Customer Letter: Me and My Manley
These words and photos were sent to us by Manley customer Michel T. in the Netherlands, and are reprinted here with his kind permission.
For me, the sonic and musical adventure started when I was 8 years old.
My father gave me a tape recorder. An Akai 4000DS to be exact. I remember exactly.
I had one tape and it contained the album ‘Give me the Night’ by George Benson. Besides the first introduction to the world's best artists, this album was also a sonic journey for me. Not surprising when you look at the list of artists who worked on this album. Quincy Jones as producer, Bruce Swedien as recording and mixing engineer, Lee Ritenour, Herbie Hancock, George Duke, David Foster and so on. I listened to this album almost every night and from then on I was fascinated by sound. Later in life I found out that much of my favorite music had been produced by Quincy Jones, recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien. There are no political leaders who have had as much influence on me as these 2 gentlemen. ;-)
Music and sound had a huge impact on me and it has inspired and motivated me enormously in my later career to work with sound myself. From the age of 15 to 33 I was a DJ in various Dutch clubs, I was an auditory designer at one of the most popular radio stations in the Netherlands and I also had my own recording studio where jingles and commercials were produced.
Because I worked a lot in recording studios and was so busy with sound all day, I didn't feel the need to listen to music at home. It's also nice to be in silence every now and then.
Still, after a few years I missed the time to really sit down in a comfortable chair and listen to talented musicians. Every audiophile who looks back on his audio adventure recognizes this; you buy an excellent hi-fi setup, find out that it can be improved and then the hi-fi setup is exchanged for a better one, then it is exchanged again between a separate pre-amplifier and power amplifier, the 'average' speakers are exchanged for better, better audio cables can also be used…and before you know it you have a serious hi-fi setup in your house.
A few years ago one of my audio acquaintances pointed me to tube amps. “You should listen to that, man – that sounds great,” he said. I was struck by his enthusiasm and started looking around Marktplaats, a Dutch buy & sell platform where you can buy everything from bicycles to trombones.
I came across an ad for 2 Manley Reference 240 power amplifiers. Something in me said I had to have these beautiful amps. I bought them blind. When I got home I plugged them in immediately and the first notes of 'Stella by Starlight’ by Ella Fitzgerald had tears running down my cheeks.
What is this??! The artist has never been so close to me through a hi-fi setup. I was touched to my deepest core as a human being. Wow! It took me back to when I was 8 years old. This was music! This was my first encounter with Manley.
When you come into contact with a piece of audio equipment that really touches you, this increases your interest in this brand. (Audiophiles know what I'm talking about.) I started looking online for reviews of Manley preamps and I quickly found the 300B. It had great reviews and oohhh it looks beautiful. First I had to talk to my wife at home. She saw how enthusiastic I was about this preamp and because she thinks it looks beautiful herself, I got the green light to buy the 300B. I also bought this Manley blind – I went purely on my gut feeling and the positive reviews from users.
And again the tears rolled down my cheeks. This time on Tracy's Chapman 'The Promise'. The Manley 300B RC reproduces the music one-on-one, as the artist intended. The 300B is open, fast, has punch and a mid range that is unprecedented. All dimensions are tangible, audible, the stereo image is beautiful and detailed, all superlatives apply.
Other brands promise time and again that they have reinvented the wheel with a MK1, MK2, MK3 version. Manley works differently and makes the real difference by staying with their essence. You hear, see and feel that the people of Manley have a love for music and equipment and connect those two essential things. That is the art and craftsmanship of Manley. What you see is what you get, and that's real!
The 300B RC is a beautiful design, both inside and out. And I like the option to be able to switch between 'direct' and transformer. A preamp with an output transformer? Wow, that's cool!
