My Mola Mola Tambaqui Revuew

[KrellFan1]

If you ask the MM US importer Bill Parish who also happens to carry Grimm as a dealer, he’d tell you to stay with the Tambaqui and consider a great preamp. Personally, for me the MM Markua is an Incredible match made in heaven for the Tambaqui. It sounds and performs like a 30k preamp at only 13k or so.

I stayed away from Grimm bc it only supports only Roon and I far prefer Squeeze these days. My Antipodes is agnostic and allows the customer to decide which program he wants to run. Swapping from Roon to Squeeze is a breeze and I’ve become a huge fan of Antipodes ecosystem.

 

[coldbru]

I'm still comparing. Seems the MU2 was not fully broken in, thus it has been cycling between good and dull sound. But when it has been in the good part of the cycle, I prefer the MU2 to the MU1 + MMT. The MU1 refines the sound of the MMT and the MU2 takes that same refinement further. It seems to square the circle by being both relaxed and dynamic. I believe the aim was to provide a piece of gear that disappears as much as possible.

Of course, only an in-home demo to compare the MU2 to the MMT will tell your ears in the context of your system whether this is the direction you prefer. The MU2 and MMT direct to amps are equally good (that is, very very good), but different in presentation. The MM Makua preamp improved both MU2 and MMT vs. direct to amps. At least to my ears in my setup. Both DACs gain nuance and fluidity with the preamp. As someone who has not used a preamp in many, many years, this was a surprise.

Thanks for the update. Very interesting. Certainly “refinement” has been a common theme in the MU2 reviews so far.

Not surprised to hear that the MMT benefits from a preamp given digital volume control, and given my experience. Quite surprised though to hear that the MU2 benefits as well, given its full analog stage and resistors volume.

Cheers, enjoy the buffet.

 

[PYP]

If you ask the MM US importer Bill Parish who also happens to carry Grimm as a dealer, he’d tell you to stay with the Tambaqui and consider a great preamp. Personally, for me the MM Markua is an Incredible match made in heaven for the Tambaqui. It sounds and performs like a 30k preamp at only 13k or so.

I stayed away from Grimm bc it only supports only Roon and I far prefer Squeeze these days. My Antipodes is agnostic and allows the customer to decide which program he wants to run. Swapping from Roon to Squeeze is a breeze and I’ve become a huge fan of Antipodes ecosystem.

If I had more than $800k invested in my equipment, set it up in a huge room and helped voice the Tambaqui in that very room, I might agree. We will never know.

Can't remember which reviewer thought the Makua was the best of Mola Mola's offerings (at that time) but I tend to agree. All Mola Mola gear provides very high performance for the price. That is true of Grimm too.

Grimm is working on a software update that will enable the MU1/MU2 to use software other than Roon. But Roon these days sounds pretty darn good. Always beneficial to have alternatives, however.

 

[KrellFan1]

If I had more than $800k invested in my equipment, set it up in a huge room and helped voice the Tambaqui in that very room, I might agree. We will never know.

Can't remember which reviewer thought the Makua was the best of Mola Mola's offerings (at that time) but I tend to agree. All Mola Mola gear provides very high performance for the price. That is true of Grimm too.

Grimm is working on a software update that will enable the MU1/MU2 to use software other than Roon. But Roon these days sounds pretty darn good. Always beneficial to have alternatives, however.

But Roon these days sounds pretty darn good. Always beneficial to have alternatives, however.

As I may have mentioned I am a lifer with Roon and feel like most all others that the Roon interface is head and shoulders in a league of its own I use it primarily on Friday when Qobuz issues new releases. At last listen I remain convinced Squeeze sounds better though perhaps the disparity between the two has narrowed a bit. I’d have to give it a more serious and extended listen. But in my view Squeeze still much better - especially in the mid frequencies which sounds congested compared to Roon.

All that said, very good and wise of Grimm to provide the customer the option to use other software. I’d have considered buying their unit but they lost me as a likely customer for lack of this feature. This will no doubt help them grow their customer base so that’s good!

 

[PYP]

At last listen I remain convinced Squeeze sounds better though perhaps the disparity between the two has narrowed a bit. I’d have to give it a more serious and extended listen. But in my view Squeeze still much better - especially in the mid frequencies which sounds congested compared to Roon.

It is interesting how "small" differences can be so meaningful in our hobby. I've packed the MU2 and Makua to send back to Bill and enjoyed our "old" system last night as much as ever. Yet, I have asked for trade-in quotes because the differences I heard may be worth the investment. I'm a believer in diminishing returns and think the Mola Mola and Grimm gear provide gear that can disappear and leave music at at price point that is, in today's hobby, a bargain.

The mids sound especially good to me with both the MU2 and the Tambaqui (with the Grimm MU1). I'm intrigued to hear a different perspective/improvement on those presentations via Squeeze! And curious to test JCAT and the linux version of Audirvana too. We all have different ears, rooms and preferences. It is great to have a menu of items to try.

 

[davetheoilguy]

Has anyone tried the Tambaqui with a Lumin U1x?

I’m vacillating between the Tamaqui and the dcs Vivaldi Apex (used) and would pair it with the Lumin and a Nagra HD pre

 

[speakerlust]

@ davetheoilguy: You probably have tested and/or made a decision in the last 6 months since your post question. In the last month I have experimented with USB output from my Lumin X1 to USB input on my Mola Mola Makua DAC (Tambaqui similar). I have an Antipodes K50 G4 and had, as one of my options, used USB from my K50 to the Makua. In mid August I added an Esoteric K-01XD SE to my system and elected to utilize USB input of the Esoteric from my K50, which then left USB unused on the Makua. I recalled reading in the past a Tambaqui review on 6 Moons where a reviewer tried using the streamer from a Lumin via USB to a Tambaqui and was very enthusiastic over the results. I thought I would give it a trial as another system alternative. With my K50, I commonly prefer Squeeze over Roon for sound quality, but still use Roon for its ease and well developed interface. Similarly, for my Lumin X1, I prefer the Lumin App over Roon, but use both. I only have to select MinimServer as added server on my K50 to access my stored music as well as Qobuz. The Lumin App allows me to select Analog, SPDIF, or USB as output for the X1. Adding a USB cable to the X1 to the Makua and changing to USB output on the App allows me to play Roon or from the App for the X1 to the Makua Tambaqui DAC on my Makua. I really like the results, especially with the App.

The results are different but quite enjoyable from those I had using the K50 to USB on the Makua. Using the K50 USB, the K50 is connected via RJ45 from my switch to the K50. My X1 is using fiber from the switch, so there are more differences than just the players and servers involved. Eventually, I will trial swapping USB cables--now have Shunyata Omega from K50 to Esoteric and Triode Wire Labs Passion from X1 to the Makua. While there is a significant cost difference between the Omega and the Passion, I have been very pleased with the Passion. It will be an interesting listening experiment for both the Esoteric and Lumin to Makua after I swap USB cables. Another fun test down the line will be trying the Lumin to the Esoteric, with the two different USB cables and K50 to Makua with the two different USB cables. While I expect there will be differences and should come up with listening preferences over time, my results will be my opinion, system dependent and also based on my personal listening preferences.