History

The Manley Ichiban and 500-watt — later 600-watt — monoblocks were built at the old VTL factory before the Manley-VTL split of 1993. At that time they were Manley’s flagship models in the Designer’s Reference Series. Both were 12-output tube designs.

The Ichibans ran triode-strapped for approximately 200 watts output, found in both EL34 and KT90 tube complements — KT90 tubes first appeared in 1990. The 500s and 600s were ultra-linear configured with a much larger output transformer, using GE 6550A tubes before 1990 and KT90s afterward. The input tube was always the 12AT7A or 6201. Earlier models used the 12BH7A as driver tubes; most production models used 6350. Note: the 6350 and 12BH7A are NOT pin-compatible without reworking the circuit board.

Manley Ichibans featured solid Paduk wooden sides; the 500/600s had welded powdercoated steel side panels. Standout features included adjustable “slope” and “feedback” controls for fine-tuning feedback characteristics, and front-panel bias readout tipjacks. Many later models had MIT Multicaps and TRIODE/TETRODE switches.

Manley Laboratories Today

Manley Laboratories has expanded and thrived under EveAnna Manley’s leadership. Their 11,000 sq ft facility in Chino, California houses their own machine shop, printed circuit board manufacture, audio transformer winding, engraving, and silk-screening. All design, R&D, assembly, testing, and quality control is performed in-house. All Manley products are built in Chino, not China.

Manley Reference 600 SE valve complement

VTL Heritage

Founded in 1987, VTL is a world leader in high-powered tube audio. The forerunners to the first VTL products were designed in 1980 in South Africa by recording and film engineer David Manley, where the studio environment gave VTL designs their heritage for sonic quality and long-term reliability. Professional production for home audio began in Britain in 1983.