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Makua, the Preamplifier
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Pair of Cotton Gloves
Preamplifier
Power Cord
Standard Remote Control Unit
Premium Remote Control Unit
Shipping Carton (Brown)
Display Carton (White with Logos)
Carrying Case (Black)
Phono Option (internal)
DAC Option (internal)
User's Manual
Please read this manual before operating the unit
info@mola-mola.nl
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Mola-Mola
Kattegat 8
9723 JP Groningen
The Netherlands
+31 50 526 4993
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Related Manuals for Mola-Mola Makua
Summary of Contents for Mola-Mola Makua
- Page 1 9723 JP Groningen The Netherlands +31 50 526 4993 info@mola-mola.nl Makua, the Preamplifier User’s Manual Packing List Your product was shipped with the items checked below. Please verify that you find all items mentioned in this list before you start setting up: Item Shipper’s signature...
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Page 2: Welcome
First off, congratulations! With the purchase of this product you have joined a growing community of audiophiles who value truthful sound reproduction and who consider neutral and transparent electronics a cornerstone in this pursuit. We at Mola-Mola made it our primary goal to build electronics capable of passing a signal with no discernible change at all. -
Page 3: Table Of Contents
Tablet or Mobile Remote Control ..............12 Advanced Control and Programming ................14 Signal Path ......................14 Programmability....................... 15 The Makua App......................16 Setting Up and Controlling the Phono Stage .............. 22 DAC settings ......................25 Troubleshooting ......................27 Audio performance data....................28 Technical data ...................... -
Page 4: List Of Tables
Makua Preamplifier User Manual List of tables Table 1: Rear panel overview ..................7 Table 2: Front panel overview..................8 Table 3: Audio Performance Data ................. 28 Table 4: Technical Data ....................29 Table 5: RC5 Codes..................... 30 List of figures Figure 1: Rear panel overview .................. -
Page 5: Important Safety Instructions
Makua Preamplifier User Manual Important Safety Instructions Mola-Mola gaat er van uit dat u deze Engelstalige tekst volledig begrijpt. Als u hier moeite mee heeft dient u contact op te nemen met Mola-Mola. Op verzoek sturen wij u een vertaling toe. - Page 6 Makua Preamplifier User Manual safety earth. If the provided mains cord does not fit your outlet, consult an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet. Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched, particularly at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from the apparatus.
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Page 7: Connections & Controls
Makua Preamplifier User Manual Connections & Controls Rear Figure 1: Rear panel overview Function Notes Analogue inputs, balanced 5 stereo pairs Analogue inputs, unbalanced 5 stereo pairs Analogue Outputs 2 parallel stereo pairs for bi-amping Trigger Outputs 4 programmable outputs... -
Page 8: Front
Makua Preamplifier User Manual Front Figure 2: Front panel overview Function Notes Volume control knob With indicator LED Power LED 1 LED, white or dim red Preset indicator LED 6 LEDs, white Presets 6 push buttons Table 2: Front panel overview... -
Page 9: Setting Up
Makua Preamplifier User Manual Setting Up Installation This product relies on free convection of air along the sides and top for cooling. Avoid placing magazines, books or other objects on top of the product as this acts as thermal insulation. Installation inside a cupboard is permissible provided at least 30cm (1’) of free space above the product and 10cm (4”) around the sides is respected. - Page 10 Output connections Two pairs of XLR outputs are provided for the purpose of bi-amping. Both pairs are completely identical. No RCA outputs are provided because Mola-Mola considers balanced (XLR) connections to be fundamentally superior. If you need RCA outputs to interface with a power amp that lacks balanced inputs, most commonly available adapter cables or plugs will work fine.
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Page 11: Basic Operation
Makua Preamplifier User Manual Basic operation Factory Preset Mode Your preamplifier comes factory-programmed as a simple line amplifier. In this mode: • The leftmost button selects the leftmost source (source 1) and so on and the rightmost button is used for the internal DAC (if fitted). The DAC select the first input it can find a valid signal on. -
Page 12: Premium Ir Remote Control Operation
Your preamplifier is fitted with a Bluetooth module to allow access with a mobile device. To use this feature, install the Mola-Mola Makua app from the Play store. As soon as your mobile device and your preamplifier are within reach the app will display “Connected” in the status bar. - Page 13 Makua Preamplifier User Manual Mute The area with the volume indication acts as mute button. Mute is indicated by a red bar through the volume indication. - 13 -...
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Page 14: Advanced Control And Programming
Makua Preamplifier User Manual Advanced Control and Programming The factory preset only operates the most basic features of your preamplifier. The architecture is much more powerful, as the signal path diagram shows. Signal Path Phono (option) Var EQ and Gain... -
Page 15: Programmability
Makua Preamplifier User Manual • Balance (independent control of left/right volume) Programmability Every thinkable combination of routing and processes can be rolled together for direct access through any of the 6 presets. Say for instance that you have 2 turntables, each fitted with a different cartridge (most records sound best with an elliptical or VDH stylus but dynagroove cuts positively require a conical stylus). -
Page 16: The Makua App
Makua Preamplifier User Manual The Makua App. The control app for your preamplifier is available on the Google Play store. The app will attempt to contact your preamp and should find it as long as it is within reach and plugged in. - Page 17 Makua Preamplifier User Manual Depending on the options installed in your preamp, the app has up to 5 pages that you can access by swiping. Home Page The start-up page is the regular remote control, as outlined in the section about basic operation.
- Page 18 Makua Preamplifier User Manual Routing Page Here you can select the input channel and whether the XLR or RCA inputs are to be used. Usually you will want to leave the latter option at “switch” so that the toggle switch on the rear panel controls this.
- Page 19 Makua Preamplifier User Manual CAUTION: Only select Phono if the selected input is connected to a phono cartridge. Do not select phono if you are using an external phono stage. An external phono stage is a line source. Selecting Phono when a line source is actually attached to this input can potentially damage the phono stage.
- Page 20 Makua Preamplifier User Manual Adjustment and Trigger Page Swipe left from the routing page to get more options for the analogue signal path. Level offset adds a fixed amount to the volume whenever this preset is active. Use this when you find that you always have to turn the volume up or down compared to other sources.
- Page 21 Makua Preamplifier User Manual The four Trigger buttons correspond to the four trigger outputs on the rear panel. They are always on by default, which is the best setting if you only use them to turn your power amplifiers on. Should you use one for other purposes, say to lower a projection screen when you select an A/V source, simply program this output to be on only when that source is selected.
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Page 22: Setting Up And Controlling The Phono Stage
Makua Preamplifier User Manual Setting Up and Controlling the Phono Stage If you marked the source as Phono, swiping left from the Adjustment and Trigger page will land you at the Phono settings page. Note: Some versions of the app always show the Phono settings tab even when phono is not selected. - Page 23 Makua Preamplifier User Manual Termination and Sensitivity of MC Cartridges Moving Coil elements have a low output voltage but also an extremely low output impedance, meaning that excellent signal-to-noise performance can be had with an input optimized for voltage noise. Another side effect is that there is no need to adjust load capacitance.
- Page 24 Makua Preamplifier User Manual Almost all of those historical EQ curves are a combination of a manageable number of time constants which is why it turned out to be feasible to support switchable EQ in the analogue domain. The EQ drop-down box lists all combinations of record labels and periods that we could obtain EQ data of, courtesy of Russell Fischer (www.shellac.org) and Larry Robinson...
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Page 25: Dac Settings
PCM playback. Different upsampling factors are not offered because this is only meaningful in R2R ladder DACs as a measure to mitigate glitch energy which is a problem the Mola-Mola DAC simply doesn’t have. Linear phase selects the filter that most accurately preserves the waveform. For the minimum phase selection we expressly designed it to have the exact same magnitude response (what’s loosely called “frequency response”) as its linear-phase version but no... - Page 26 Makua Preamplifier User Manual It is distressing how much of the audio canon was evaluated and “proven” solely by comparing two output signals and how rarely anyone bothers to do a straight listening comparison between output and input signals. Only such a test can truly tell transparency from euphonic colouration.
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Page 27: Troubleshooting
Makua Preamplifier User Manual Troubleshooting Most difficulties in audio systems are the result of incorrect connections, or improper control settings. If you encounter problems, isolate the area of the difficulty, check the control settings, determine the cause of the fault and make the necessary changes. If you... -
Page 28: Audio Performance Data
Makua Preamplifier User Manual Audio performance data Item Symbol Unit Notes Input level (7.75 Vrms) Output level Vout Input impedance 100k Output Impedance Zout Noise voltage 1.9µ Unweighted at unity gain Gain range Gain resolution 0.2* *better than 0.2 dB... -
Page 29: Technical Data
Makua Preamplifier User Manual Technical data Item Value Notes Supply voltage 90-135 / 180 – 270 Volt AC/47-63Hz Auto Switching Power Consumption 20 Watt Dimensions 435mm*110mm*340mm (W x H x D) Weight 18 kg Table 4: Technical Data - 29 -... -
Page 30: Annex I: Rc5 Codes
Makua Preamplifier User Manual Annex I: RC5 Codes The Device Code is 16. Command Primary Code Alternative Code Mute Volume Up Volume Down Presets 1…6 1…6 Power on/off Next Source Previous source Table 5: RC5 Codes 10 consecutive repeats (no change in the T bit, i.e. holding the button depressed) of Mute or 1…6 powers the device down. -
Page 31: Annex Ii: Serial Commands
Makua Preamplifier User Manual Annex II: Serial Commands Connection The Bluetooth interface implements an SPP link. The DB9 connector is RS232 fixed at 9600 baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity. If a DAC is fitted, a serial port will appear when USB is connected. - Page 32 Makua Preamplifier User Manual -7 to 7 Treble. 0 = flat -7 to 7 Bass, 0 = flat 1 or 0 Store tone setting in preset (0) or globally (1) 0 to 5 Source selection. 0-4 is rear panel, 5 is DAC...
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Page 33: Revision History
Makua Preamplifier User Manual Revision History Revision Description Date Initial draft 29-5-2013 Revised and expanded 20-5-2014 Added app screenshots 3-9-2014 Added option checkboxes 28-10-2014 Updated standard remote and 11-9-2015 screenshots - 33 -...
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