That's a great idea for those wanting to try... and thank you for making me / others here aware too, and that is hard to say no to.... However, I will be traveling a lot this summer, and time to setup / audition is limited for the next couple of months (actually more like non-existent ). I could be more interested starting late August timed with my boys going back for fall semester. Just don't want to potentially tie one up when I am sure there are others also clamoring to try. But again, that's a good idea and sure you'll get positive returns! Thanks again - to be revisited.
I received my MP-7 as well. I was out of town unfortunately until a few days ago and hooked it up just yesterday. Initial impressions are very favorable, but I need some time to really listen to it.
I would definitely be interested in this. It would be interesting to compare with my Musical Surroundings Nova2. It seems like something like the MP7 and my current SUT would be a good shoot out with my Nova 2 and the SUT.
ok couldn't resist, hooked it up and I'm listening to the last album I played through the brooklyn (Morphine - Cure for Pain, MOV pressing) Obviously no detailed listening done yet, but it does sound a bit better to me on initial impression! bass is pretty much the same, but mids and top end sound a bit clearer, less artificial. Mark Sandman's voice sounds more natural. so right now I prefer it over my old $2k phono preamp. the brooklyn is of course a multifunction device- it's a dac and a phono preamp in one . . . but it's very nice to have a much less expensive preamp like the mp-7 sound at LEAST as good.
Yeah, sounds great I'm no audio reviewer and I don't have a setup that's conducive to switching back and forth between my old preamp and this one so I'm not going to try to get very comparative, but the mp-7 sounds extremely clear- it just gets out of the way. Not harsh, not boomy, not forward- I'm very pleased listened to Morphine: cure for pain. Spiritualized: pure phase, Pink Floyd: animals, the wall, esquivel: other worlds other sounds, beastie boys: paul's boutique, eno: music for installations, Sleep: the sciences edit: oh and some mark lanegan, too- whiskey for the holy ghost Everything sounded great
I received my MP-7 a few days ago and have been running the MM-6 for three months so I thought I'd take a moment to share my thoughts. This is in my home office system where I use Proac Tablette 10s and a REL t5x powered by a Sugden A21. Turntable is a Rega P8 and cart is a Dynavector 20x2 high output that was re-tipped by Soundsmith. With this system—which I use for hours on end each day—I really value fatigue and maintenance-free fun. The MM-6 resonated with me and stayed put because it was decidedly not an "uptight" experience. To me, it always felt at ease and wide-open, extremely adept at allowing me to just get in a groove and work vs. focusing too intently on analyzing the system. The oft-mentioned ability of the MM-6 to manage turntable noise also plays a part in this. I did have the suspicion that the MM-6 wasn't quite as resolving as the more expensive Lehmann's I also own, which excel at presenting a crystalline window into the performance, but the MM-6's strengths, to me, far outweighed this perceived shortcoming. My take on the MP-7 so far is that it maintains the excellent qualities of the MM-6 while upping the resolution a bit and, notably, presenting a more holographic and immersive soundscape. Last night I was listening to the Caribou song "Your love will set you free" and the kaleidoscopic qualities of the recording put a huge smile on my face. I had a similar experience this morning with the Pharoah Sanders song "Hum Allah Hum Allah" and basically the entirety of the Tame Impala album The Slow Rush. I love this quality of great analog, and the MP-7 seems especially adept at delivering it. All in all, pretty easy decision to upgrade, especially given the trade-in program. It's also a nice bonus to finally have a mono switch for my Beatles Box set from a few years ago and some of the other mono records in my collection. The casework won't win any industrial design awards, of course, but it does the job, and I appreciate the ability to customize the LED display for best matching. To me, companies like Darlington are one of the best parts of this hobby. It's just fun to see an affordable new product like this from a team that uses their know-how and engineering chops to prioritize the addictive qualities of record listening above all else.
just checking back in to mention I'm still loving the mp-7 can't think of anything bad to say about it, it continues to shine on everything I play through it from Billie Holiday to My Bloody Valentine.
By the way, we should soon have the ability to resurface the front panel for you. Current units (such as yours and the ones photo'd in this thread to date) use a professionally-generated logo placed onto the front panel with a adhesive laminate, and covered over with multiple Krylon coats for long-term protection. We are moving to a professionally pad-printed front panel logo which should be available during the week of July 12th. We are having them subcontracted out to a very high quality national firm which happens to be located in a Boston suburb. We will manually stencil in the model number in the corner, using the same acrylic ink and hardener as are to be used on the logo, to maintain production flexibility. Units ordered today can be shipped without a front panel, and we can send one after the subcontractor comes back from vacation next week. Not a guarantee of a date for the panel but things have finally coalesced to reality. It will present an even better visual look that matches the sonic results more closely. Current owners will be able to send in their panels; we will clean them down to bare aluminum and run them through the pad-printing process along with new production panels. Email us for details.
I received my MP-7 late last week. My thoughts on it echo Ulises' thoughts above, it's just better all around and well worth the difference in price, and the trade-up policy is very generous indeed. Keith offered me 30 days to evaluate it against the MM-6, but I'm already pretty sure I'll be sending him the MM-6 and keeping the MP-7. As nice as the MM-6 is, and IMHO it's fantastic for the price, the MP-7 is better. Somewhat more spatial, more depth, more definition and solidity in the bass, and at least as good and maybe even better at minimizing record noise (ticks, pops, crackles), something the MM-6 was already stellar at. Darlington Labs is really onto something with these nice products. My MP-7 is fed with a Dynavector xx2 MkII cartridge into a Bob's Devices Sky 30 SUT (I'm using the 1:15 setting at the moment, though, remarkably, these Darlington Phonos handle the oomph of 1:30 with aplomb). The MP-7 is plugged into a Luxman L-507uX. I have a second turntable I'm going to put into service tomorrow so I can try out some high output cartridges into the MP-7.
A question for you: older records--electrically recorded 78s and LPs up until the adoption of the RIAA curve as "standard" (and for some even a bit afterward)--can and do embody a wild array of different EQ curves. Any thoughts of producing a preamp that would offer a wide range of variable curves and selectable mono (ideally, lateral and vertical) and stereo? By the way, nice timeline in the "preamp history" section of your website. I've skimmed it a bit and look forward to going through it in more detail when time permits.
I'm really considering this product. I have a rogue perserus magnum with a vpi prime turntable and a 2m black. I have never used a separate phonostage so I'm just debating if this would be a step up over the internal phono on the rogue or if I should hold off and continue waiting until I have the funds to get something like the ps audio stellar or manley chinook.
Those front panels look very nice. I don't even think the model # is needed on the front, a sticker on back would be sufficient.
Well, if you believe any of the information in the DL FAQ, or the user testimonials above, the DL phono stage would be a big improvement over the simple high feedback low voltage opamp stage in your Rogue. But if not, they do have a fairly good return policy I haven't heard the Chinook or Stellar, but they both seem like very well engineered designs, so I doubt you could go wrong with either. The Chinook is a hybrid JFET/tube design for low noise and to support the higher gains needed for LOMC carts, lots of fans, while the Stellar is of course solid state and a much newer design. Both no or low feedback discrete designs (though I think the Chinook does use an opamp in the JFET bias control circuit) with very good overload margins.
Like @Davey says, it should definitely be an improvement over the Rogue internal, but keep in mind you won't have the adjustability on the Darlington that you (I believe) currently have with the phono settings on your Rogue or Stellar or Manley if you go down that road. You can certainly order the Darlington with specific settings tailored to your current (or next) cartridge.
Thats a very good point @DJSpinner. I had not thought about the cartridge loading options. I'd like to get a separate phono stage at some point and then would like to get a MC cart down the road.
Most MM stages such as your Rogue don't have any loading options, though some have a capacitance switch that is typically set to the lowest value with most carts. The DL SU-7 has front panel load selection for LOMC carts. But if you feel a lot of gain and loading options are a must, with MM and MC support in one box, the DL is probably not the phono stage you want.
Looks like the Pegasus has loading (resistance and capacitance) and gain switches accessible with the cover removed: But as you said, the Darlington most likely will deliver a better performance assuming it matches your MM cartridge (or MC Cart with SUT/step up stage) needs.
Sure, but you are only gonna use 45dB and 47K for a MM cartridge, so the capacitance is the only real selection, that's all I meant. I was comparing to other MM phono stages, like the Darlington (per your comment that a person would be giving up adjustability with the Darlington). No biggie though, just a semantical tangent that I should've avoided
Loading options are overrated, IMO. They're nice to have so long as it's not to compensate for a weak topology. I've had the DL MM-6 for nearly 2 weeks now and am continually impressed by it. Last night it dawned on me how coherent the images are spectrally from top to bottom....very low phase smearing. This renders subtle details audible naturally, not by artificial means. I've been using the cartridge I had on the Sol when the DL arrived in the mail, an AT125LC in a custom body. It's not bright at all into standard loading; the DL makes it sound more like a good LOMC than a cheap MM.
Don't even bother. This is worth it. You won't regret it. First thing that hit me was how relaxed the sound is...no strain, no harsh. I've read this is characteristic of passive RIAA. If it ended there it would be out of balance, but the high voltage gives it excitement, the punch that dynamically balances the smooth. Big, deep bass; rich, textured midrange; smooth, clean highs. Very wide channel separation yields a large stage populated with pin point instrument images. Last night I played some baroque pipe organ. If you're familiar with it you probably already know how difficult it is to reproduce in a home environment because of the sheer scale of the instrument. Last night was the first time I've heard it enveloping the space around me, the way it should sound. The individual timbral sound of each pipe...all there....subtle note changes meandering under the foreground chords....all there. All the instruments I've listened to so far have life-like timbral and dynamic nuance, but possibly the biggest winner is vocals. Words are more intelligible, not just because of the consonants are clearer but because of the vowels are clearer. It's almost possible to see the vocalists mouth moving, even if the recording is a poor one from the '40s. If I have one regret it's that I didn't spring for the MP-7. The price difference is quite large especially when you consider the exchange rate. But I have to wonder much better it can get, considering how good the MM-6 is. Still, I can live with this for now.... easily.... happily enjoying my old records from a new perspective.
Good to know, I just need a little more time because I recently purchased a Budgie as well as a Muffsy (kit). What phono stage were you using up until you installed the MP-6?
