CES 2013: Mola Mola

January 25, 2013 Editorial Staff CES 2013 15

The products that Mola Mola is bringing to market are based on a new Class D amplifier technology called “Ncore”, as designed by Mola Mola founder Bruno Putzeys. Bruno claims that the design “runs rings around linear amplifiers of any description” — some tough words, don’t you think? The goal is a design that brings lower distortion, lower noise and lower output impedance that combine to create “no sonic signature at all — just music, glorious music”.

The Mola Mola Power Amplifier is rated at 400wpc into 8ohms, 700wpc into 4 and 1200wpc into 2ohms, where it is said to be stable. Distortion, at all output levels, is an eye-popping <.003%. SNR (unweighted) is 128dB, and gain is 28dB. Input impedance is a happy 100kOhms — and with a damping factor of 4,000 with an output impedance of .002ohms, I’m thinking “unruly speaker beware”. Very interesting specs — I just wish the aesthetic was a bit more visually suggestive than a simple box with a wavy top, especially when the asking price is $15k/pair.

The offering will be rounded out by a matching, and therefore rather bland, Mola Mola Preamplifier, which has optional an DAC and optional phono stage. Price for the base model is $10k — no word on the cost for the extra modules.

I had a chance to hear the Mola Mola gear driving a pair of Vivid G3 Giya ($40,000/pair), but the room was awash in wine and conversation, so I have no idea how they actually sound. Speaking of which, I’d be very happy to try them out on my Magnepan 3.7s — a speaker that I think they’d be just brilliant with.

Mola Mola is distributed by On A Higher Note. Mola Mola’s website is still under development.









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15 Comments

  2. Mola Mola to Debut at NY Audio Show
    Mola Mola’s new suite of electronics will be in action driving the Vivid Audio Giya G3 speaker system in one of three sponsored Rhapsody Music and Cinema rooms, – Room 1110. I will be in the Mola Mola room orchestrating DSD demonstrations (using the Luxman DA-06 DAC) that have recently been applauded in a recent Stereophile article which may be seen athttp://www.stereophile.com/content/luxman-debuts-its-dsd-dac-music-lovers. Please be sure to stop by Room 1110 to see and hear the Mola Mola electronics with the Vivid Audio Giya G3’s, it will be time well spent and enjoyed!

  3. Are they better than Arions and D-Sonic (for less money)?

    Why is $20K suddenly the magic number?
    ROTFLMAO

    • I have no idea, but Dudley nailed it — there does seem a lot of stuff hitting at that price point lately.

      And as for the Ncore pricing — they do seem to be about 2x what other Class D designs cost. High parts cost? It’s something new from Hypex, so I guess there’s some demand there.

  4. The Ncore Class D tech is made by Hypex. It’s not exclusive to Mola Mola, nor do you necessarily need to pay this much money for it. Supposedly it’s very comparable to Class A/B amps. One thing is fore sure, something needs to come along and replace ICEpower if Class D ever wants to be taken seriously.

  6. These guys (manufacturers) can sure belt out these prices! I just don’t see it based on the visuals. I suspect it’ll get a cursury listen to the gear @ one of the audio shows this spring! A higher note sure has a penchant for finding interesting gear I must say!

  7. Doesn’t the Devialet D-Premier do all this and more, at a better price, with better looks, connectivity, performance…

    I guess at least it’s not another flea powered SET which cost 20k to colour the sound.

    • You think? They certainly have some impressive specs and folks “in the know” sure seem to respect the living hell out of the sound. The price seems way out of line with what the parts actually cost, but not sure that’s a knock or not.

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