Mola Mola Lupe

Dutch manufacturer Mola Mola makes the new ‘archive-grade’ Lupe phono preamplifier. Lupe has the comprehensive functionality we might expect of a pro-audio device. However, assuming that only professionals must pay attention to it would be a mistake.

In addition to supporting the regular RIAA equalisation curve. The Lupe has a fully customisable EQ setting plus 43 pre-set named alternatives. Do you want to use the correct EQ curve to play any recording from yesteryear? The Lupe – like Mola Mola, a name from a book about Hawaiian fish – will oblige. It also accepts four tonearm inputs simultaneously, three RCA and one balanced. Each input can have different loading, gain and EQ values.

Sure footed

Impressive, though all this is, it would count for little if the sound were produced below par. However, Mola Mola’s Lupe can make a compelling case on sonic grounds alone. There are technical reasons for this that I’ll return to shortly. For now, it’s sufficient to observe that once it had gone through a rather extended burn-in, the brand-new review sample proved more than competitive sound quality-wise against a selection of its £ for £ peers. This means that its Swiss Army Knife flexibility effectively comes for free.

The Lupe has the same half-width form factor that Mola Mola employs for its Tambaqui DAC and Makua monoblocks. Its black sides contrast with a swoopy matt aluminium top. All the input and output connections on offer make the rear panel somewhat crowded. However, it is not so densely packed that the setup requires exceptionally nimble fingers. The front panel has four buttons for manual source selection and a black-and-white dimmable display that shows the current configuration. 

Below the EQ selection

The Mola Mola Lupe comes with an infrared handset that controls essential functions. Deeper settings need Mola Mola’s Android or iOS Bluetooth app. Below the EQ selection drop-down in the app are three further drop-downs: bass turnover, low shelf, and roll-off. These are the time constants used by individual record labels to achieve their own house EQ curves before RIAA became the global standard.

If we use the app to select, for example, Decca’s 1934 78 RPM curve, or any of the 42 others, we see the time constant values change in the app. As the new values apply, you hear relays click inside the Lupe. The three parameters can also be changed in any combination on the fly. Some buyers might use this ability to boost weak bass, or tame an over-bright recording. The app also controls individual channel phase, mono or stereo output, and the subsonic filte.

More stages

Most phono preamplifiers designed both for moving magnet and moving coil operation use one gain stage to amplify MM cartridge output, with a second gain stage daisy-chained to the first in order to provide the additional amplification required by low-output MC cartridges. The Mola Mola Lupe differs by having two entirely separate Class A gain stages, one designed exclusively for MM cartridges, the second just for MC. Both are fully discrete designs and are followed by an active analogue filter. The filter uses relays to switch capacitance and resistance in and out to achieve the different time constant values and, thereby, EQ curves.

Each gain stage is optimised for the best possible performance; in MC, where the lowest voltage noise (and highest gain) is required, and for MM cartridges, where the lowest current noise is desirable. The result of this no-compromise approach is a claimed A-weighted signal to noise ratio on MM (45dB @ 1V output, 1kHz) of 86dB and on MC (52dB @ 1V output, 1kHz) of 92dB and a bandwidth of more than 80kHz. In the listening chair those impressive figures prove to be of more than academic importance. 

The reference

I used the Mola Mola Lupe with my current reference turntable, an Origin Live Sovereign S fitted with the company’s Agile tone arm and a Soundsmith Paua II moving iron cartridge (0.4mV output). The first of Lupe’s three RCA inputs was designated a moving coil input, its load resistance set to 400 Ohms from 60 to 1kOhms, and gain sensitivity set to 72dB from 52dB to 87 dB.

Buyers will need to be patient. Mola Mola suggests that the Lupe might take some 300 hours to stabilise. While that’s relatively unexceptional, remember it’s needle-time rather than simply powered-up time that counts here. Once it had stabilised sonically, as expected from its claimed signal-to-noise measurements, the Lupe proved to be almost preternaturally quiet, able to transcribe a forensic level of detail due to the relative silence from which musical events emerge. But this does not imply that Lupe’s presentation is sterile and unengaging. 

Some years ago, an audio manufacturer particularly invested in using ultra-high-quality full-sized discrete components told me that ‘small components mean small sound.’ The Lupe – which, like most contemporary audio products, makes liberal use of miniature surface-mounted discrete components – debunks that assertion rather more articulately than I could. It delivers Big Sound with a muscularity that is musically very satisfying. 

Agile weight

Well-recorded baritone voices, stand-up bass, piano and floor toms, for example, have a weight that, combined with crisp, dynamic agility, fine texture, and tonal density, make instruments sound more extant and natural than I have heard with any phono stage of my acquaintance, up to and beyond twice the price. The Mola Mola Lupe transcribes the highest note on an 88-key piano with equally convincing percussive energy at the other end of the audio band and the piano keyboard. Its soundstaging abilities are of a high standard. This results in the confident placement of instruments and voices in an apparent performance space with notable front-to-back depth.

The amount of fine detail resolved by Lupe drove me to revisit the setup. Something wasn’t quite right with the Soundsmith Paua II on the Origin Live Agile tonearm. Half an hour later, I’d satisfied myself that the cantilever alignment, azimuth, and tracking weight were spot-on. However, adjusting VTA to lower the back of the arm removed a fleeting edginess to some female voices. I had previously assumed this was pressed into some tracks. The last two phono stages I tried glossed over this setup fault, but the Lupe telegraphed it.

Another indication that Lupe declined to editorialise is that it showed the vast disparity between recordings. It’s not the first audio component to have done this, but the outcome is always the same. It results in a re-evaluation and sometimes re-arrangement of the remembered hierarchy from good to bad. 

Added acuity

The added acuity does not spoil the enjoyment, even of recordings that are, from an engineering perspective, real stinkers. Yes, we hear the result of poor microphone placement, mixing, and sloppy production. However, we also hear with more clarity subtle details of the tonal and timing choices made by the musicians. In a way, we hear past the faults and attend more quickly to the music.

It takes a component of exceptional value to justify the purchase. Mola Mola’s Lupe has done just that, and it is now my reference phono stage. In common with, I suspect, most buyers, I’ll not be using Lupe’s remarkable flexibility to its fullest extent. The review system has one turntable with one arm. Also, my record collection includes little vinyl older than the late 50s. No matter. Mola Mola’s phono stage has earned its place on the kit table. This is because it is a sonic over-achiever for the RRP and is benchmarked against its peers. 

Technical Specifications

• Input noise (MC): 0.35nV/rtHz
• Input noise (MM): 0.9pA/rtHz
• Sensitivity: Variable from 30uV to 5mV
• THD, IMD: Not measurable
• RIAA conformance: ±0.1dB
• Subsonic filter: -3dB @20Hz
• Four fully programmable inputs
• Mola Mola Remote app (Android and iOS)
• Dimensions: 200mm (W) × 110mm (H) × 320mm (D) 
• Weight: 5.1kg
• Price: £7,300/$9,850

Manufacturer

Mola Mola 

www.mola-mola.nl

Distrubutor

Sound Design Distribution

www.sounddesigndistribution.co.uk 

+44 (0)800 0096213

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