Digital Amp Company Maraschinos extended audition

[mfsoa]

The past few weeks I have had the good fortune to play with a pr of Tommy's Maraschino amps. As many know he is a friend of mine so the requisite "Audio Buddy" disclosure has now been performed 

Full technical details, as I know them:
Frequency Response: Low to high
Distortion: Probably not much
Input impedance: Some
Power consumption: Just a little
Weight: Light
Power output: Enough
Cost: Yes

Seriously I don't know squat about specs or measurements, or even if these are final production units.

What I can say is that they are powered by Elpac switching power supplies, 48V, 220 watt output. Because T claims the amps to be very efficient even for class D, lets figure about 200 watt max output. I haven't come close to stressing them out. He is thinking of other power supply options and I suggested maybe battery but I don't know if batts can do 48V. I think T said he can goose lots more power out of them depending on the pwr supply. I'd like to see them mounted in a Cherry case w/ the same big-ass transformer I already have.

The amps are quite small, maybe 3"x4"x5" and light due to the external power supply. I don't know if these are in the commercial chassis or not.

I don't have them hooked up optimally, meaning I use my standard 1M XLRs and my standard ~10 or 15 foot biwire runs of speaker cable (strewn all about the floor!). In an ideal install I'd use long cables from the pre and really short speaker cables. In fact I have seen Tommy hang them from the speaker input jacks w/ just a few inches of cable. I think it'd be bitchin to have a pr of amps for each of my my biwired Von Schweikert VR4JRs but alas I have to slum it with 1 amp per speaker for now.

OK now the hard part - What do they sound like? In comparison to my Stereo Cherry w/ the mondo 1800 VA transformer, the Maraschinos sound more detailed and faster overall. Little subtleties seem more apparent, like the decay of notes, that second melody line that adds to the score, stuff like that. I think T said these amps run at many times the switching frequency of the previous Cherries (which were already fast) and it sounds like it. In my system they have excellent, very detailed bass performance but don't seem to have the sledgehammer bass of the big Cherry. I like sledgehammer bass. I wouldn't call the little guy's bass lightweight, but it doesn't grab you like the Cherry bass does.

But the detail, speed and ease of the Maraschinos is wonderful. Never etched or hyper, just effortless and precise. They are very quiet which makes me think I need to get my Cherry back to Tommy's lab for a checkup.

What else to say, they sound great. The true test will be when I hook the Cherry back up but that'll have to wait until Mr. T can hear his little pups in my system.

Sure do wounder how 4 of these would sound...

-Mike

[richidoo]

Those sound very interesting. Nice review Mike, especially the specs. 

When I borrowed Launche's Cherry last summer I was impressed by the musical sound and the big powerful bass. I think it is a bit bumped in the bass which everybody likes. Maybe the Maraschinos are a little flatter compared to what you're used to.

I like the idea of eliminating the speaker cables, just hanging loose by the jumpers.

Can you post a pic?

[ampdesigner333]

The past few weeks I have had the good fortune to play with a pr of Tommy's Maraschino amps. As many know he is a friend of mine so the requisite "Audio Buddy" disclosure has now been performed  

Full technical details, as I know them:
Frequency Response: Low to high
Distortion: Probably not much
Input impedance: Some
Power consumption: Just a little
Weight: Light
Power output: Enough
Cost: Yes

Seriously I don't know squat about specs or measurements, or even if these are final production units.

What I can say is that they are powered by Elpac switching power supplies, 48V, 220 watt output. Because T claims the amps to be very efficient even for class D, lets figure about 200 watt max output. I haven't come close to stressing them out. He is thinking of other power supply options and I suggested maybe battery but I don't know if batts can do 48V. I think T said he can goose lots more power out of them depending on the pwr supply. I'd like to see them mounted in a Cherry case w/ the same big-ass transformer I already have.

The amps are quite small, maybe 3"x4"x5" and light due to the external power supply. I don't know if these are in the commercial chassis or not.

I don't have them hooked up optimally, meaning I use my standard 1M XLRs and my standard ~10 or 15 foot biwire runs of speaker cable (strewn all about the floor!). In an ideal install I'd use long cables from the pre and really short speaker cables. In fact I have seen Tommy hang them from the speaker input jacks w/ just a few inches of cable. I think it'd be bitchin to have a pr of amps for each of my my biwired Von Schweikert VR4JRs but alas I have to slum it with 1 amp per speaker for now.

OK now the hard part - What do they sound like? In comparison to my Stereo Cherry w/ the mondo 1800 VA transformer, the Maraschinos sound more detailed and faster overall. Little subtleties seem more apparent, like the decay of notes, that second melody line that adds to the score, stuff like that. I think T said these amps run at many times the switching frequency of the previous Cherries (which were already fast) and it sounds like it. In my system they have excellent, very detailed bass performance but don't seem to have the sledgehammer bass of the big Cherry. I like sledgehammer bass. I wouldn't call the little guy's bass lightweight, but it doesn't grab you like the Cherry bass does.

But the detail, speed and ease of the Maraschinos is wonderful. Never etched or hyper, just effortless and precise. They are very quiet which makes me think I need to get my Cherry back to Tommy's lab for a checkup.

What else to say, they sound great. The true test will be when I hook the Cherry back up but that'll have to wait until Mr. T can hear his little pups in my system.

Sure do wounder how 4 of these would sound...

-Mike

Thanks for the review, Mike!  Please add a photo if you have time.

A few comments....

Low frequencies: Maraschino is flat to 0Hz. That's not a misprint! There is no AC couple or servo in (or added to) the signal path.

Power output: Mike was correct that the Maraschino's max output depends on the external supply. However, the provided 220W medical grade universal supply can go beyond its power rating under "normal conditions" (like room temperature).  Due to very high amplifier efficiency, we can deliver about 250W into 4Ω.

Speaker wire: Our patented "hang-able amplifier" weighs a little more than one pound per channel.  This allows the use of super short speaker wires (like 3"). I haven't seen Mike's Maraschino setup yet, but I remember that he was bi-wiring the [big] Cherry, so maybe it's not so easy to connect the amp that way for him.

We plan a early adopter special for those who agree to provide a review.  more on that later.  Thanks for reading!

-Tommy