[zybar]

Any pictures you can share?

Yes George, but I need someone to tell me how to upload them to this circle.

thanks

Laura

Laura,

Need any help on the pictures or was Chris' post sufficient?

George

[rydenfan]

Phil, have you received the amp yet??

[Philistine]

Phil, have you received the amp yet??

David, should arrive tomorrow - I keep my local UPS guy busy and gainfully employed.
Phil

[rydenfan]

Phil, we want pics 

I really look forward to your impressions on the amp.

[lonewolfny42]

Any pictures you can share?

Yes George, but I need someone to tell me how to upload them to this circle.

thanks

Laura

vinyl_lady ...from your gallery....

           

                  KWA 150 & Alana pre amp
ModWright KWA 150 and Gill Audio Design/Art Audio Alana vacuuum tube pre amp on SolidSteel 6.4 rack

 

           

ModWright KWA 150 power amp; Gill Audio Design/Art Audio Alana vacuum tube pre amp; and Pro-Ject Perspective turntable sitting on a 4' maple platform from Mapleshade



           

                    KWA 150 at night
Blue light illuminating through the top panel and the on/off button of the phenomenal ModWright KWA 150 amp. The two blue dots above the amp are from the Alana vacuum tube pre amp

[rydenfan]

Phil, what's the word???

[Philistine]

Phil, what's the word???

it's arrived!

[zybar]

Here are a few more from Laura's gallery:








Very nice room and setup Laura.   


George

[rpf]

nt

[rpf]

Very nice room and setup Laura.   


George

Very nice indeed!

David, I don't think you have the patience to wait for more reviews of the KWA150.   

I'm surprised you haven't ordered one yet (hint, hint).   

[modwright]

Actually, David is on my Beta list and I expect to ship one to him and one to Ted next week.

Thanks guys!

Dan

[zybar]

Actually, David is on my Beta list and I expect to ship one to him and one to Ted next week.

Thanks guys!

Dan

Dan,

If you want another opinion (compared to Atma-Sphere MA-1's on Vandersteen 5A's with your excellent Modwright Transporter) I certainly be willing to find time.   

George

[rydenfan]

Actually, David is on my Beta list and I expect to ship one to him and one to Ted next week.

Thanks guys!

Dan

 

Dan, I would love to hear a few more details about the amp; such as watts, and the high/low bias adjustment, etc.

[vinyl_guy]

vinyl_lady ...from your gallery....

Very nice room and setup Laura.   

Lonewolfny42 & George,

Thank you for uploading the pictures. I appreciate the assistance and the comments on my listening room.  My day job took up a lot of time last week so I had not had time to get to the uploading. As you might imagine, I pretty much live in that room. I have uploaded some more pictures of the room to my gallery at http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;album=1834.

Good listening to all,

Laura

[Philistine]

My KWA 150 arrived Friday evening and I've now had the opportunity to put a few hours on it, and can give some initial feedback.

This is not intended to be a review, or detailed feedback, but my initial reaction to how the amp performs in my system.  My system comprises a Modwright Transporter (Hyper Drive, Bybee's, EML 5U4G, TS Round Plate 6SN7's), Musical Fidelity KW500, Salk HT3's.  The KW500 is integrated with a tubed preamp and 500 watt/channel power amp, along with separate power supply.  The psu was upgraded by John Sampson (ex-MF Service Manager), who considers the original psu to be the Achilles heel, the upgrade also included cap modifications to the preamp section.  The upgrades made to the KW500 were claimed to significantly improve the bottom end, enhance the mid-range and smooth out the top end - which they did.  In order to AB the KWA with other commercial amps I sent my KW500 to Dan and his team for a direct comparison.  Dan can confirm that I flatly refused (in a very direct way ) to accept any feedback on how my KW500 compared with the KWA150, this was solely to eliminate any preconceived perceptions I might have.  The preamp section of the KW500 is now being used to drive the KWA.

Down to the meat - My biggest concern was the ability for the KWA to effectively drive the HT3's, as on paper the KWA looks under powered for these speakers.  My concerns were unfounded, the KWA drives my HT3's with ease.  Other amps I, and others, have tried struggle to control the HT3's - so a great start and a feather in the cap for the KWA .  For me realistic reproduction of music has to include solid deep bass, many systems I've heard are severely lacking in this area....the KWA's have the deepest, tightest and most articulate bass I've heard (far superior than the KW500 even after the mods carried out on the psu).  One of my favorite tracks for bass is Piano Smasher from Blue Man Group, the bass from the KWA hits you in the chest - which it should.  At the same time I need an amp that combines the slam of Mike Tyson with the grace of a ballerina, many amps can accomplish these seperately but few can do it at the same time - the KWA 150 is an amp that can combine these tasks simultaneously.   Going to the other end of the audio spectrum I associate the ability to extract as much detail from the recording as possible, with a quality system.  Yet again the KWA significantly outperforms my KW500, but does so without sounding harsh or bright.

I now need to put a few more hours on the KWA and also allow my ears/brain to become acclimatized to the change in sonic signature before making any further comments.

One thing I need to add is the build quality, the pictures Marco posted are impossible to match but the amp looks even better in the flesh and the build quality is exceptional.  My UPS guy was able to carry it under his arm when he delivered it, in comparison I struggled with handling 85lbs the way he did 

Back to the music.
Phil

[rydenfan]

Phil, great news  Glad you are loving the amp and it certainly sounds like it is a great piece.

Could you perhaps tell me about the high/low bias? I am curious about how it operates and how many watts are pure Class A in the high bias?

[Philistine]

Phil, great news  Glad you are loving the amp and it certainly sounds like it is a great piece.

Could you perhaps tell me about the high/low bias? I am curious about how it operates and how many watts are pure Class A in the high bias?

David, I'm assuming the bias switch dictates Class A/Class B operation but I haven't really had the chance to perform a comparison.  I will leave Dan to educate us on the bias function as my current knowledge base is probably the same as yours.  The main thrust of my initial post was related to how did the KWA 150 perform with the HT3's, and here it performs exceptionally well.

[modwright]

First of all, thank you Phil.  I purposely did not want to share my impressions of your KW500 while it was here as I did NOT want to bias you either way. Now that you have it, I can say that I agree with what you say and am surprised that the 500W MF amp didn't sound more powerful, controlled and detailed.  I know that MF makes great gear.  I am not disparaging their gear.  I will say with confidence however, that I feel the KWA 150 to be solidly superior design to the KW500, despite it's 150W (on paper).  All watts are not created equal and this is a HIGH-CURRENT design.

Zybar, I appreciate your interest in evaluating our product and if you contact me offline, we can discuss it.  I have promised Ted and David quite some time ago, so they are next on the list.  The first 50 are already sold or spoken for.  The next production run is under way.

After so much time, hard work and heart and soul going into the design of this amp by myself, Alan Kimmel, my machinist and my solid team of technicians, assemblers and Q/C technicians, we are all rewarded to hear that our customers are truly enjoying the KWA 150.

To answer the question about high-low bias.  This is accomplished via a simple toggle on the rear.  There is also a small ground 'lift' toggle and a BIGGER toggle for the stereo/mono switching.

The unit idles at approximately 4 x the bias current in high bias, with a case temp of 100F-110F in high-bias.  In low bias, the case is cool to luke-warm to the touch.  I don't have a precise number of watts in high vs. low bias, except to say that it is load dependant and obviously much greater Class A operation in high-bias.  Of even greater importance however, is the fact that the unit transitions from Class A to A/B operation VERY smoothly.  This leads to the amp sounding like much more of its operating range is in pure Class A.

Now the low bias may be used for listening and also for 'standby' if you leave the amp on all the time.  There is a different tonal balance between high and low bias and some people may prefer the sound in low bias.  To my ears, there is greater warmth and more body in high-bias.  There is much subjectivity to this hobby too, so much like tube rolling, some will prefer one way and others will prefer the other.

There is no bias adjustment or setting.  There are no user-serviceable parts inside and thus zero maintenance.  You can switch the hi-low bias on the fly, as well as the ground 'lift' toggle, which connects or floats the chassis to/from signal ground.

The Mono switch is larger and requires more than casual effort to switch.  Doing so while in stereo operation will not damage the amp.  There is a third binding post that is intended for use in bridged-mono mode.  This precludes the necessity for jumpers, extra cables, etc.  The bridge configuration is already done internally and the bridge-mono binding post is already wired for this use.  The Left input is the mono input and this is also clearly labelled on the back of the amp.

Thanks guys!

Dan W.

[Marco Prozzo]

  The KW500 is integrated with a tubed preamp and 500 watt/channel power amp, along with separate power supply. 

Hey Phil - First off, congratulations on your new amp.  I'm glad to hear you're digging it as much as I've been in my own system. 

So you are using the tubed pre section of the KW500 as the pre for the Modwright too?  Does this mean there is a Modwright preamp in your future as well?  I can certainly speak for the synergy of the 36.5 with the KWA as being superb.  The two are speaking the same language, as it were.  I'll be interested to hear about whatever you choose and how that may alter your impressions.  I'd imagine you'll be stepping up to go from the pre section of an integrated to a separate pre. 

Thanks for the complements on the pics, and, per my last post, I do wish justice could be done in two dimensions to a 3-d object, but alas,  I can only do so much.  I'm glad to hear from you and others that the pics help get the strength of the design across as much as possible.  I'd encourage anyone who's interested in further viewing of the interior to check out the link to the pending 6moons review that Dan posted earlier.  Srajan has done some very nice pics of the interior for those with a sweet tooth for electric-sugar eye-candy.

My own preference for the bias is for the weightier (in my system) presentation of the high-bias.  I've heard from another recent new owner via email that he's been enjoying the low-bias setting on his Maggie 3.6's and preferred that over the high in his system, so I guess there's something to be said for both options, and it will depend largely on system and personal preferences, as Dan's suggested. 

[Philistine]

  The KW500 is integrated with a tubed preamp and 500 watt/channel power amp, along with separate power supply. 

Hey Phil - First off, congratulations on your new amp.  I'm glad to hear you're digging it as much as I've been in my own system. 

So you are using the tubed pre section of the KW500 as the pre for the Modwright too?  Does this mean there is a Modwright preamp in your future as well?  I can certainly speak for the synergy of the 36.5 with the KWA as being superb.  The two are speaking the same language, as it were.  I'll be interested to hear about whatever you choose and how that may alter your impressions.  I'd imagine you'll be stepping up to go from the pre section of an integrated to a separate pre. 

Thanks for the complements on the pics, and, per my last post, I do wish justice could be done in two dimensions to a 3-d object, but alas,  I can only do so much.  I'm glad to hear from you and others that the pics help get the strength of the design across as much as possible.  I'd encourage anyone who's interested in further viewing of the interior to check out the link to the pending 6moons review that Dan posted earlier.  Srajan has done some very nice pics of the interior for those with a sweet tooth for electric-sugar eye-candy.

My own preference for the bias is for the weightier (in my system) presentation of the high-bias.  I've heard from another recent new owner via email that he's been enjoying the low-bias setting on his Maggie 3.6's and preferred that over the high in his system, so I guess there's something to be said for both options, and it will depend largely on system and personal preferences, as Dan's suggested. 

Marco, I had a preconceived notion that the KWA 150 would not have the testosterone to drive my HT3's and had a counter measure in place to use the KW500 power amp to drive the woofers and the KWA 150 for the mid-range/tweeter - employing the KW500 preamp section for both.  With the KWA having much better low end performance my paradigm has been shifted, so it's back to the drawing board on this with the option of a different preamp.  As Dan will have voiced the KWA with the 36.5 then this is a serious option aa
Phil