Manley The WAVE 24/96 DAC & Tube Preamplifier Combo

Whether you want to view The Wave by Manley as a high-end tube preamplifier with a built-in magnificent DAC or a converter with 4 extra analog inputs is up to you. It starts with 4 digital inputs spanning the AES/EBU, SPDIF, Toslink and ST formats. Manley's 24 bit 96KHz digital to analog converter board was designed by Fred Forssell and they have merged this DAC with an improved tube stage and added two analog balanced and two unbalanced inputs. Outboard power supply too. The Manley tube preamp & converter combo has three sets of outputs and a processor loop that are also all switchable from the front panel and the remote control. Manley's first piece with remote control is a total "over-killer" The entire faceplate can also be operated by the remote, especially and finally including the volume control.

The Manley Wave combines a killer 24/96 AD/DA Converter with a full-featured audiophile analog vacuum tube preamp. It is one of the very few products equally at home as the heart of a professional Mastering studio facility as it is the centerpiece of an audiophile home system. The combination of features and functions came about from analyzing existing systems and finding them functional but lacking in elegance in signal flow, operational convenience, and synergy. Manley set out to build something they wanted in their own living rooms, something that could be upgraded as new standards evolved, and something that could be flexible to work with mixed balanced, unbalanced, analog, and digital connections.

The digital board used in the first generation units, (the "First Waves" as it were) was designed around the ultra analog 20-bit digital audio converters, the AES-21 jitter reduction input module, and the Pacific Microsonics HDCD decoder. This chipset ruled the 1990's audiophile digital world. In early 2002, Manley commissioned an excellent 24 bit, 96KHz DAC board design from talented designer Fred Forssell for the second generation units, in current production as of this writing. The Manley Wave accepts four digital inputs in the following formats: AES, SPDIF, TOSLINK, and ST Glass Fiber. The four analog inputs come as stock 2 RCA + 2 XLR. Other configurations can be custom-ordered as desired. To provide extra flexibility in system integration, Manley has included an Insert Loop (term borrowed from the recording studio world) perhaps more commonly referred to as a Tape Loop or Processor Loop in Audiophile-land. Three outputs are provided on the Manley Wave: outputs 2 and 3 can be switched; output 1 is always on.