Kevin.......Good to here that Upscale Audio is now behaving like a business one would care to shop at. This is the way it should have been handled from the start. Perhaps some of the comments Kevin has been reading on this forum served to initiate this solution. Whatever is going on, I am happy you are being properly treated as a valued customer.

I must add that I did not ask for any special service or treatment. Kevin offered everything upfront - I did not ask for anything FREE. Kevin even upped the ante by offering a full set of replacement tubes (4 Philips platinum grade and crayoned PCC88 tubes - initially he offered 2). I told him it was not necessary yet he insisted. I honestly feel my second message did not reach him, about me sending the Chino-ok SE back. In my mind Kevin Deal went above and beyond what was required. As I said before, my issue was never with Upscale Audio. And, I did not ask for anything FREE (did I mention that?).

Got my brand new Manley Chinook SE from Mr. Deal with Upscale Audio. Such a fine gentleman to deal with and once he was aware of my issue he stepped fwd quickly to resolve the problem. Looking fwd to getting this out of the box and broken in.

Kevin.......Very good. Even though it was a chore to get there, I am happy to know you are whole again.

Yeah, let us know how this one is.

I will report back once I get some seat time with it.

7 mons later and I must report that the ChinookSE is performing marvelously. I did a quick A-B with my C2300 phono stage and with the Manley my soundstage has bloomed and the bass is more taut and the highs don't roll of as quickly, a resound clash of cymbals has verified this; I suppose it is close to being broken in. My listening sessions usually happen on weekends and last from 3 - 6 hrs at a time, as time allows. Once the gremlins were exorcised this phono stage has performed beyond my expectations.

Glad you are enjoying it. Did you have the non SE model before this one?

Actually ordered the SE but the non SE was sent to me by mistake (even though the box said SE version) and Kevin D. quickly sent me the correct Philips tubes and had Manley send me the black faceplate. When I returned it for an internal issue Kevin D. had them send me a new SE plus an additional set of tubes, for my inconvenience.

Cool. Enjoy.