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Music Paradise 701 MK2 Preamp and tube rolling
Dec 30, 2023 at 3:20 PM Post #16 of 47
Jan 2, 2024 at 8:25 AM Post #18 of 47
kcsound777 said:
How do you find the new Mundorf caps compared to the original bennic?
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They sound more airy, Mundorfs need to break in, but I am happy, happy New Year, Kind regards Yoram

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Feb 5, 2024 at 4:44 PM Post #19 of 47
I am looking into this preamp, primarily it allows me to use mix of 12 volt or 6 Volt tubes that I have collected over time and opens up unlimited tube rolling options. I also like the fact it has tube rectifier to help bring that tube sound character than solid state rectification.

What headphone amps do you all use with this preamp that have good synergy keeping the tube sound character alive?
 
Feb 5, 2024 at 8:22 PM Post #20 of 47
svmusa said:
I am looking into this preamp, primarily it allows me to use mix of 12 volt or 6 Volt tubes that I have collected over time and opens up unlimited tube rolling options. I also like the fact it has tube rectifier to help bring that tube sound character than solid state rectification.

What headphone amps do you all use with this preamp that have good synergy keeping the tube sound character alive?
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To have a tube preamp before the headphone amp, best would be to have a line out, or you'd have the volume adjustment twice. But the 701 has no line out. Me I use a Feliks Euforia all tube headphone amp. To have a tuby solid state I'd try the Wells Audio Dragon. Some people use a power amp to power some extra hard to drive headphones, I, me, I wouldn't. But...Then volume adjustment only once. Kind regards y
 
Mar 12, 2024 at 12:33 PM Post #23 of 47
Great thread! I have owned this preamp for over three years now and still love it. Mine originally came with Mundorf Supreme Silver Gold Oil coupling caps and Mundorf Supreme power supply bypass caps. Last year I picked up some V-Cap ODAM's for coupling caps and am currently running those now. As for tubes, while I have a whole box of really nice vintage 12AU7's (5814's as well) I picked up 12AU7 to 6/12SN7 adapter from Tube depot a couple years ago and have never went back to 12AU7's as 6/12SN7's are remarkably better and now have dozens of them. I primarily use 12SN7's (exact same as the much celebrated 6SN7 tubes but run on the 12V heater setting) because they are more affordable and sound identical to the 6SN7 variants. I cannot overstate how great the SN7 tubes are and a must to switch to or at least try and see for yourself. I own them all, the black glass Ken Rad's, several Sylvania "Bad Boys", Chrome Dome's, TungSol Mouse Ears, RCA gray glass, you name it and all beautiful sounding tubes. As for 5U4G's I have several, the older Sylvania and RCA hanging filament types, Tung Sol top getter, Westinghouse, all of which sound great. This preamp offers so much flexibility, it's insane. One word of note, when rolling the coupling caps you need to be careful, they do hold their charge so you need to drain the voltage from them before handling.
 
Mar 14, 2024 at 2:57 PM Post #24 of 47
kcsound777 said:
Hi Yoram,

How do you find your mundorfs after broken in now compared to the stock caps you replaced?

Ken
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I'm not sure why Yoram is recommending against the ODAM and doesn't give a reason why. The ODAM sounds fantastic and I liked it so much in this preamp that I redid the crossovers in my speakers with ODAM's. They are held in very high regard. I also have top of the line Mundorf Supreme Silver Gold Oil 2.2 uf caps for the MP-701 mk2 and the ODAM's are easily my choice - in my system. The Mundorf's sound great as well but they seem a little more rolled off at the extremes compared to the ODAM's and lack the fullness/smoothness of the ODAM. They do highlight the upper mids and lower treble more which let's you hear a sharper edge and more detail but it will depend on the rest of your system if you want to hear that or if it's too much. Up top they don't have quite as much air as the ODAM but are still a good cap. All that said, I am currently bypassing the ODAM's with a Miflex KPCU .1 uf and so far I like the results. The Miflex caps have just a touch more definition in the midbass compared to the ODAM as well as a little more texture and detail in the upper mids but exhibit a richness there that keeps it in check from becoming too fatiguing. I think the Miflex bypass is allowing the ODAM to resolve the midbass better and it's somewhat adding some subtle spice to the very smooth, somewhat safe sounding ODAM being an oil damped capacitor.

Also, @kcsound777 if you are not familiar with the huge capacitor roundup that HumbleHiFi did a few years ago check it out, he has heard just about every capacitor under the sun. Unfortunately I believe he did this just before the ODAM came out. I'm guessing here but based on all the comments I have seen and my experience i think the ODAM would score in the "13-15" range for sure. There's a scored chart but then mini reviews as you scroll down the page by brand.

https://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html
 
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Mar 14, 2024 at 4:32 PM Post #25 of 47
Sean H said:
I'm not sure why Yoram is recommending against the ODAM and doesn't give a reason why. The ODAM sounds fantastic and I liked it so much in this preamp that I redid the crossovers in my speakers with ODAM's. They are held in very high regard. I also have top of the line Mundorf Supreme Silver Gold Oil 2.2 uf caps for the MP-701 mk2 and the ODAM's are easily my choice - in my system. The Mundorf's sound great as well but they seem a little more rolled off at the extremes compared to the ODAM's and lack the fullness/smoothness of the ODAM. They do highlight the upper mids and lower treble more which let's you hear a sharper edge and more detail but it will depend on the rest of your system if you want to hear that or if it's too much. Up top they don't have quite as much air as the ODAM but are still a good cap. All that said, I am currently bypassing the ODAM's with a Miflex KPCU .1 uf and so far I like the results. The Miflex caps have just a touch more definition in the midbass compared to the ODAM as well as a little more texture and detail in the upper mids but exhibit a richness there that keeps it in check from becoming too fatiguing. I think the Miflex bypass is allowing the ODAM to resolve the midbass better and it's somewhat adding some subtle spice to the very smooth, somewhat safe sounding ODAM being an oil damped capacitor.

Also, @kcsound777 if you are not familiar with the huge capacitor roundup that HumbleHiFi did a few years ago check it out, he has heard just about every capacitor under the sun. Unfortunately I believe he did this just before the ODAM came out. I'm guessing here but based on all the comments I have seen and my experience i think the ODAM would score in the "13-15" range for sure. There's a scored chart but then mini reviews as you scroll down the page by brand.

https://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html
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Hi Sean,

Thanks for your sharing and comment.

Sorry I'm lost are you talking about using the VCAP Odam as the 'REAR' (near the 3 tubes) coupling capacitors?
I guess I'm following Gary's (the MP701 designer) suggestion to Yoram when he asked Gary if he should get the VCAP ODAM to replace the "Bennics - Front Power filter" caps but recommended him the Mundorf (see post above).

I have no ideas about Caps really and I wrote to Gary two days ago but he hasn't replied yet...
Is the V-Cap ODAM-070: 2.2uF 400Vdc you are talking about for the 'rear' coupling caps that you like more than the mundorf??
How about replacing the FRONT Bennic power filter caps? May I ask what you are using now specifically which mundorf?

I prefers to as you describe have more fullness/smoothness than the extremes rolled off if i can choose... so maybe I should go with the Odam Vcap as the rear coupling caps...

Thanks your comments are greatly appreciated.

Ken
 
Mar 14, 2024 at 4:58 PM Post #27 of 47
Hey Ken. Yep, I've exchanged emails with Garry (he actually has two r's in his name). Ok, sorry about the mixup, my bad here!! I read most of this thread here and think I may have missed which capacitor position Yoram was talking about and I gather now he was referring to the front/power supply filter caps. My apologies. When I was talking about the ODAM's (and the Mundorf Silver Gold Oil for that matter) I was referring to using them in the coupling cap position after the tubes in the rear just before the RCA/XLR outputs. Again, my apologies. And yes, these are V-Cap ODAM 2.2 uf 400V.

Garry and Yoram are exactly right, there is really no need to use such a high quality cap like the ODAM in the front/power supply filter cap position. I have tried high quality and lower quality caps there and there is not a lot of difference BUT they do make a difference for sure. Right now I am using 6.8 uf Mundorf Supreme (the base, regular ones, not the Silver Gold Oil) and they sound superb there. The Bennic's might be just fine there as a decent quality poly cap will benefit the power supply greatly. I once tried my small Miflex .1 uf caps in the front/power supply cap position and it definitely sounds inferior to the Mundorf Supreme caps and I suspect it's mostly because the .1 caps just weren't doing much being so small. But, the lesson there is that those filter caps, like your Bennic's now, definitely help the power supply and result in better sound. I have to admit I have not compared the stock 6.8 uf Bennic's I have as well as to the Mundorf Supreme's as they came with my unit pre-installed, but I could if you would like? Easy to do.

I think you would like the ODAM's, they are universally liked and they beat out the other high-quality Mundorf Silver Gold Oil caps I have now. What's nice about the ODAM's is they are small in size and so they are easy to put into the MP-701. Those Miflex .1's that I have are literally 50% larger than the 2.2 ODAM! ha ha. The actual 2.2 Miflex caps are like grenade's in size, not kidding. They don't fit in the MP-701. So, the ODAM's are top quality caps that are reasonable in size. But if you look at that capacitor review I linked you can see reviews of other really good caps that rank well that are reasonable in size as well, something like the Auricap XO or the Jantzen Superior Z. Are you using the Obligatto coupling caps right now? I have never heard those but the mini review at Humble Hifi likes them but they are not as highly rated.
 
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Apr 4, 2024 at 8:59 PM Post #28 of 47
Hi guys, I have been wanting to purchase one of these preamps recently, but am a bit confused about the various sources that I see selling them. I see a seller on Ebay offering it for $700.00 plus shipping,
Douk Audio selling it for $1600.00, Aliexpress has it for $800.00 plus shipping.
Then Musical Paradice website says $700.00 but out of stock.

Why so many different sources while the manufacturer themselves have none. Are the other ones real.
I emailed MP to ask them but got no reply. I asked Douk Audio why their price was double, and they replied
Saying it's guaranteed quality.
So I don't know what to think or where to buy
 
Apr 5, 2024 at 3:21 AM Post #29 of 47
Audiobliss2 said:
Hi guys, I have been wanting to purchase one of these preamps recently, but am a bit confused about the various sources that I see selling them. I see a seller on Ebay offering it for $700.00 plus shipping,
Douk Audio selling it for $1600.00, Aliexpress has it for $800.00 plus shipping.
Then Musical Paradice website says $700.00 but out of stock.

Why so many different sources while the manufacturer themselves have none. Are the other ones real.
I emailed MP to ask them but got no reply. I asked Douk Audio why their price was double, and they replied
Saying it's guaranteed quality.
So I don't know what to think or where to buy
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I'm in the same position of waiting to buy one. I think directly from MP-homepage will be the safest bet. I wrote them 2 weeks ago and the mentioned it should be back in stock in late April. Gotta be patient I guess. I'm also sitting here with tubes and caps for it ready to go :wink: .
 
Apr 5, 2024 at 11:01 AM Post #30 of 47
I really would like to get one directly from MP also, they not only have the best price plus shipping, but probably the most genuine. I also have a bunch of tubes from previous preamps waiting to try.
Then if I can figure a way to add a 12v trigger it would be perfect.
 
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