Msb m202

caliaripaolo

Well-Known Member
May 9, 2012
492
192
950
Italia
I am thinking to buy the MSB M202. Please may I have your feedback on these items?
I have TOTALDAC , Spectral, MIT Oracle, Avalon Eidolon system.
 

Elberoth

Member Sponsor
Dec 15, 2012
2,011
259
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Poland
Excellent amps. They are very 'Class-A sounding' - a bit on the warm side, very smooth and fluent. Bass is a bit tubey, as in all amps that lack a global negative feedback. That, bus slightly reduced transcient speed was the only drawback I could think of when comparing to Spectral DMA-260 in my system (or to the dartzeel I still have). The MSB monos simply sound more real and more palpable.

At the current S/H prices, they are a steal (MSB recently introduced a slightly upgraded version, that has a 100VA bigger transformers and costs ... a whooping 50% more ! they have probaby figured out that the amps were too cheap to draw atention of serious audiophiles).
 

caliaripaolo

Well-Known Member
May 9, 2012
492
192
950
Italia
Excellent amps. They are very 'Class-A sounding' - a bit on the warm side, very smooth and fluent. Bass is a bit tubey, as in all amps that lack a global negative feedback. That, bus slightly reduced transcient speed was the only drawback I could think of when comparing to Spectral DMA-260 in my system (or to the dartzeel I still have). The MSB monos simply sound more real and more palpable.

At the current S/H prices, they are a steal (MSB recently introduced a slightly upgraded version, that has a 100VA bigger transformers and costs ... a whooping 50% more ! they have probaby figured out that the amps were too cheap to draw atention of serious audiophiles).

Thank you Adam,
Yes indeed I think that the price quality ratio in great. My question is, I have to replace MIT cables too? MIT as you know add some sort of delay. This Will be negative with the M202? I see the damping factor is very low, like tube as you correctly wrote.
 

Elberoth

Member Sponsor
Dec 15, 2012
2,011
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1,170
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I have a very limited experience with MIT cables and their interaction with electronics. A fellow audiophile on Polish forum uses MIT with his top of the trange T+A electronics (all tube) and swears by MIT. Best if you could try before buying.
 

vess

Well-Known Member
Nov 4, 2012
83
84
923
Sofia, Bulgaria
www.audio-bg.com
I can only agree about MSB monos. Beautiful sound and work incredibly well with Avalons.

Vess
 

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,238
81
1,725
New York City
I have a very limited experience with MIT cables and their interaction with electronics. A fellow audiophile on Polish forum uses MIT with his top of the trange T+A electronics (all tube) and swears by MIT. Best if you could try before buying.

One could do a lot worse :)
 

porselen

Well-Known Member
Feb 28, 2013
45
9
313
hello,

caliaripaolo, did you buy the amps?

i am also wondering about buying msb amps, ihave eggleston andra 3, which i drife effortless with lamm 1.2 references. I did however try other amps with the Eggleston which did not manage to get the full potential out of the speakers in the bass region. Will the msb have any problem here?
 

caliaripaolo

Well-Known Member
May 9, 2012
492
192
950
Italia
hello,

caliaripaolo, did you buy the amps?

i am also wondering about buying msb amps, ihave eggleston andra 3, which i drife effortless with lamm 1.2 references. I did however try other amps with the Eggleston which did not manage to get the full potential out of the speakers in the bass region. Will the msb have any problem here?


Hi porselen,
Not, I didn't buy them.
It was not possible testing directly on my system, and, reading the spec, the damping factor was very low, which means amplifiers that tend to be slow in the transients, with undamped Low-frequency.
But, you know, this is my opinion by reading specs, which is not as testing directly on the system.
I like Spectral gears and the perfect combination with Totaldac combo (D1+Reclocker).
 

porselen

Well-Known Member
Feb 28, 2013
45
9
313
Anyone else for the M203 s?

I will hear them next week with the diamond dac, looking forward to it!
 

Thetiminator

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2015
86
19
238
Do they run very warm? I heard that the heat output was ridiculous....which kind of put me off auditioning them.
 

asiufy

Industry Expert/VIP Donor
Jul 8, 2011
3,711
723
1,200
San Diego, CA
almaaudio.com
It's heavily Class A biased, and 200W too, so it gets kinda warm. Not vacuum tube hot, but hot nonetheless...


alexandre
 

Elberoth

Member Sponsor
Dec 15, 2012
2,011
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I would say the heat output is similar to my old Lamms M1.2R monos or Pass X-350.5 (multiplied by two, as Pass is a stereo amp) or ARC Ref 110.
 

porselen

Well-Known Member
Feb 28, 2013
45
9
313
I would say the heat output is similar to my old Lamms M1.2R monos or Pass X-350.5 (multiplied by two, as Pass is a stereo amp) or ARC Ref 110.

Elberoth, how do they sound compared to the Lamm 1.2 Ref's; i had the Lamms for several years.
I had the Lamms in my basement, yes it got hot but was tolerable, not as hot as many other designs.
 

Elberoth

Member Sponsor
Dec 15, 2012
2,011
259
1,170
Poland
Hard to say, as I sold the Lamms long before I got the MSB. Way too many system changes.
 

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