Integrated Amplifier (Optional Roon Ready DAC & Phono Stage)

Mola Mola Kula Integrated Amplifier

Combining the power of the world renowned nCore amplification, with Mola Mola’s utterly elegant inside and out Makua linestage configurable with optional Roon Ready Discreet DAC and/or highly configurable phono stage, MolaMola have introduced the ultimate all-in-one integrated amplifier solution - Kula. Ready to become the heart of any minimalist audiophile audio system with it’s highly flexible and easily configurable featureset, the Kula will become the hub of your home audio system.

Finally Mola Mola Amplifiers, Dacs and Pre-amps are available for audition on the Gold Coast, please contact us at GC HiFi to find out more and discuss the new Kula Integrated Amplifier

Key Features

CONTROL

6 programmable presets

(premium) Remote control

Mola Mola Remote app

Roon Ready (if DAC option fitted)

ADD-ON

Mola Mola Phono stage

Mola Mola DAC

DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT

420mm (W) x 110mm (H) x 370mm (D). Depth includes volume knob and connectors. 11kg

I/O

3 balanced and 3 unbalanced inputs, selectable by switch and software

2 Pairs of Furutech binding posts. Directly connected to the amplifier PCB using Kubala·Sosna cable.

All inputs routable through optional processor boards like the phono stage

Processing balance and input gain offset

Phase invert and mono sum

Full software control of routing and processing

Mastering mode

PERFORMANCE

Maximum input level: 20dBu (7.75Vrms)

Input impedance: 100kohm

Unweighted Signal/Noise Ratio: 113dB

2x 150W/8R @1% 1kHz, 2x 300W/4R @1% 1kHz

2x 100W/8R @0.0005%, 2x 200W/4R @0.00075%, 1kHz

Output Impedance: 2mΩ – 7mΩ (20-20kHz) (measured directly on binding posts)

Bandwidth 50kHz @ -3dB

Gain resolution: <1dB, better than 0.2dB over normal listening range

Mola Mola DAC

FUTURE-PROOF BY BEING FAR AHEAD

Mola Mola decided to design, from the ground up, a discrete DAC whose unbeatable staying power results simply from being more than 10 years ahead of the performance curve. To put it into perspective: today’s best DAC chip available, claims no better than 22 bits’ worth of dynamic range and only 20 bits’ worth of linearity. High resolution music deserves better than that. To accommodate this, Mola Mola’s DAC is designed using circuits and digital algorithms that were entirely developed in house.

The converter is a two board stack that fits into one of the option slots in the preamp. On the first board, all incoming digital audio is upsampled to 3.125MHz/32 bits and converted to noise shaped PWM. On the other board are two mono DACs, in which a discrete 32- stage FIR DAC and a single-stage 4th order filtering I/V converter, convert the PWM into analogue with a breathtaking 130dB SNR.

This is near the theoretical limit for 24-bit files and far beyond that of even quad-speed DSD. Uniquely, distortion remains below the noise floor even for full scale signals. A quick look at current and historic trends of high-end IC’s indicates that for the foreseeable future this kind of performance will remain unavailable to manufacturers forced to rely on the same “chip du jour” that also powers their competitors’ products.

Even by today’s exacting standards, extraordinary care has been taken to deal with jitter. Mola Mola’s DAC uses a home-grown asynchronous upsampling algorithm whose input frequency measurement slows down rapidly until after a few seconds of lock, the frequency ratio measurement is frozen. Frequency stability is then wholly determined by the internal clock, a laboratory grade 100MHz SC-cut oscillator. This is effectively an atomic clock sans the physics package (which contributes nothing to spectral purity but quite a lot to cost).

Key Features

PERFORMANCE

Full-Scale Output Level: 20dBu

Signal to Noise Ratio: 130dB

THD, IMD: not measurable (estimated -140dB)

Bandwidth: Up to 80 kHz (apodizing response)

Integrated jitter: <1ps from 10Hz upwards, <300fs from 1kHz upwards

Jitter rejection: >80dB at 1Hz after 20 seconds of lock

I/O

AES/EBU (XLR)

Optical (Toslink)

USB type B

Bluetooth (SBC, AAC, APTX, LDAC)

Ethernet (Roon Ready)

SUPPORTED FORMATS

PCM up to 384kHz/32 bits (>192kHz and >24 bits via USB and Roon only)

DoP and Native DSD up to quad speed (USB and Roon only)

Mola Mola Phonostage

AN ARCHIVAL GRADE PHONO STAGE

What was originally intended to be a simple RIAA add-on for the Makua Preamp has quickly spiraled into the quietest and probably most versatile phono stage ever built. MC/MM input stages are optimized for current noise and voltage noise respectively. Unlike the more common arrangement of an MC head amp feeding into the MM stage, the two stages are fully independent, realizing an equally short signal path for both. Input gain is switchable in 5dB steps over a 40dB range.

Input resistance and capacitance are individually switchable. Available EQ settings cover practically all known cutting curves used, including most 78RPM.

All settings are software controllable, either on the fly using a smart-phone and tablet via the Mola Mola Remote app or directly stored under the preset buttons. The preamp can be configured to route any input through the phono stage, this allows you to have multiple turntables and cartridges connected.

Key Features

AVAILABLE TIME CONSTANTS

t1: 200, 250, 318, 400, 450us

t2: 50, 64, 75, 100us

bass shelf: 14, 18, 20dB

PERFORMANCE

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