Modwright swl 9.0 se

Midnite Mick

I am getting very close to pulling the trigger on one. It gets very good reviews from "reviewers". I wanted to run this by you fine people as I have apprehensions purchasing something that I have never heard. Somebody please tell me it is terrible and convince me not to.:)


http://www.modwright.com/products/index.php?product_id=21


Mike

tonyb

Do a search on Audiogon,some like it,some not.Seems that it's a little picky
on synergy with other components.Best of luck to you.:)

Midnite Mick

Well, I did it. I pulled the trigger on a Demo. I should receive it in about 2 weeks. I hope I like it. I will post my thoughts then.

Mike

W WALDECKER

Midnite Mick wrote:

Well, I did it. I pulled the trigger on a Demo. I should receive it in about 2 weeks. I hope I like it. I will post my thoughts then.

Mike

Hey Mike ,congradulations! i heard a Modwright preamp at a friend of mines home in northern Va being used with a pair of Response Audio Modded ASL extreme Hurricane monoblocks powering a pair of VMPS RM 40 loudspeakers.excellent choice for a two channel preamplifier. thanks....WCW III

Midnite Mick

The lack of response I got here has had me a little worried however. I hope it is because people aren't very familiar with it rather than not wanting to burst my bubble.

Could also be that people just don't like me.:(

Thank you for your thoughts. WCW III

Mike

dorokusai

Mick - I'm sure it's a decent pre-amp. Dan and the crew have been modding gear for awhile...it's just natural progression for the motivated to eventually make their own gear. Have fun...it's built well, how could it sound bad?

F1nut

Congrats!

When you get it could you post a nice clear pic because the one on their site sucks and I'd love to see what it really looks like.

dorokusai

Great suggestion Wood Jedi....post that pic here

Midnite Mick

I admit that I have limited experience with a digital camera. I will have to borrow one from a friend. I hope that his camera will adequate. I guess I am trying to warn you that it may suck but I can give it a shot.

Mike

Ps. these photos may be a little better

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/modwright/swl9se.html
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/bo05/srajan.html

dorokusai

Perfect. I'll post them, thanks. I guess I should have moved some fingers myself eh? Damn these devil fingers!

I love when a manufacturer posts GUTS....smells like, Victory.

Midnite Mick

dorokusai wrote:

Perfect. I'll post them, thanks. I guess I should have moved some fingers myself eh? Damn these devil fingers!

I love when a manufacturer posts GUTS....smells like, Victory.

Actually those posts are from a review and not the manufacturer. Not that it matters.

Mike

dorokusai

Yes, I'm aware....went to high school.

F1nut

Ah, that's better!

Looks nice and it's got Sonicaps.......must sound good.

W WALDECKER

Oh yeah, i failed to mention that another friend of mine.Chris B who happens to be the facilitator for the Mid Atlantic Audio Circles group is also running a Modwright 9.0 SE preamplifier which replaced a Conrad Johnson pre in his two channel rig. he is using his 9.0 SE with a pair of Loreleis and Khartago monoblocks and he will soon take delivery of a pair of special order mono extreme SEs. Chris is very happy with his 9.0 SE. thanks....WCW III

Midnite Mick

I believe those pictures aren't the exact model however. Those pictures are of the standard model not the special edition. The special edition has some upgraded parts.

Mike

Gaara

Mike,

I love mine, pulled the trigger after reading all of the rave reviews. I use it in a 2-channel system with a Jolida 100 like yourself. I also used to have it with LSis before I upgraded to my Gallos. It is definitely a great match with the Jolida, the only issue I had was to much gain which was easily solved with some Rothwell attenuators.

I also have pictures of the bad boy in my webshots, just click on my signature to see. There not the best but at the end I have a picture of it open, you can kinda see what its workin with.

Midnite Mick

I think those Gallos will be on my list down the road when I want to upgrade my speakers. Thanks for the responses.

Mike

Midnite Mick

I received my Modwright yesterday. They shipped it UPS (ouch - they soak us Canadians when they bring stuff over). I received it with the tubes uninstalled. Therefore, had to crack it in order to install them. Sorry didn't have a camera, but I can get one if people are still interested. They installed a new face plate for me which was nice as it was a demo product.

The things I noticed was that the sound was fuller and had a more realistic presentation over my Sherwood Newcastle processor, which is exceptionally good in 2 channel stereo for a budget processor (Wingnut will agree). It has added more of that linger of sound which was lacking prior. For all the great things the Nuforce amps do, that was they're one negative for me. The sound being too abrupt and tight, with no sense of linger in the air. The Modwright has brought that up a little.

The combination of the Modwright and the jolida cd player has given extreme bass. I am scared to really turn it up on some recordings because it is so punchy. In addition I have not noticed any roll off or muddy/cloudy effects in the sound over the processor. I think the tubes that the unit comes with are quite adequate.

Sonically, I am very happy with it. Bass is incredible. Midrange is fuller and has added some of that glow. I also didn't experience any loss in the highs.

It definately has that "homemade" look and contstruction. The faceplate is very low luster. The front has toggle switches that have to be flipped manually. It would have been nice if the HT bypass could have been activated/unactivated from the remote. The source selector has to be changed manually on the unit as well. I have never seen a volume control like this. It has the old style of one to ten with stops on either end (doesn't spin round and round forever). Therefore, in order to have a remote there is a motor on the inside of the knob that the remote controls and it actually physically turns the knob on the player. The remote is an all in one remote.

The one thing that I didn't experience that I was expecting was an increase in the 3 dimensionality of the soundstage. I was over at my dealer's house before when he incorporated a 2 channel pre with the HT bypass into his system and the increase in soundstage was amazing. He had the same processor and same amps as me. He included the Nuforce P8 in his system and holy crap, I was amazed. It wouldn't matter where you sat in the room you felt like you were in the middle of the sound. It was like you were wearing headphones. It also didn't matter if it was turned down, this phenomenon still occured. However, this may have been a function of the speakers (Usher cp-6371). http://www.usheraudio.com/speaker-CP-6371.html I am hoping to take the Modwright to my dealers place to further investigate this.

Having said that I don't think that the lsi's were really designed for tubed gear. That vifa tweeter I think is good for taking some of the harshness out of the current digital world. I probably don't have the best speakers for my current system. Those Usher cp6391 are on my list, along with a few others.
http://www.usheraudio.com/speaker-CP-6391.html

Not the best description but there you have it.

Mike

tonyb

Mike,you don't sound too happy,thought you'd be jumping up and down.
Or is it the thought of selling your LSI's pissing you off? Never heard the LSI line with tube gear,but I do know I like the sound of tube gear.Keep
tweeking a bit more,you'll get it right.The higher up the audio food chain you go,the more tweaking needs to be done.You may be right on the synergy thing with the speakers.Nice piece of gear you picked up there don't give up on it.:)

Midnite Mick

Maybe I left the wrong impression. I am very happy with the sonics and dynamics of the modwright. I just didn't get that headphone feeling. The speakers may be the limiting factor though. I just emailed my dealer and will post my findings when I further investigate.

Mike

dorokusai

I haven't found much high end gear that didn't improve things over the lower end, but good review nonetheless.

F1nut

I have never seen a volume control like this. It has the old style of one to ten with stops on either end (doesn't spin round and round forever).

Welcome to real hi-fi and ditto Mark's comment.