The new MP-301 MK2 Integrated--6.5 watts of heaven...

irishsammy · « **Reply #20 on:** 19 May 2011, 02:42 pm »

Like many audiophiles, I suffer from Audio ADD...a crippling disease that distances me from pieces of audio gear as soon as I get bored with them. I loved the ST's with a passion but I decided to sell them in favor of a pair of Fritz Carbon 7's. I don't regret my decision but man, are there times I miss the elegance of the sound of my old Consonance tube integrated with the ST's. I got rid of the Consonance when we moved and I'm looking to bring some tubey goodness back to my life. The 301 might be that ticket...

eclein · « **Reply #21 on:** 19 May 2011, 03:49 pm »

irishsammy- Check out the thread at head-fi and others here, the early buuyers are experiencing some hum with the power tubes that ship with the unit, it was very noticeable at first and then calmed a bit and I have since changed power tubes for some other ones and its pretty much gone now just make sure you read as much as you can on these before you jump.
Mine sounds great, no hum and is really quiet now.
Just a heads up.

Ultralight · « **Reply #22 on:** 21 May 2011, 04:05 am »

irishsammy,

You sold your SongTower for the Fritz 7? Wow. And you like the Fritz 7 more? How's the imaging, timbre, and bass extension between the two? (Whoops, I'm a bit OT but am indeed curious as the ST are so highly rated.)

Thanks,
UL

ellogan · « **Reply #23 on:** 22 May 2011, 03:48 am »

I got an MP-301 MK2 recently and I just plugged it into my system about 1/2 hr ago. Excellent. Drives my North Creek Borealis (~86 dB) very well although the bass does not have the impact it had with my Eico HF-87 or any other of the higher powered digital amps I have. Cannot imagine a better value. A tube amp with a headphone output plus a preamp for $260 + SH; it just screams value. The type of product that makes no apologizes for its price. It is just good sounding. I am sure it will be even better after the tubes have run in for a few hours and when I try it with any of the other speakers I have of higher sensitivity. What a bargain!

ellogan · « **Reply #24 on:** 22 May 2011, 03:53 am »

By the way, no hum whatsoever even when turned up past 1 o'clock. Sounds better now than when I posted a few minutes ago.

irishsammy · « **Reply #25 on:** 25 May 2011, 01:27 pm »

Quote from: eclein on 19 May 2011, 03:49 pm

irishsammy- Check out the thread at head-fi and others here, the early buuyers are experiencing some hum with the power tubes that ship with the unit, it was very noticeable at first and then calmed a bit and I have since changed power tubes for some other ones and its pretty much gone now just make sure you read as much as you can on these before you jump.
Mine sounds great, no hum and is really quiet now.
Just a heads up.

Yeah, I perused the entire 301 MkII thread and I'm only mildly worried about the hum issue. It seems like Garry's pretty good about customer service and you "early adopters" have ferreted out the issue. So game on.

Quote from: Ultralight on 21 May 2011, 04:05 am

irishsammy,

You sold your SongTower for the Fritz 7? Wow. And you like the Fritz 7 more? How's the imaging, timbre, and bass extension between the two? (Whoops, I'm a bit OT but am indeed curious as the ST are so highly rated.)

Thanks,
UL

Not to get too far into it but personally, I find the C7's to be a more dynamic speaker overall. They don't have the midrange magic of the ST's but they're a remarkably capable bookshelf. I find the soundstage in particular to be a marked improvement over the ST's. Bass extension is also better and stronger. The transmission line cabinet does put out some remarkably clean and potent bass but the C7's just have more punch and authority down low.

So is everybody just stopping at EL34's for power tubes with the 301M2? My mind has been wandering since ordering mine and I'm wondering if I could pop in maybe some KT77's. Better ask Garry.

eclein · « **Reply #26 on:** 25 May 2011, 01:40 pm »

irishsammy, I just got into tubes and sent the list of replacement tubes (Did you see that yet?) to thetubestore.com and said I'd like some Mullards and they hooked me up with the EL34's, they are quiet so for now I'm good and breaking this baby in and finding I really, really like the way its sounding here. Its got a nice punchy low end, tight and right for me-I like tight bass. I had the first version also and this one just has more balls. I tend to go over the top when posting about stuff I like...LOL. but the sound for me, here, with my JBL's is wonderful!!!!!

monsterbill · « **Reply #27 on:** 25 May 2011, 02:25 pm »

I had the mk2 and it wasn't my cup of tea. For cheap tubes, I preferred the miniwatt.

Also, it sounds like some of you might be considering buying the mk2 to tube roll. This is a mistake. You can, as Ed mentioned, change the power tubes, but folks have had a lot of problems messing with the drivers. This is too bad, since the drivers are where you can most impact the tonal characteristics.

irishsammy · « **Reply #28 on:** 25 May 2011, 04:02 pm »

I agree that it's a shame the driver tubes are so finicky but I think it all depends on your expectations. For something to play around with or for something for a secondary setup, the Mk2 seems like it's right there with the MiniWatt. IIRC, the Miniwatt isn't overly tube-rolling-friendly, either...at least in terms of different types of tubes. Add in the fact that the Mk2 gives you a can amp and more power than the MW and the fact that it's about $100 less...that all makes it a pretty good bargain.

Look at me...talking up this thing before it even shows up. Guess my expectations are showing...sorry guys.

monsterbill · « **Reply #29 on:** 25 May 2011, 04:55 pm »

Sorry, I just thought someone with experience should curb some of the hyperbole.

To be clear, I preferred the Miniwatt N3 to the MK2, based soley on how they sound in stock set up. I wasn't saying that the Miniwatt is better because of its tube rolling ability, although, from the boards, it sounds like you can use pretty much any EL84 or 12ax7, including NOS.

If I hadn't heard either and just looked at them, I would surely prefer the MK2.
Better part selection, bigger transformer, sturdier tube inputs, real binding posts, and, as Irish mentioned, cheaper price. Problem for me was that the MK2 was just too dark sounding on all 3 of my speakers (omega single driver fostex,
klipsch horns, vmps ribbons). With brighter, slightly less efficient speakers, I might have liked the MK2. It does have pretty good PRAT.

FYI, you can get the old Miniwatt S1 (which I haven't heard) new on ebay for around $250. Its called "APPJ."

srb · « **Reply #30 on:** 25 May 2011, 05:23 pm »

Quote from: monsterbill on 25 May 2011, 04:55 pm

Better part selection, bigger transformer, sturdier tube inputs, real binding posts, and, as Irish mentioned, cheaper price.

I noticed that the MP-301 MK2, although it does have 5-way binding posts, does not have both 4 and 8 ohm transformer taps like the Miniwatt S3. How does that relate to speaker matching and the listening results in your case, or for others with different speakers?

Steve

monsterbill · « **Reply #31 on:** 25 May 2011, 05:37 pm »

Quote from: srb on 25 May 2011, 05:23 pm

How does that relate to speaker matching and the listening results in your case, or for others with different speakers?

I'm not sure I can give you the answer you're looking for, but I'll tell you what I know. The miniwatt, the N3 in my case, has separate 4, 6, and 8 ohm taps, while the mk2 only has one set of posts. The mk2 has a stated output impedance of "4-8 ohms". I imagine the power rating on higher than 4 ohms is lower than 6.5 wpc, but I really don't know. 2 of my speaks are 8 ohms, the other is a tough 4. I only listened to the miniwatt on the 8 ohm speaks, but I did try out the mk2 on the 4 ohm to see whether the humming and other noise diminished on these speakers. (It did.)

irishsammy · « **Reply #32 on:** 25 May 2011, 05:51 pm »

Quote from: monsterbill on 25 May 2011, 04:55 pm

Sorry, I just thought someone with experience should curb some of the hyperbole.

To be clear, I preferred the Miniwatt N3 to the MK2, based soley on how they sound in stock set up. I wasn't saying that the Miniwatt is better because of its tube rolling ability, although, from the boards, it sounds like you can use pretty much any EL84 or 12ax7, including NOS.

If I hadn't heard either and just looked at them, I would surely prefer the MK2.
Better part selection, bigger transformer, sturdier tube inputs, real binding posts, and, as Irish mentioned, cheaper price. Problem for me was that the MK2 was just too dark sounding on all 3 of my speakers (omega single driver fostex,
klipsch horns, vmps ribbons). With brighter, slightly less efficient speakers, I might have liked the MK2. It does have pretty good PRAT.

FYI, you can get the old Miniwatt S1 (which I haven't heard) new on ebay for around $250. Its called "APPJ."

It's cool. I didn't mean to shoot you down. Lord knows I haven't even heard this thing yet and I did really like my MiniWatt.

I think I just have this irrational belief (or hope?) that stuff like the Mk2 doesn't fall into that "too good to be true" category.

eclein · « **Reply #33 on:** 25 May 2011, 06:08 pm »

I run 8 ohm JBL-S38ii's with mine that are 89db sensitive 3 -ways and they sound great. Plenty of power for me and my setup. The hum in my case went away when I put tube config of stock tubes up front and Mullard EL34's in the back, its extremely quiet now. I cannot tell its on by listening to no signal, there is no sound at all, totally black background. So for 5 or 6 days I had a hum and once it left and the amp started to break in more it has worked out well for me in my setup.
Mine was a gift which I am very grateful to have received and I'm enjoying this amp thoroughly.

milford3 · « **Reply #34 on:** 28 May 2011, 06:34 pm »

This integrated amplifier is a gem!! Unheard price of $306.00 including shipping. Now I need to cut the grass and take down a hornets nest. Yeah me!

mca · « **Reply #35 on:** 28 May 2011, 06:54 pm »

I wonder if this amp would power my soon to arrive VSA VR-33's? 90db sensitivity, 8 ohm average. Not looking for high volume, just some low listening tubey goodness.

milford3 · « **Reply #36 on:** 28 May 2011, 10:21 pm »

MCA, this amp will do you just fine. I use this amp to drive Axiom M22v3's with a sen of 93dp. I wake up the dead. Listened to Martina Mcbrides concert this morning and it brought tears to my eyes.

milford3 · « **Reply #37 on:** 28 May 2011, 10:29 pm »

irishsammy · « **Reply #38 on:** 31 May 2011, 06:00 pm »

Very promising. Mine is in the US now...but that's all I know.

Any hum problems so far, Milford?

mca · « **Reply #39 on:** 31 May 2011, 06:04 pm »

Has anyone heard it's big brother, the MP-401?