Some first impressions after about 24 hours burn-in:
- Truly special and good sounding SS amp. There is some sweet liquidity in the sound which is rare in SS amps. This aspect reminded me to my first encounter witht he Meze Empyrean in 2018.
- Quite energetic and clear sound but with rounded edges, so it is not aggressive. Soundstage is good but not huge, but I do not actually mind it as the space has very good depth layering and imaging. It is easy to visualise instruments in their place.
- Bass is not overblown, but strong with good impact. Mids are clear and vocals surprisingly sweet and lifelike for a SS amp. Treble initially was a little dry, and slightly too forward, but this seems to be taming down with burn-in.
- Overall, a clean, clear, dynamic, impactful but at the same time smooth and fun sound. Acoustic instrument tone and timbre is good, but my NOS tubed HA-3A is more fluid, richer and more natural when it comes to string instruments. Tubes also give vocals more magic. MJ3 on the other hand offers better technicalities with more detail, better dynamics and a lot clearer, more defined and more impactful bass. As expected, I prefer MJ3 bass but HA-3A treble. These two amps are very different and offer different strengths, a different listening experience.
- Warm up time is real with the MJ3. It takes at least an hour but more like 2-3 hours to get the hottest, but sound is best when the amp is fully warmed up. For now, I keep it on a separate, 4-inch-tall (10cm) stand where breathability is good. This way even the hottest temperatures do not seem like anything to worry about, no fan needed for me.
- Dislike that is the switch on toggle is located on the back.
- With my ZMF Caldera I prefer low gain, no feedback. Also, usually SE versus push-pull. The differences are actually smaller than I expected, but they are there. My Cyan 2 DAC puts out 5V, which is a little higher than the 4V average for XLR out. Perhaps this is partly why I prefer low gain with the Caldera. High gain is just a little too harsh. Feedback takes away a little from dynamics in a subtle but non-favourable way at least to me. I initially liked the subtle liveliness push-pull brought to the picture, but after a while it gets a little too much in the treble. Treble is already quite lively, so I prefer to leave it in SE mode.
Overall, I am happy so far: great bass, dynamic but sweet and clear, detailed sound. A fun and engaging listen with good technicalities. The relatively smaller soundstage is nicely compensated with great spatial imaging, so I am happy on that front as well. If there is one thing, I would improve that would be a tiny bit more relaxed and more natural treble, but that will probably improve with further burn in and I am used to tube amps these days which have liquid treble.
So, I like the MJ3, but let's see where things lead and evolve.