NCore/Mola Mola vs Devialet

[mirekti]

Has anyone had a chance to listen/compare both, NCore class D amplifiers with Devialets ADH D200 for example?

Do you think class D amps finally came to the Hi-Fi level or ADH is still superior in that aspect?

[Rufus McDufus]

Hi - I corrected the title to Mola Mola - hope this is what you meant!
I would love to hear NCore-based amps and specifically the Mola Mola ones too. Mola Mola in particular sound pretty exciting. I would like to try the Kii III speakers (with integrated NCore amps) at some point too.

[IanG-UK]

For what it's worth, Guillaume and I heard the Kii III with the NCores at this year's Munich event, albeit in a separate venue with attendance by invitation and a small listening room and few listeners.

We were impressed, including with the null output from the rear of the speaker!

[mauidan]

From the 6Moons Mola Mola review:

"Bruno tricked out his own version very heavy on parts. For starters, the input stage became the same as that in the Makua preamp. Its development so satisfied him that a derivative version ended up in the Kaluga. Next to a highly linear very high input impedance to meet any source impedance head on, this input buffer also exhibits extremely low distortion. The net result of these improvements is an amplifier module different from the NC1200 board which thus remains exclusive to Mola Mola and won’t be available to OEM competitors."

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/molamola/1.html

A friend who’s heard the NC1200 based Merrill Audio monos, feels the D200 sounds much better.

[mirekti]

Hi - I corrected the title to Mola Mola - hope this is what you meant!

Thanks!!

A friend who’s heard the NC1200 based Merrill Audio monos, feels the D200 sounds much better.

I am leaning towards open baffle speakers and going active. That's why NCore sounded as one of the options.
I will have to reconsider whether to go active with NCore or passive with Devialet. Not sure which way I'd lose more.
Ideally, it would be active with Devialet. Unfortunatelly, it's quite clumsy and expensive to go active with Devialet at the moment. I wish they come up with something in this direction.

[baddog]

I have heard the Atsahs, which leverage NCore 1200 technology. They were used with high efficiency speakers. Normally the speakers were driven with tube based pre amp and amps. There were manythings I liked about the Atsahs, clarity and detail are two that stand out. In my system however they were a little harsh in the treble at times. Obviously that could be due to the room, or the synergy with the tube based system.

I have also tried the same speakers with a Devialet 200 and the sound had all the qualities I liked with the Atsahs with out the attendant harshness. However not exactly A/B as I have evolved the setup/layout of the room over time to better improve the sonics.

Amps leveraging NCore technology would certainly warrant an in home audition. I do want to hear how the Mola Mola Kaluga sounds.

[mauidan]

I am leaning towards  and going active. That's why NCore sounded as one of the options.
I will have to reconsider whether to go active with NCore or passive with Devialet. Not sure which way I'd lose more.
Ideally, it would be active with Devialet. Unfortunatelly, it's quite clumsy and expensive to go active with Devialet at the moment. I wish they come up with something in this direction.

If you're looking at open baffle speakers, you should check these out:

http://www.pureaudioproject.com/

[Music or sound]

I heard twice pre-release versions Mola-Mola Kaluga amps in audio shows  and was quite impressed. Very natural sound and much better than previous versions of Hypex derived amplifiers. I have a Kharma MP150 which was also designed by Bruno Putzeys and based on the previous UCD version  (was using it as an amp for my woofers, now I am using bridged Anaview AMS0100 modules). The Kulga is definitely much better than previous Hypex amps but I do not know how much the preamp plays a role. They are the best pure ClassD amps I heard but I do not think they sound better than Devialet. 
Hypex and Bruno Putzeys was involved in 2 different active speakers: http://www.grimmaudio.com/pro-products/loudspeaker/ls1/ and http://kiiaudio.com/en/

[Music or sound]

I am leaning towards open baffle speakers and going active. That's why NCore sounded as one of the options.
I will have to reconsider whether to go active with NCore or passive with Devialet. Not sure which way I'd lose more.
Ideally, it would be active with Devialet. Unfortunatelly, it's quite clumsy and expensive to go active with Devialet at the moment. I wish they come up with something in this direction.

I am using my Devialet in an active crossover fashion and use cheaper class D amps for woofers. It works quite good but obviously there are active digital crossover which allow much more extensive corrections. I guess it depends on the loudspeaker and driver design, I recently tried the new time-delay function and found no delay works best.