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Review NaN of
, from Providence, RI Summary:
Yes, it's true! See the review below. The Moth Audio S2A3 is, indeed, a truly fine amplifier. It's essential, however, to choose your speakers wisely. I've been running mine with a pair of Minitower speakers loaded with Lowther DX-3s. The sound is awesome! Take note, however, that with systems as direct and simple as these, every little thing can and will be heard.
What do I mean by that? Well, things like directionality of cables, for instance. In my system, I use the copper Alpha Core Goertz MI-1 speaker cable. In one direction, there appears to be no bass at all! Facing the other way, the sound is much better balanced. Same thing with interconnects. Again, I and many others can hear this effect. If you can't hear it and don't happen to believe in cable directionality, congratulations! That's one less thing for you to worry about. All the better for you to just enjoy the music. I do hear this effect, so be aware that this phenomenon does exist for some.
By the way, Stereophile gave this a class B rating in their Recommended Components list. Here's a tip that will put it into class A, in my opinion (disclaimer: that is, the sound quality will improve so greatly over the stock unit that it would be hard to imagine that it wouldn't be rated as such. I actually don't have extensive reviewing experience with class A gear). OK, here's what I did:
Number one: get a good grounding in electronics or contact someone who has one. As always, don't start taking apart your gear unless you know what you are doing and are aware that LETHAL voltages are present. These can kill you! Also, a poor or mishandled modification can burn down your house! Yikes! Be very careful! Unplug everything first! It usually voids the warranty, as well. Again, I'm not recommending that you do this, just telling you how it worked out in my system.
Alright, then. Craig and Ron at Moth Audio do a great job packaging this amp. You really do feel good just looking at the owner's manual and the hefty wood shipping crate that it all comes in. Included in the owner's manual is a schematic of the amp. This comes with all the appropriate warnings and is sealed in it's own little section of the folio with sealing wax! This is embossed with the Moth Audio logo. Nice touch.
Looking at the schematic, you'll see that the S2A3 is a direct coupled design. That is, there are no capacitors in the signal path. There are, however, several resistors in series with the signal path. If you look inside the amp, you'll see that these resistors are small carbon composition units, probably Allen-Bradleys. I changed these out.
The amp sounds great already, and a lot of tube enthusiast seem to love the sound of Allen-Bradleys, but after changing these out, I'm of another mind. Take note that the resistor that you choose to replace these with will have a major impact on the final sound. Remember, this is an extremely simple circuit.
The resistors that I chose to use are the Shinkoh tantalum film resistors sold by Steve at Angela Instuments (www.angela.com). These are the same ones that Audio Note uses in their top of the line all silver amps, like the multi-$10K ONGAKU. If you do this mod, you'll need 6 330ohm 1/2 watt resistors. Steve sells these for $6 each.
After this mod, the sound just opened up, became much more transparent and resolved, and the pace became much more rhythmic and bouncy. The amp became much more engaging and fun to listen to. In contrast, the stock unit sounded muddled. It sounded great to begin with, mind you, but muddled and less involving in comparison. With the tantalum film resistors, the sound was still just as warm, only more resolved and lively. There was none of that hardness that a lot of metal film resistors can impart. The increase in enjoyment was major.
Interestingly, just changing out these resistors had more impact than all of the mods that I did on my Audio Note Kit One, which involved changing out the signal resistors to carbon film Kiwame units (no tantalums used in that project), upgrading the signal caps to the Jensen/Audio Note/Angela copper foil paper-in-oil units, upgrading the key electrolitic capacitors to BlackGate standards, and rewiring the signal path with Kimber silver wire.
Oh, and by the way, if you do purchase this amp, try out the new Sovetek 2A3 tubes. These are such a major upgrade over the Chinese ones, you'd be really missing out if you don't. Craig and Ron may have already made these standard on the s2A3s, I'm not sure.
For speaker, I would recommend a good Lowther based system. If you're a bass freak, however, this may not be the best choice for you. I've also had really good success with the Klipcsh Heresies and have heard a lot of great things about the Klipsch La Scalas. Remember that you need high sensitivity ("96db or higher" has been thrown around a lot when referring to 2A3 based amps) and a steady and highish impedence characteristic.
I really do recommend this amp. It really is terrific. Also, in speaking to Craig and Ron, I'd say they really do have a genuine interest in you, the customer. They're very knowledgeable and opinionated and seem much more interested in getting your system sounding good than in selling you something. I love that. For that reason, and for the fact that the make some of the finest amps around, I would definitely do business with them again. I'd also refer anyone who's looking for an system like this to them. They're at www.mothaudio.com. Give them a call. Good luck with your listening!
Strengths:
See review below Weaknesses:
Careful speaker selection is essential!!! Similar Products Used:
Audio Note Kit One, Dynaco ST-35
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