Matrix M-Stage amp review: simple, cheap, and excellent.

[chicolom]

Quote:

okay, embraced to blow my denon, no akg (cheaper) drivers, i try 20db gain. What the.... I can comfortably go up to 11 o clock.
 

Thanks for the review!
 
I think you may be reading the gain switches wrong.  Most people do this at one point or another (myself included)

.
On the manual and the bottom of the M-stage, the white squares indicate where the gain switches should be.  A lot of people think they should match the switches positions to the black squares and then they get it reversed.

 

[CantScareMe]

RED FACE

lol, you're right!

I was thinking that if it were a mistake by matrix then it would have been an uncanny ultra precise mistake to make. On purpose rather.

Yea, it's just that on the actual underside they only use the color white with them plastic switches- no black at all as is shown on the manual. Makes it confusing a bit.
Using 10db gain btw for my headphones. Awesome sound in a compact package.

 

[KimLaroux]

I'm just curious. When you switched to lower gain, did it really make a difference on the heat coming from the unit? I would guess it doesn't change much. I bet most of the heat comes from the power supply itself. 
 
Don't you have the latest revision, the one with the holes in the case?

 

[the search never ends]

I don't think the M Stage gets any warmer than the asgard.  They are both pretty warm, I don't own as Asgard, but have never been able to find a surface temp on the M Stage at anywhere near 300 degrees, which is still far from the ignition point of anything you might have as far as paper laying around, it could melt wax maybe. I rember the Asgard having very similar temps.  If you know someone with an infrared thermometer, ask them to shoot the hottest spots on the amp.
 
Paper ignites at 451 degrees F
 
Edit: I have noticed here and elswhere people trading Asgards and to a lesser degree M Stage for cooler running amps.

 

[CantScareMe]

yeah, mine have the vents. The gain probably will have an insignificant affect on the heat overall- no way of me telling for sure. But definitely after 6 hours it is too hot to touch- volume knob heats up as well.


Some (older) tv's would heat up when left on stanby overnight. Many times, i've heard, this would cause the house to go up in flames as people in their living rooms would leave flammable material like tissues and stuff near to it.

It's not as if the unit acts as a fire instantly causing something to go up in flames It's continuous concentrated heat exposure that would be the cause. Anyway, i won't be doing anything silly with this amp so no problem here.

 

[KimLaroux]

It gets that hot even with the vents? That's quite disturbing... 

 
 
You might have a faulty unit.

 

[kyoshiro]

mine never gets hot to the point that I can't touch it and mines with the class A bias mod with vents

 

[CantScareMe]

yea probably.

Anyway, i won't use it for more than 6 hrs at a time, so it's okay.

 

[Personnel Jezuz]

Its the combination of designed in China & made in China thats putting me off buying.

 

[kyoshiro]

i do leave mine on for long periods of time though as I route my speakers through it as my sound card does RCA out (onkyo se-300) and then use the output to my speakers so when i plug in my hd600, it auto swaps
i once tried leaving it on for like 2 days straight and it wasnt hot enough that I couldnt touch it at all.

 

[headhog]

Quote:

Its the combination of designed in China & made in China thats putting me off buying.

It's a well made unit go for it!
 
 

 

[chicolom]

Mine never gets "hot", only warm after several hours.  And it is surprisingly solid and well made, for an amp made in China.

 

[CantScareMe]

I reckon that it may be because i'm using it in a slightly tight space, heat issues become exasperated. One long side is 2 inches from the back wall although other sides are exposed to air. Plus, I think it's summer in sunny central London!!!
So my rooms around 25c.

I'll probably play around with positioning a bit, see if that works. It's never hot enough to burn your hands or anything like that. It's just that after 5/6 seconds it's uncomfortably hot to leave your (my) hand on. like a kettle or toaster that just finished it's duty a few minutes ago. Or i just might be more sensitive to these things than you guys....less thicker skin on the palm of my hands....i don't know!

Anyway, it sounds great so there's no doubt it works. I remember reading someone else say that the sound slightly changes when it warms up- what i also experienced a few times.

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

It'll probably heat less now that i'm going to be using true 10 or 0db settings....
Easy to forgive them for this.

Hi,  
0, 10 18 or 20 dBs,  it makes NO difference to how much heat the M throws off.
 
Quote:

I'm just curious. When you switched to lower gain, did it really make a difference on the heat coming from the unit? I would guess it doesn't change much. I bet most of the heat comes from the power supply itself. 
 
Don't you have the latest revision, the one with the holes in the case?

Yes,
Most of the heat comes from the power supply regulators
Some also comes from the Class A output stage.
If you use a Class A biased Op Amp it makes very difference to how much heat is thrown off by the Stage.
 
Quote:

yeah, mine have the vents. The gain probably will have an insignificant affect on the heat overall- no way of me telling for sure. But definitely after 6 hours it is too hot to touch- volume knob heats up as well.
Some (older) tv's would heat up when left on stanby overnight. Many times, i've heard, this would cause the house to go up in flames as people in their living rooms would leave flammable material like tissues and stuff near to it.
It's not as if the unit acts as a fire instantly causing something to go up in flames It's continuous concentrated heat exposure that would be the cause. Anyway, i won't be doing anything silly with this amp so no problem here.

DO NOT put this amp in a confined space, it needs room to "breathe",  i.e. all heat has to go somewhere.
If I read your stuff properly, it sounds like you got the Stage stuffed in a small space and put papers on top of it?
Don't do that, fire hazard.   Best outcome is it shortens the life of the M.   Worst outcome, lots of smoke, etc 

 
As they say, "don't try this at home, kids!"
 
BTW, I find the sound changes after I've had a few drinks!  LOL
 

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

Should I worry about impedance mismatch if I decide to go with the m-stage for my D2k? Otherwise my second choice would be a Meier Audio Arietta (Or, stay with my E9)...
 
Who has any impressions of the arietta, I've searched everywhere already.

Wow!
The Denon has an impedance of 25 ohms?
Ideally it would be nice to get an amp with an output impedance of 2 ohms or less, but the Matrix will probably be OK.  I've never tried the Denons so YMMV.