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Model: | MC3-R |
Category: | Preamplifier (Tube) |
Suggested Retail Price: | $550.00 |
Description: | Line stage, tube rectifier, based on Marantz 7 |
Manufacturer URL: | Ming Da |
Model Picture: | View |
Review by sgb (A) on August 19, 2005 at 08:32:31 IP Address: 68.225.106.197 | Add Your Review for the MC3-R |
This preamp delivers excellent sound for the price, but extensive tube-rolling is recommended for it to yield optimum performance. By so doing, it is possible to tailor the preamp's sound to best suit your tastes and associated equipment. It is strongly recommended that you dispose of ALL of the tubes supplied (including the rectifier) in order to hear what this preamp is capable of providing. The Chinese and Russian military tubes that came in my unit suggested that the unit was not capable of producing deep, solid bass (even after break-in), nor could the sound project an image much beyond the outer edges of my speakers.The tube complement consists of a single 12AU7 used as a stabilizer, a pair of 12AX7's for generating the signal and either a 5Z3P or 5Z4P rectifier. I replaced the rectifier with a vintage Raytheon 5Y3GT, and ultimately decided on a pair of RCA Command 5751's and a 5814 for the three other tubes. These replacements provided a substantial improvement in the unit's ability to perform as well as one would hope it could. Tonal balance is as good as I have ever heard in any tube-based system, with clear, extended highs, a supple, transparent midrange, and bass depth and tautness that belies the component's affordable price.
With regard to the bass performance, the reader is advised to choose his signal tubes and rectifier well. While the legendary Telefunken 12AX7 provides a most superior midrange with the kind of air you only read about from other tubes (but have never experienced yourself), it isn't in quite the same league as the Command 5751's in its ability to reproduce taut, fast bass transients. The Telefunken sounds a little wooly in this area, masking the air around drums and bass guitars. If bass performance is critical to you, then in this preamp the two best performers I've found are the aforementioned RCA Command tubes and some vintage USA-made Teslas.
Images can be very deep and wide, and depending on your speakers' ability to project it fore and aft of their plane, you might be startled to find that on great recordings (such as Opus 3's Showcase Sampler) that the piano might suddenly appear to have considerable depth. Recordings that offer an accurate portrayal of image height might be just as startling. Try the Sheffield Labs Harry James, Comin' From A Good Place for a great example of this.
Break-in period appears to be relatively short. After less than 48 hours, the unit had already begun to sound as good as I would hope it would.
The preamp has its shortcomings, too: these aren't particularly well made despite the fact that they are beautiful to look at. After just a few weeks, my unit developed a bit of a scratchy sound in its right channel, and has been returned to the importer for repair. For this reason, I would suggest that if the lure of a low cost unit from China appeals to you, then it is imperative that you know how to fix little problems like these yourself, or pay a little extra to an importer who can deal with these kinds of things for you.
Despite that weakness, I can recommend this preamp to anyone who wants to hear how natural the sound can be at such a low price.
Product Weakness: | Quality control issues that MeiXing needs to address |
Product Strengths: | Very natural and dynamic sound |
Associated Equipment for this Review: | |
Amplifier: | Quicksilver MS190 (DC coupled input) |
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): | Compared to Rogue, Dared, etc. |
Sources (CDP/Turntable): | Marantz SA-14 |
Speakers: | Rosinanté Evolution Signatures |
Cables/Interconnects: | Redmond Shock and Awe |
Music Used (Genre/Selections): | Classical, Jazz, a little rock |
Room Size (LxWxH): | 27.5 x 19.5 x 10 |
Room Comments/Treatments: | Damped with wall hangings |
Time Period/Length of Audition: | <1 month |
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): | Power Conditioners muck up the sound |
Type of Audition/Review: | Product Owner |
Follow Ups:
My experience with the rectifier tube was the exact opposite of yours.I have the MC-7R, it has 1 rectifier, 2x12AU7 and 2x12AX7 tubes.
I purchased this unit used and it arrived with a JAN 5Y3 WGTA (A9/85)rectifier tube. This being my first venture into tubeland I emailed Mei-xing to ensure that a 5Y3 was the correct replacement tube.
They replied that "You can replace a 4 pin 5Z3 , a 5 pin 5Z3P and 5UR4, these tubes are right". Thank you Xiao.I ended up ordering a pair NOS 5Z3 tubes from DIY HiFi Supply in Hong Kong, for the outrages sum of US$ 16.00 for the pair. ;-O (Couldn't seem to find any 5Z3 tubes listed for sale on web sites on this side of the pond). What arrived, within a few days, were a pair of 5Z3PA-T (73 iv) tubes. If I recall, this is the rectifier tube which a H.K. audio club raved about when they did a rectifier bake off one time. In any case, I swapped the 5Y3 WGTA out for the NOS 5Z3PA-T and noticed an immediate and dramatic improvement in dynamics.
After listening for a few hours I then swapped out the Chinese 12AU7 tubes with Mullard CV4003 tubes and noticed and improvement in the noise floor.
... So far, so good, better dynamics and improved noise floor.
Then I tried to swap out the Chinese 12AX7 tubes with some Groove Tube 12AX7M tubes...well that wasn't pretty! The system would play for a few minutes and then the volume would start to fade and finally my amps (Simaudio W-3)protection circuit would kick in and shut down.
After a search on this and other web sites for possible causes; bad tube, bad tube connector, cold solder joint, or bad capacitor. I then tried the very technical solution of just wiggling the tubes in their sockets but that didn't accomplish much. So next I tried swapping the 12AX7M tubes side to side but it seemed at best I could only get them to play, noisily, for about 2 hours before everything would finally crap out again.
In the end I finally put the Chinese 12AX7 tubes back in and they have being playing very nicely with both the Mullard CV4003's and the 5Z3PA-T rectifier tube.
I agree, the tonal balance is good with clear, extended highs, a supple, transparent midrange, and bass depth and tautness that belies the component's affordable price.
...but now of course, I'll have to give the RCA Command 5751's a try. ;-O
One day I might also get around to swapping out the rectifier tube for one of those Webber copper cap rectifier replacements...just to see how that sounds.
My problem... born of ignorance. I have a Chinese 5z3PAT rectifier insatalled in my Bez and it has 5 pins, including the centre locating pin with locting guide on it.Problem: I bought a pair of Sylvania 5z3 and they have 4 pins.
Have I done the right thing and if so, how do I ensure that the (4 pin) 5z3 pins are in located correctly in the sockets? I can't see aything on the Svetlanas to tell me which pin goes into which socket.
My experience with the 5Z3 is severely limited, but from what I understand this tube will not work in the socket provided. While it retains essentially the same electrical values as the Chinese tube, it requires a different socket in the Ming Da. I do not know your preamplifer. The socket used in this component might accept the USA 5Z3.As for the four-pin 5Z3, you will note that two of its four pins are larger. These provide for proper insertion the appropriate socket.
You are correct about the difficulty in finding rectifiers over here. A 5Y3GT = 5Z2P, which is a slightly lower voltage tube than either the 5Z3 or 5Z4 varieties you mentioned. I intend to try the Valve Art rectifier from DIY some time in the future.I had a similar experience with the Golden Dragon 12AX7's as yours with the Groove Tube, only in my case there was considerable noise from the instant the system would turn on. Apparently not all 12AX7s are alike. In all, I tried 7 different brands of 12AX7 (Mullard, RCA, Gold Aero, Golden Dragon, Tesla, Telefunken and RCA 5751) with, as noted, the two best being the Tesla and RCA Command style 5751. I'm looking for a pair of reasonably priced Sylvania Gold Brand tubes since Joe's Tube Lore suggests these are even better.
I have no interest in the Webber, as I like the glow from the tube :-)
That was a nice review. Please follow up and let us know how things continue to develop.I bought one of the el34 integrateds and was actually pleasantly suprised to see the buld quality on these units. While most of the caps were rubycon, there were a few well placed solen, which to me means someone actually gives a shit about the sound. The unit weighs what it should and is quite appealing visually.
Reading this review made me search google for a dealer. Didn't find much. I wonder how this preamp compares to the new Bottlehead preamp. hmmm
Is it in the same price range?There are two sites you need to know. One is tubeampaudio.com, and you can link to the site by clicking on the Model Picture link in the review. The other is Bill Baker's Response Audio site at the link below.
Bill often posts messages in these forums, and seems to be an all-around great guy. He's the guy you need to know if you want your Ming Da upgraded.
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