Musical Paradise MP-301 MK3, first power up today

One of my setups for daily listening is Denon PMA-501 with JBL L77 connected with 16 gauge RCA speaker cables, I listen to the pair for hours before switching the amplifier.

 

L77 plays well at most music including vocal, and of course Jazz. Its two-way design with 10” passive radiators, the 10” driver LE10A serves up to 2500 Hz, the mid-range is firm and rich but less detail when playing orchestra. It generates deep bass and reproduces low frequency down to 30 Hz. Unfortunately, its efficiency has only 1 watt to 74 dB, the outcome is interesting after listen for 2 hours, what I listened to as below.

 

1. Whole album of Best Audiophile Voices Vol.1 (Female vocals and various music instruments)

 

2. Lullaby – Low (Female vocal and electric guitar, speed from Largo to Allegro)

 

3. Emmanuel featuring Lucia Micarelli (violin and trumpet) - Chris Botti 2008 in Boston

 

4. Glad to be unhappy featuring John Mayer (Male vocal and trumpet) – Chris Botti 2008 in Boston

 

5. First 5 tracks from Scabious – Mayo Nakano Piano Trio (Piano, double bass, and drums)

 

6. I’m not in love – Diana Krall (Female vocal)

 

7. And a live recording on Youtube from Kenrick sound at their customer’s café with JBL 4350 (Jazz with massive bass)

 

Since this was the first time I power up the amp and run the tubes, I let the amp warmed up for 5 minutes (and for the photo shoot) and then started the music. Maybe this is a modern design with new electronic parts except for the tubes, I didn’t really find a big tonal difference to the PMA-501.

 

The significant different was the sound delay feeling like a 33-1/3 LP played at 32 rpm. Read many discussions about tube amps and they mentioned slower speed compare to solid states, but the music played shouldn’t have any change in its playtime, how this can be heard at a slower speed?

 

The theory I have learnt from understanding S.S. amps, higher power amps have greater ability to control the movement of the speaker diaphragm, not only push it out to form sound waves yet make force to pull back the diaphragm to form a complete and continuous wavelength, or to hold (as a brake) the diaphragm to stop the tune rapidly. Tubes, especially small power tubes are lacking current (less damping) so they can’t control the diaphragm in two directions effectively. The similar idea to me is an old car’s suspension system only has sprung to abort hits and shakes, while modern suspension design comes with shock absorbers to reduce bouncing movement. So the tube sound is kind of multiplying soundwaves left over from previous tones and created a so-called "warmer" sound, or softer tones. Correct me if my concept is incorrect when you read this post.

 

So, what’s the combination of L77 and MP-301 MK3 with 6J8P and 6P3P tubes? High, mid, and upper bass were as good as using S.S. amps, detail of the bass is a bit muddy, lost many details at a very low end (about 100 Hz and below). For the bass issue, possibly L77 is a very inefficiency speaker, yet there were too many tones ran at the same time so tube amp may not capable handling all details especially the very low frequency required higher power.

 

For the tubes, I believe these basic sets of tubes are a good match for most music, as I mention this is the very first tube amp and tubes I owned and listen so I can’t comment more. I will try many other types of music and chang speakers later, this is not a promotion but if you wanted to try an affordable tube amp, this must be it. Reviews at manufacturer’s website will give you a better idea.

 

I don't know much about the quality and characteristics of audio tubes. Before I decide to purchase a tube amp, this is where I learn the most common types of audio tubes www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/know-your-amp-..., I believe I will spend quite a lot of time to explore different tube models from different manufacturers soon.

Done