounding room, I'm there to see if there are any small things that get me thinking of performance elsewhere.
I don't think I know all, but find it easy to judge what I like,
At the last HI-Fi show I attended, it was quite easy to hear Tact was not as described in the magazines, and that the Krell/Sonus faber home cinema multi channel was not as impressive as the Krell/Sonus faber strereo set up with the same movie clip.
The nordost room was very poorly set up, just by walking around you could hear this, no wonder so many think of it as forward sounding.
The Audiovalve stuff and Living voice I enjoyed also.
And the Leema had the most impressive sounding bass and an attractive girl.
I would not be able to point out one part of the above system items and blame it for the performance, it seemed obvious that room interaction, new systems , different music and the general bustle at the show make that sort of judgement laughable.
Steve
sastusbulbas
pfm Member
Steve21,
I would like to point out,
"THAT PINK FISH MEDIA DO DELETE POSTS"
Not that censorship is a bad thing.
Steve
I would like to point out,
"THAT PINK FISH MEDIA DO DELETE POSTS"
Not that censorship is a bad thing.
Steve