The Mundorf MA30 SG was adept at exposing the immensity of a soundstage (where present) within a recording.  Chris Botti’s To Love Again album (CD), and the Paula Cole track, “My Only Love” is one such recording.  Here the MA30 presented an extremely wide soundstage, reaching well past the outer boundaries of the speakers plus two feet, just beyond the side-walls of my room.  Along with a wide soundstage was front-to-back depth, beginning a couple feet forward of the speakers and going just beyond the back wall.  Treble clarity was also a strength of the Mundorf speaker, no doubt contributing to this staging.  The patina of the brushes on the cymbals, as well as the sweeping strokes across the snare drum were delicate, expressive and ultra clean.  Paula Cole’s voice was tightly focused and intimately resolved, bringing her intonations out to the forefront for my appreciation.  I couldn’t help but notice the crispness of her breaths; stops and starts of each of her syllable easily noticed, leaving nothing for interpretation.  The echo within the recording also jumped out, no doubt due to the precision and clarity of the Mundorf AMT.

I moved to Tidal HiFi music streaming through the MiND player on the 280D.  “House of the Rising Sun”, from the Sons of Anarchy – Season 1-4 album has been one of my go-to tracks for evaluating bass performance.  The opening vocals are sinister and ominous – ever more so when an amplifier/speaker combination is up to the task.  My Bryston 4B³ amplifier has no problem coaxing the maximum bass performance from speakers, so it was time to see the mettle of the Mundorf MA30 SG.  The emotion came through albeit, in a less intense and slighter manner then I’ve achieved with my reference bookshelf speakers.  Vocal clarity on the opening was impeccable, while the bass notes had significant articulation, absent of bloat, vagueness or slur.  The compromise being in bass weight, as well as dimension.  Adroit with speed, the MA30 was able to easily track percussion, while also conveying pinpoint accuracy, as evident in the placement of the drum and cymbal strikes within my room.

Continuing with Tidal HiFi, I moved to “Hey Now” from London Grammar’s, If You Want album.  Here, the opening vocals and accompanying echo were room enveloping, and the vocalist’s presence leaped out.  I took note of the height of the electric guitar pluck, anchored firm in space above and behind the speaker.  Cranking it up, the bass notes had substantial weight, yet apparently quickly rolled off at around 50 Hz, as judged by my ear.  I flipped to another favourite track on Tidal, Depeche Mode’s “Welcome to My World” from their Live In Berlin Soundtrack.  Here I was totally taken aback by the enveloping soundstage and the utter lifelike clarity of the audience applause.  In fact, this was one of the most convincing portrayals of the crowd’s energy that I’ve heard in my listening room.  As the bass synth notes played, I took note of the impressive grip the MA30 had, if only short in conveying their cavernous nature.  Vocals again were resolute.

The Mundorf MA30 SilverGold speaker brings excitement to the table, with its ability to reveal minute details, lay out expansive soundstages and deliver pinpoint imaging.  Its treble is pristine, extended, airy and open; while delivering agile, tight and articulate bass.  Vocals, via the MA30 SG have strong presence and definition with unsparing detail.  The MA30 SG, given its exacting nature, is best matched to systems having strong musicality and inherent warmth.  With a high-end system up front and quality recordings, it’s sure to enliven listening sessions.

Mundorf MA30 SilverGold Kit – assembled:
$3,050 U.S. (black gloss) / $4,200 CAD
$3,150 U.S. (white gloss) / $4,350 CAD

Distributed by AuDIYo Inc
www.audiyo.com
(905) 881-9555

Sidebar:
Zavfino 1877Phono Cables: The Prima-OCC 9 awg PC-OCC speaker cable (2.5m /$370 U.S. or $537 CAD) is wonderfully built and provides superb musicality.  Smooth, rich in harmonic color with full bass and a wonderful black background are among its strong suits.  The Zavfino 1877Phono Fina 14awg PC-OCC 6N power cable (1.5m $224 U.S. / $325 CAD) provides an impressively quiet background, with superb natural detail and clarity, accompanied by strong dynamics.  Both these cables punch above their weight and should be considered against cables twice their price and higher.

About the Author: George de Sa

Related Posts

• 
• 
• 
• 
•