Introductions

Thought I'd finally stop being a lurker on this wonderful site and introduce myself! 
I'm a vinyl aficionado from the land of the fightin' Ags (WHOOP!) who has only just gotten started in the medium at about 2.5 years.
My collection is fairly small, but contains a very wide variety of music.  However, I must confess a predilection to Japanese traditional music, jazz, and to any and all soundtracks I can get my hands on (particularly those to animated movies).

My equipment is fairly entry-level:
Turntable: Audio Technica 120-USB (modified, of course, to bypass the awful on-board amp)
Cartridge: Denon 103R (I know, I know, one hell of a mismatch, but nothing that a metric butt-ton of brass didn't fix (or so I think...))
SUT: Budgie (Specifically designed for Denon and Ortofon cartridges)
Pre-amp: A Schiit Mani (That's really how it's spelled, I swear)

Finally, a big thank you to the members of this site for all your posts.  They have been a great resource in helping me navigate what has largely been (for me, at least) a foreign world.  I look forward to further correspondence with you all!

 

Welcome to the forum!

How do you like the Schiit Mani?

My experience with the Mani thus far has been wonderful! Initially, I was trying to construct my own passive RIAA pre-amp, but was getting a mains hum through it (poor design on my part).  I got the Mani just for the sake of comparison with a professionally made product, but the thing has so much more gain and transparency than the DIY pre-amp that I think I'll just stick with it instead.
I see by your signature that you have (or had) a Denon DL-103D. Quick question: Have you had the Soundsmith re-tipping performed on it and, if so, what was your opinion of it? I am about to wood body the Denon 103R and was wondering if the re-tipping would be worthwhile as well.