Hi David,
You are not the first to ask this question. Yes, they are obviously very different designs. The best way for me to describe the difference is that the Ming-Da was designed for more of a nostalgic type of presentation with more body and fullness than many of today's preamps without sacrificing the traits one looks for in high end components. Transparency, inner detail, dynamics, etc., are not compromised. With the solid state rectification installed, they can come very close to the speed of a modern design. I personally prefer the tube rectification.
You will see the Ming-Da version fall off for a while as I only have very few pieces left. I have been working on designing a new model based on an enhanced version of its circuitry. These will be limited in production and custom built to order. They will be house in a custom, hand built chassis one at a time with no two units being identical in appearance. More information will be posted shortly. The preamp will be one of three new custom built products with an 8 watt 300B SET mono bloc arrangement coming next.
The ModWright unit is the most balanced and linear preamp I have heard to date under $4k I have had expensive solid state units in that don't hold a candle to even the beta unit I auditioned. In my book, this is a true, class A product. Not to sound biased but I don't pick up a product unless it impresses me. I choose my product line based on performance and value rather than something I can move out the door to make a quick buck. As you can see on my website, I do not deal in a great number of products but those I do carry, I am very dedicated to.
