Quick take on the MBL 6010D Reference Preamp

I had an absolutely wonderful afternoon, about four hours of listening, sitting in front of my good friend/audiophile/music lover's reference system, in order to tell him what I thought of his new "toys'" sonic performance.

His new piece is the magnificent looking and sounding MBL 6010D reference preamp, that recently was released about six months ago. This preamp weighs in at 90 pounds! The rest of his system is reference caliber: Kharma Grand Ceramiques, Kharma amps and wires, CEC TL-0 transport, Meitner DAC.

So, you could see way this would be a delightful experience to listen to my favorite music on this world class rig, but that's not what I really wanted to share with you GON members, the reason for this post was how shocking better the MBL was over his old and very highly regarded Lamm L2 reference preamp.

I dislike intensely audiophile cliche's, like it "blew it away", however in every meaningful factor(s) such as noise floor, liquidity/transparency, harmonic/dynamic details, soundstage width/depth and just a beautiful sense of natural bloom and air with very natural timbres, the MBL was not just an improvement over the Lamm, but a true qualitative shift towards the sound of music.

So, does this mean the Lamm L2 is now a "hunk of junk" of course not, but for me it means at least two things: 1) The MBL 6010D must be considered to join the ranks of one of the best 4 or 5 preamps in the world today. 2) I would believe that while the Lamm L2 is still a very good preamp it's ranking as one of the best references must be revaluated compared to not only the MBL but some of the state of the art preamps on the market today. As an absolute reference I think the Lamm L2 is starting to show its age.

My friend's system before he replace the Lamm L2 was a real sonic knockout before, with his new "baby" the MBL 6010D its gone to a new level of performance and musicality. Congratulations, Brother Keith, it's a great addition to your system and you will have years of pleasure listening to the music you love even on a higher level now!