To witness, the soundstage of the Mani (as well as most solid state gear) is foreshortened. The width is as good as it gets with my speakers aligned on the long wall—which is to say excellent. But with the tight bass and higher energy in the treble replacing the rolled off focus in those areas in my tube phono stage, plus the holographic nature of tube gear in general, the Mani presents a wide, very well defined, evenly lighted soundstage that is shallower in depth than my reference. The other area that differs is the tonal color and shading that tube gear provides. The Mani is slightly less rich in tonal color and nuance than my tube reference. How much less, you ask? Well, let's just say that it's a lot less than the $6370 price difference. But unless you are really new to the High End, you already know about diminishing returns.