Mola Mola dealer quote to me: I spent the whole summer with it in prototype mode and you will see it is rather compact and comes in a nice flight case. Therefore, I was able to take it around with me along with having clients bring their digital gear in. I have heard it against the $90K+ MSB, dCS Vivaldi, Playback Design, Lampizator, D1 Esoteric, Mytek, Berkeley, Aqua , Weiss and a few more I am sure I am forgetting of course PS AUDIO and Auralic Vega. In every case the Tambaqui was the sure favorite. It is so lively and natural in the real sense. There are no veils, there are no dynamic constrictions, there is no coloration, no electronic sound. It is bigger sounding, more dynamic, truer to the natural scale and incredibly transparent. It just sounds real and natural. In my option there is no better DAC on the market whatsoever. The Tambaqui is the same as the DAC in the Makua. My understanding is the Makua sounds a bit better. Less interconnects, shorter signal path, etc... |
Oh, thank you.
I’ll wait on the Manuka Streamer upgrade this year and check it out then.
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Hello Pete (Seadog), I now have the Makua with internal DAC and Kaluga amps. Awesome. The PS Audio stuff is now gone. Night and day better to me, and oh so pretty! Network straight into the Makua, I have Roon Nucleus on my network. The Kaluga control my Revel Ultima 2 Salon 2's best ever. Destination components, using Audience AU24SX power cables and balanced interconnects. Enjoy! Ken |
There is a dude in San Diego selling a Makua without the DAC for $5400. I emailed him yesterday to find out about the logistics of adding the DAC module. I decided to just buy a new one if I go with the Makua since adding the DAC module to a used Makua seemed like a PITA. He also has a Tambaqui + Makua combo for a decent price. US Audio Mart. |
@fastfreight Are you able to give some comparisons of the Kaluga's to any other amps you have used with the Revel Salon2's? I have owned the Salon1's and know they needed power.
The PS Audio gear you referenced above, does that include their amps? |
Hi, I have two systems, but swapped components around quite a bit.
The amps were the hardest to move, obviously, as both the BHK 250 and my Classe CA 2300 weigh close to 100 lbs. With the Salons, I exclusively used the Classe 2300, which I consider better than the BHK.
The Salons sounded nice with the Classe. But then I brought the Kalugas in for an audition. Immediately the bass was tighter and more controlled, but it was the clarity and resolution across the entire spectrum that sold me. I honestly heard things I had not heard before. The real seller to me was switching back to the Classe. I decided right away that I was selling the BHK, and moving the Classe downstairs with the B&W N802. I shortly later acquired the Makua Preamp with internal DAC. So now I moved my Audionet Pre1G3 and my Auralic Vega G2 downstairs as well and outed all the PSA stuff. The AudioNet Preamp and the Makua Preamp are both amazing. I can't decide which one is better.
The Mola Mola DAC is amazing, better than the Auralic, which is quite nice as well. One day I will upgrade to Audionet amps to match the pre.
Want to buy my Classe? :) Ken |
...and, my N802's are dead quiet now with the Audionet and the Classe.
I had constant noise...hiss etc with the BHK stuff. PS Audio's customer service is great, but they had trouble hearing the noise on their bench that I heard in my system. |
I heard a top end Classe amp with the Thiel 3.7 about a decade ago and it was great. Just blew me away though I gave most of the credit to the Thiel 3.7.
I am trying to figure out whether to buy the Makua with DAC + Luxman m900u amp or Luxman c900u preamp + Luxman m900u amp. The Makua is one less box in the system.
I am curious about the Kaluga since it is showing up on the used market and seems the natural match for the Makua.
Another comparison I want to hear is the Benchmark LA4 preamp vs the Mola Mola Makua. Both seem to have the same design goals. |
If you are interested in the Mola Mola stuff I suggest you call Bill Parrish at GTT Audio in NJ. He is super nice and very informative. Tell him Ken Kyser recommended. I auditioned a Luxman integrated and it did not do it for me. Nice knobs though! Ken |
