Review: Schiit Mani 2 MM/MC Phono Preamp

I can remember when being a kid with a pocketful of change offered a world of adventures.

Pennies bought gumballs, and a nickel or dime scored stick-on tattoos, tiny dinosaurs, magic rings, and other treasures encased in little plastic eggs. You could play games with change and summers found us in seaside arcades for hours on end banging those pleasure machines. These days, people leave pennies behind or toss them away like used gum wrappers and you need paper money to buy a cup of coffee.

The Schiit MM/MC Phono Preamp costs $149—in the grand scheme of things that's today's hifi change—and it's assembled in the US of A in Schiit's Corpus Christi, Texas facility. The Mani 2 offers a number of gain and input loading options, accessed via dip switches on the unit's underbelly, allowing for use with both Moving Magnet and Moving Coil cartridges. It's worth noting that one can spend more on a phono preamp, more than 300 times more, but my interest in the Schiit Mani 2 is how it makes my music sound when its in charge of the all-important task of amplifying and de-RIAA’ing my records.

From Schiit:

…Combining TI's low-noise OPA1612 with a passive RIAA network with 2% precision film capacitors and 0.1% thin-film resistors in a DC-coupled topology, with advanced dual-filtered power supply and +/-16V rails, as well as switchable 1- or 2-pole passive LF filter, provides exceptional transparency and accuracy, as well as high overload margin, in an affordable phono preamp.

While I never heard the original Mani, Schiit claims the Mani 2 offers a 10-15dB lower noise floor (!) and I’ve got no reason to doubt this claim. Seeing as that original Mani got its fair share of love, it's no wonder the Mani 2 is even more popular with the vinyls (note: never used the word "vinyls" when referring to vinyl or records).

The Mani 2 was connected to the Michell Gyro SE's captive RCA cables and ground wire, while its outputs went to the Leben CS600 driving the DeVore Fidelity O/96 speakers. An Ortofon 2M Black MM cartridge rode the grooves and was mounted to the Michell TecnoArm 2. I will be using this same system/setup for each of the phono stages in the big TM Phono Stage Survey.

The funny thing about budget gear, especially sub-$200 budget gear, is you kind of expect it to not really work right. Right? I mean, if there are phono stages that cost $5000, $15,000, and $50,000, how the hell can a $149 one deliver similar sonic goods? It must leave some shit out, right? Maybe skip some notes when Glenn Gould is banging away at Bach? Leave out Garfunkel? Something bad must be happening. We must be missing something?

We have the beef! The first thing that struck me about the Mani 2's performance was its weighty sound, which made all of the records I played through it feel solid and impactful with a very nicely developed bottom end. Woof! New Long Leg from Dry Cleaning is a lovely wiry romp with bouncy bass, crafty guitar, and Florence Cleopatra Shaw's droll vocals slinking over the top and the record through this system sounded perfectly infectious with tight clean lines conveying the awkward grace and crunchier moments with convincing sprite. Listening to records can offer a more all-encompassing experience as opposed to streaming, where the former takes body and movement just to get the proceedings going. As someone who grew up listening to vinyl, I appreciate and relish this physical involvement, head, shoulders, knees, and toes, that bookends the listening, creating a focused still moment in time instead of an endless stream that could very well go on, and on, after we’ve departed.

I also decided to go off script, sometimes improvisation is called for, and enlisted my trusty old Rega P3 (2000) mounted with the HiFi Bargain Nagaoka MP-110 MM Cartridge for some Mani 2 time. The P3/Nagaoka combo didn't come close to the more costly and more engaging Michell/Ortofon rig in terms of weight, resolving power, finesse and color but what the cheaper ‘table/cart combo did offer was lots of fit and kinda fat fun. Unfair comparisons aside, I was able to dig into my music just fine with this Schiit/Rega/Nagaoka front end as it rode the grooves and pulled out enough detail, tone, and drive that made connecting to music a breeze.

Julia Baker's debut LP Sprained Ankle, recorded while she was still in college, is a study in intense simplicity with few elements—vocals, guitar, piano—and the Schiit/Rega/Nagaoka combo served up a rich full-bodied helping of Baker's pained appeals. It's been my experience that some voices reach right into my heart and Julian Baker's is one straight shot and this system created a captivating in Barn performance. The Rega P3 has been around since 1977 (!) and I bought mine in 2006 (for roughly $680) so it came with Rega's RB300 tonearm, which may look familiar as the Michell TecnoArm 2 on the Michell Gyro SE is based on a modified Rega arm. To my way of hearing, and I’m not alone here, the P3 leans toward a fatter bottom end/voluptuous kinda sound that for me translates into pure enjoyment. Pure fun. I’ve heard my share of high end/high priced ‘tables at shows and some unravel a record with surgical precision, sounding too resolving for my tastes very akin to the kind of digital replay that leaves me cold.

Back to the Michell Gyro SE/Ortofon 2M Black/Mani 2, Julien Baker felt more fully formed, more fully realized in Barn, with the piano's upper registers and acoustic guitar strings reproduced with greater life-like sparkle and timbral richness making this touching music even more touching.

Thoughts is in many ways among my favorite Bill Dixon records for its warm simmering intensity. Dixon enlisted the weight of three double bass players—Peter Kowald, Mario Pavone, William Parker— who joined Dixon on piano, trumpet, and flugelhorn, Marco Eneidi on alto sax, and Lawrence Cook on drums. I had the good fortune to see this ensemble, minus Parker, perform at Bennington College where Dixon ran the Black Music Department and from which I received a BA in Fine Art. The Mani 2/Ortofon/Michell setup did a wonderful job of pulling out the beauty, heft, and kaleidoscope of sounds Dixon coaxed from his trumpet amidst the masterful interplay on exhibit. From the earthen growls of the three double basses, to the brassy body of alto sax, and the shimmering glints of light shooting from horns, I felt fully immersed in the thoughtful golden intensity of Thoughts.

Since I’m beginning this Phono Stage Survey with the Schiit, I’m going to save any comparisons for the upcoming reviews, especially seeing as the MoFi StudioPhono is up next and costs more than twice the Mani 2's price. What I can say is that I found the Mani 2 completely satisfying with all of the music that came its way, especially when paired with the Michell Gyro ‘table mounted with the Ortofon 2M Black cartridge.

For my tastes and moods, the Mani 2 offered shockingly good sound considering it costs a buck shy of $150. The fact that it made a great partner in a much more costly system is a testament to some really good Schiit. I have no reservations, none, recommending the Mani 2 to anyone looking to unlock the world of adventures laying in wait in vinyl's grooves.

Schiit Mani 2 MM/MC Phono Preamp Price: $149Company Website: Schiit Audio

Specifications

Gain 1 = L, Gain 2 = L (Decca Mode)Gain: 35dBTHD: <0.0003%, A-weighted, ref 2V RMS SNR: >108dB, A-weighted, ref 2V RMSCrosstalk: -90dB, 20-20kHzSensitivity: 5.3mV for 300mV outputOverload Margin: >20dBGain 1 = L, Gain 2 = H (Standard MM Mode)Gain: 45dBTHD: <0.0006%, A-weighted, ref 2V RMS SNR: >98dB, A-weighted, ref 2V RMSCrosstalk: -90dB, 20-20kHzSensitivity: 1.9mV for 300mV outputOverload Margin: >20dB

Gain 1 = H, Gain 2 = L (Low Output MM/High Output MC Mode)Gain: 50dBTHD: <0.001%, A-weighted, ref 2V RMS SNR: >96dB, A-weighted, ref 2V RMSCrosstalk: -80dB, 20-20kHzSensitivity: 1.06mV for 300mV outputOverload Margin: >20dB

Gain 1 = H, Gain 2 = H (MC Mode)Gain: 60dBTHD: <0.0015%, A-weighted, at 2V RMS SNR: >87dB, A-weighted, ref 2V RMSCrosstalk: -75dB, 20-20kHzSensitivity: 0.33mV for 300mV outputOverload Margin: >20dB

Input Loading:

Selectable R: 47KΩ, 200Ω, 47Ω, or 38ΩSelectable C: 47pF, 100pF, 150pF, or 200pF

RIAA Accuracy: +/- 0.2dB, 20-20kHz

Low Frequency Filter: 6dB/octave or 12dB/octave at 15 Hz, fully passive

Output Impedance: 75 ohmsTopology: Fully passive RIAA network with OPA1612 gain stages, OP07 DC servo, switchable passive CR LF filter, 1- or 2- pole, 0.1% thin-film resistors, and 2% film capacitorsPower Supply: "wall wart" style 16VAC transformer, dual-filtered, regulated +/- 16V railsPower Consumption: 4WSize: 5 x 3.5 x 1.25"Weight: 1 lb