Grimm MU1/Mola Mola Tambaqui combo vs. Grimm MU2


Here is a great video discussing the very popular question of which is better:  the Grimm MU1 streamer with the Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC or the Grimm MU2 with built-in DAC?

 

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@rdoc the question is, is it an active preamp or is it a passive preamp?  what I've described, just a switch, it often called a passive preamp. I still think that is what we have but will look into it.  I have a contact at Grimm that I will ask.

I use my Lampizator DAC for my "one box solution"  I guess I could run the output from my DAC back into the analog input on my Grimm and make it my one box solution.  

So you use your grimm for volume control?  The remote on the grimm MU1 is a phone "app" which is really just logging into the IP address of the machine. Is that what you have?  I found the volume control to occasionally switch to max and do not use it.

Jerry

@carlsbad2  I will defer to you and others on the technicalities of the MU2. John Lavorgna in his review states: "I let its internal analog preamp take over for the internal preamps in the review Triode Evolution 300 and my beloved Leben CS600 and I didn’t feel as if I, or the music, lost anything. In fact there was an added clarity and transient speed that I preferred with the MU2 in charge."

Grimm calls it a "relay based analog volume control".

I use an apple remote to control the volume.  When I change the volume, I hear the relay clicks just like I used to hear on the Ayre KXR preamp which I owned many years ago.

@rdoc Sounds like the MU2 may be different than the MU1, especially on volume control.  I'll look into it.  thanks.

A video interview with the engineer in charge of the MU2's analog section:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2H32t-du14&t=93s

 

And for those who might be interested, this is the Part 1 interview with Eelco Grimm about the digital section of the MU2:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4hy4a91Ov8&t=11s

I would take most any seller’s expressed point of view with a grain of salt. Many reviewers have stated they feel the MU2 is better than the MU1 (or any other comparable server) paired with very expensive dacs, and have told me (personally) that may store owners (in private) felt the the same way, but of course in the case of the latter, their livelihood involves selling SOTA dacs... It seem Grimm is on to something very extraordinary in their technology. Heck, for some the price of a digital cable and power cord is more that the price difference between the MU1 and MU2.. LOL!