T.H.E. Show Newport 2018 Ron Report: MBL / UHA

[Ron Resnick]

Once again the partnership of Jeremy Bryan, Chief Executive officer of MBL North America, and Greg Beron, Proprietor of United Home Audio, created some of the very best sound at the show.







Jeremy was exhibiting the 101E Mk. II, driven by the MBL Noble line of electronics. I do not know what sonic attributes the Noble line gives up to the Reference line, but I value the slightly smoother presentation I think I hear from the Noble power amplifiers.







The system, fronted by Greg’s newest top-of-the-line Ultima 4 tape machine with outboard power supply, wowed all listeners with the combination of dynamics, extended frequency response, life-like energy and the unique omnidirectional spatial attributes that only the MBL Radialstrahler can create.













My wife and I attended Jeremy and Greg’s standing-room-only after-hours music extravaganza. Listening on tape to the first twenty seconds of the driving and pounding instruments at the beginning of Hugh Masekela’s Coal Train Greg remarked to us “only tape can do that.” And I think Greg is correct. While KeithR was hunting for vinyl at the show, I was sniffing for tape.

The MBL / UHA room was one of my two favorite rooms at the show!

 

[c1ferrari]

It's awesome Greg has the tape soiree!
Nice pics, too.

 

[GMKF]

Once again the partnership of Jeremy Bryan, Chief Executive officer of MBL North America, and Greg Beron, Proprietor of United Home Audio, created some of the very best sound at the show.



View attachment 41599



Jeremy was exhibiting the 101E Mk. II, driven by the MBL Noble line of electronics. I do not know what sonic attributes the Noble line gives up to the Reference line, but I value the slightly smoother presentation I think I hear from the Noble power amplifiers.



View attachment 41600



The system, fronted by Greg’s newest top-of-the-line Ultima 4 tape machine with outboard power supply, wowed all listeners with the combination of dynamics, extended frequency response, life-like energy and the unique omnidirectional spatial attributes that only the MBL Radialstrahler can create.



View attachment 41601




View attachment 41602




My wife and I attended Jeremy and Greg’s standing-room-only after-hours music extravaganza. Listening on tape to the first twenty seconds of the driving and pounding instruments at the beginning of Hugh Masekela’s Coal Train Greg remarked to us “only tape can do that.” And I think Greg is correct. While KeithR was hunting for vinyl at the show, I was sniffing for tape.

The MBL / UHA room was one of my two favorite rooms at the show!

Interesting. Tape is still king.

Did you know you that the Noble Line is a "Linear Analog Switching Amplifier" ? Thats MBL's take on a Class-D amp.
The "corona series" uses a custom Hypex module. Don't know about the Noble line though.
What you were refering to as the "smoother presentation" might be the low-pass output filter.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Yes, I know Noble is Class D.

 

[c1ferrari]

Interesting. Tape is still king.

Did you know you that the Noble Line is a "Linear Analog Switching Amplifier" ? Thats MBL's take on a Class-D amp.

Amusing

 

[GMKF]

Amusing

I don't get it

 

[Tapetech]

We must not "get" jokes!

 

[audio.bill]

I think it was perceived as amusing that MBL chooses to describe their Noble Line amp as a "Linear Analog Switching Amplifier" (which is technically correct) as opposed to calling it a "Class-D amp" which has a negative connotation in the minds of many audiophiles.

 

[jeff1225]

I think it was perceived as amusing that MBL chooses to describe their Noble Line amp as a "Linear Analog Switching Amplifier" (which is technically correct) as opposed to calling it a "Class-D amp" which has a negative connotation in the minds of many audiophiles.

Behold the power of marketing.

 

[Lagonda]

The MBL / UHA room was one of my two favorite rooms at the show!

Truly positive words coming from someone suffering from acute transistorfobia !

 

[NorthStar]

"The term "class D" is sometimes misunderstood as meaning a "digital" amplifier. While some class-D amps may indeed be controlled by digital circuits or include digital signal processing devices, the power stage deals with voltage and current as a function of non-quantized time. The smallest amount of noise, timing uncertainty, voltage ripple or any other non-ideality immediately results in an irreversible change of the output signal. The same errors in a digital system will only lead to incorrect results when they become so large that a signal representing a digit is distorted beyond recognition. Up to that point, non-idealities have no impact on the transmitted signal. Generally, digital signals are quantized in both amplitude and wavelength, while analog signals are quantized in one (e.g. PWM) or (usually) neither quantity.

Class-D amplifiers work by generating a train of square pulses of fixed amplitude but varying width and separation, or varying number per unit time, representing the amplitude variations of the analog audio input signal. It is also possible to synchronize the modulator clock with an incoming digital audio signal, thus removing the necessity to convert it to analog, The output of the modulator is then used to gate the output transistors on and off alternately. Great care is taken to ensure that the pair of transistors are never allowed to conduct together. This would cause a short circuit between the supply rails through the transistors. Since the transistors are either fully "on" or fully "off", they spend very little time in the linear region, and dissipate very little power. This is the main reason for their high efficiency.

A class-D amplifier or switching amplifier is an electronic amplifier in which the amplifying devices (transistors, usually MOSFETs) operate as electronic switches, and not as linear gain devices as in other amplifiers. They are rapidly switching back and forth between the supply rails, being fed by a modulator using pulse width, pulse density, or related techniques to encode the audio input into a pulse train."

• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class-D_amplifier

 

[NorthStar]

Tubes in Class D?

• http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/class-d/69538-tubes-class.html