Ming-Da MC34A

I took the plunge last week and ordered one of these from Edenlake. A thoroughly pleasant experience. It arrived yesterday, and is now installed at chez summit. I only had an hour or so to listen to it, so it was barely warmed up I guess, but was interesting none the less.
It seems very punchy, out naiming my Naims I think. They seem to have more control over the speakers than the 140, either that or they aren't producing as much. It also would definitely measure higher on the Thwackometer. The treble needs some getting used to, there's so much of it, the same with the mid, it's not unpleasant though. There's also a definite reduction in sibilance. Is definitely worth it's money. Will it replace the Naims? A hard weekends listening is needed. On one brief listen it shows a lot of promise certainly. On saturday one of my mates is coming round, we'll do a good listen then. Mrs Summit predictably can't hear any difference, but does concede it looks smart!
Out of interest how long do you expect it to take valves to warm up and be working at their best?

 

I find valve warm up half hopur max. But in brand new equipment i would think capacitor and resistor warmup/burn in to take much longer.

 

That's about what I experienced. My later listening was a much more pleasurable experience. I wondered what the bloody hell I'd bought to start with

 

Last changes i made to my valve pre was some vishay resistors, for 2 weeks i just wanted to remove them, then things started to pick up

 

the tubes alone will probably need about 50 hours on them before they start singing. my power amp took about 500 hours from new to sound it's best. at times it sounded very hard and bright, others muddy.... then it came right. such are the joys of brand new kit! tubes though, when they come on song, are well worth it! enjoy.

 

Id say it takes a good month of daily listening to get a valve amp to really sparkle, and Is agree with the 30 minute warm-up. I dont know what valves you get with that but if therye something like china valve-art change 'em. I swapped mine for svets and that made a big difference. I changed 8 capacitors the other week, it made a subtle difference at work but now its singing like an angel. I luuuurve valves.

 

I'd say about 5 min before even attempting to listen to source (I switch on my amp, go make a cup of tea, then sit down for a listen).
Then it's fully cooking at about the 45-50 min mark :band:


(at which point, you can start :banana: )

 

It is getting much better now, I listened to a beautiful CD of Bach arranged by Stokovski, and then the Libertines latest and both sounded fab. Looks like it may well be a keeper!

 

do you notice much improvmentwith stage depth etcc?

 

Yes that's starting to come, just been listening to tracy chapman, and is much more 3d than it used to be. It is to my ears definitely better than the Naim, but I can understand why people like Naim, it's just that for the music I like listening to it does a better job. It's nowhere near as convenient. I'm going to have to set up a second system upstairs now so I can tape stuff, and turning it off and warming it up is another faff. The weekend will be the big test

 

Be honest, its better for everything

you'll get used to it, good things come to those who wait afterall!

 

I'm not sure I would go that far yet, it's certainly pushing the right buttons at the moment

 

Im thinking of getting all valve with a ming, the one eden have reccomended is http://meixingaudio.com/ENGLISH/products/mc368-b.htm over the 300b monos and pre? I am driving Quad esl988's currently with a nu vista m3 and wonderd if this would be a backward step (3k+ amp vs £800). I use a copland cda 288.

 

Where in West Yorkshire are you, I'm near Manchester and you could come and hear mine, It's hard to tell whether it would be an improvement unless you've heard one. I find mine very punchy and even mrs summit commented yesterday that the system was sounding nice, so it must be good!

Maybe someone else could comment about whether or not valves and the Quads would work, I'm not sure how hard a load they are. What is wrong with the nu-vista, why don't you like it/want to change? There's a Prima Luna amp that's got rave reviews for it's valveness recently as well, that might be more to your taste if it's valviness (is that a word?) you're after.

 

The nuvista kicks out 240wpc and the quads won't take more than 100wpc (circuitry kicks in) not as big an issue as I first thought not kicked in yet and they do go loud and have bass.
I just feel the quads will respond well to valves, hence quad making the II40's. The nuvista with my MA20SE's was an awsome combination, and if I hadnt got the esl's I would have been happy for a long time. My initial impression of the quad/mf was its a little bright which is what started me looking although after playing with positioning and cables, not to mention getting used to the electrostatic sound the sound is now stunning.
But after thinking of the amp change, its still in my head, and for the second hand value of the nuvista I could move to valves (which I've hankered after for years) and have some change possibly for a TT and phono stage.
I feel the Quads/valve amp is a setup to last years without change, afteral the last incarnation of the esl's were current for 25 years!

 

Thanks for the audition offer, would you have objections to me bringing the nuvista for comparison? Just need to borrow gf's car as it won't fit in my mine

 

I think the word you are looking for is Valvitude ... or possibly Valvocity. Of course I just made these words up too, but they trip off the tongue better than valviness don't you think

Tony

(Looking to get myself an entry in the next OED:

Main Entry: valvocity
Pronunciation: 'valvä-s&-tE
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin valva; akin to Latin volvere to roll

Describes the near addictive nature of the sounds generated by cheap Chinese valve amps.

)

 

Im sure valves would work with the quads, the original quad electrostatics were used with the original quad IIs and to some this is still the holy grail (D. Brown didnt mention that!). It would be a very interesting comparison with the MF.

 

Or Chi-fi. All I can say is that I bought a valve amp for £213 of epay, spent about another £150 on upgrading it and Im as chuffed as mint-balls with it. Valve is king.

 

rsand not a problem. Thursday nights are cool as the wife is out and I don't have to endure a weekend of anorak comments!