FIRST MOLA MOLA KULA INTEGRATED
Mola Mola’s first-ever integrated amplifier, Kula, can be optionally fitted with a phono stage whose equalisation settings you are able to adjust remotely, via an app. This, to our knowledge, is a world-first for any integrated amplifier or, indeed, any phono stage.
You can also option a DAC stage into the Mola-Mola Kula. It’s the same one Mola Mola uses in its stand-alone Tambaqui
DAC and has five digital inputs including Bluetooth. “The 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,” says Warwick Freemantle, of Sonic Purity, which distributes Mola Mola in Australia. “Frequency stability is then wholly determined by the internal clock, a laboratory grade 100MHz SC-cut oscillator. This is effectively an atomic clock.” Because of this technology, Mola Mola claims jitter is less than 1 picosecond below 1kHz and less than 300 femtoseconds above it, with rejection of external jitter at better than 80dB.
Input gain of the phono stage is switchable in 5dB steps over a 40dB range, and the MC input is completely separate from the MM input, so you can use two cartridges without the need to swap out leads. Input resistance and capacitance are individually switchable and the available equalisation settings cover almost all cutting curves (RIAA, London, Decca etc). 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 Kula’s power output is rated as being 150-watts per channel into 8Ω and 300-watts per channel into 4Ω. The Class-D output stage has a rated impedance that varies between 2–7mΩ across the range 20Hz to 20kHz, ensuring more than adequate damping for any loudspeakers. The company claims that although the the Class-D amplifier is based on Hypex’s nCore technology, that it’s “exclusive to Mola Mola” and that it designed and builds the Kula’s power supply in-house. Available now, the basic Kula sells for $15,900 (RRP). The Kula with phono stage option sells for $18,720 or, if you also add in the DAC, $27,950.
For more info, contact Sonic Purity on
(04) 0950 4805 or www.sonicpurity.com.au