The MP 701 tube preamp had been on my radar for several years now. It's built up quite a following because every time I was about to buy one it was back-ordered due to demand. With version 3 out almost a year now it seems that interest has finally quieted down and I was able to snag one easily. Thomas of Galion Audio reviewed the MKII on his Thomas & Stereo youtube channel, putting it on equal footing with the Schiit Freya in stock form and punching far higher once modded. The mod factor is what sets the 701 apart. It is designed to use a wide array of tubes - both 6.3v and 12.6v, with the flick of a switch. Same with the rectifier, 5v or 6.3v. Same with the coupling capacitors: you can swap in and out to your taste (you do need to be mindful though of discharge voltage - get a capacitor discharge pens for $25 on Amazon or elsewhere). Stock the 701 comes with 6N1P and 6Z5P rectifier and 8uf caps and remote control. You also have the option to upgrade to Vcap ODAMs caps for $200. It's available direct from Musical Paradise (based in Canada IIRC).
The stock parts quality is very very good. Vishay/Dale resistors, Rubycon electrolytics. The 701 also uses choke filtration with the choke placed next to the power transformer within the chassis. The choke was improved for the MK3 and users who've compared agree the preamp sounds even better.
I didn't waste any time with my 701 and made some additional recommended mods. Swapped out a few resistors, replaced the Rubycons with Nichicons, and replaced the choke with one from Audio Note. All of these were pretty easy to do thanks to the accessibility of the board and the chassis design.
How does it sound? Early days but I am extremely impressed. My expectations weren't high for the stock tubes but I was wrong. They sound terrific. Increased body and depth to vocals and instruments; texture and timbre. You're not getting black background detail, but you get micro-tonal detail; the lilt of a voice, the shade of blues in a horn. Everything just sounds a little more real. Recent pres I've owned like Schiit Lyr+, Saga+, and Saga 2 aren't even close. It's been too long since I've had another tube pre (Glassware Aikido) so I can't compare and far too long since the Pass B1 but I don't remember getting this kind of palpable presentation from them. The 701 (again w/ stock tubes) also has great dynamic swing. Flamenco guitar has snap and percussive drive.
These early impressions are also very much influenced by both the type of coupling capacitor used as well as the value. The 4.7uf Odams I bought turned out to be a little too thick in the bass, suggesting I needed to use a lower value. Thankfully I have a stash of caps from speaker building so was able to dial in - for now - to somewhere around ~4uf. YMMV of course. Jantzen and ClarityCap contributed to a composed, refined presentation. Very nice. I then tried out some old Russian Paper In Oil (PIO) caps and they brought 3D pop and a mid to upper frequency forwardness both liquid and smooth, a real bargain for what I paid.
All this and I haven't even put in any 6Sn7s (with adapters) or 6922s or Mullard GZ34s. The possibilities are endless and *easy*.
So: Downsides? The gain is high even at the lowest setting so the volume know barely makes it to 8-9 "AM". Output impedance is 2K, something to watch for if you have a super low impedance amp like some Class D. As mentioned earlier safety is needed around the caps as they do hold charge for a bit so don't go swapping immediately after shut off - get a discharge pen/multimeter. Lastly though balanced is all the rage now the 701 is single ended only, the XLR outputs are just for convenience.
In short I'm extremely happy and it's definitely one of the best purchases I've made in a while.
(Note: you can of course leave the cover on, but my mods require it off which I don't mind.)
Stock internals
Mine
