We are talking about M2Tech, a now established company, which has long accustomed us to high-level products with a very interesting value for money, small engineering masterpieces which, coincidentally, often appear in the photos of the systems of mature and aware audiophiles. Small in size but not in results, they don’t cast the spell to heavyweight fans. Those who need to move their electronics with electric forklifts won’t find what they are looking for, be it a hernia or a protrusion on L5 S1.
Here the dominant role is played by minimalism, there is what you need and that's it, in just half a day you will be able to disassemble and reassemble the entire system without enormous efforts given the sizes and weights which are really limited.
By now we are well aware of all the excellent DACs, power amps, phonos and so on by the excellent Marco Manunta, but with the M2Tech Larson he wanted to raise the bar even further, trying to create a link between two worlds, the solid state and the tubes. The challenge is of course very complex but the basic idea is to combine the merits of each of the schemes, trying as far as possible to limit their intrinsic defects.
Manufacturing
The Larsons in their gray or black livery, the latter truly elegant, can easily be positioned thanks to their compact dimensions, but it must be remembered that they must have the possibility of breathing well around them.
The construction is bombproof, they are small aluminum cubes that enclose the famous "almost single ended" circuit diagram that characterizes them. Aesthetically, the main role is played by the lamellar structure for heat dispersion and the whole is balanced and essential: we don't find too many lights or even VU meters. Once connected to the mains, a blue LED light shows us their standby state and then switches to white once powered.
They are compact and easy to transport. Among other things, the footprint, the perimeter dimension, is practically the same as the components of the M2Tech Rockstars series, i.e. a square of 220 x 220 mm. The choice to have attached the rubber feet only with glue is a bit artificial and unfortunately tends to weaken with use and heating of the frame, a problem which naturally will not be of great importance once their fixed place has been found but which will make complicated to move them when hot. Nothing that can't already be solved with the current new productions. Their power supply is, yes, a switching one, but built in such a way as not to make you regret a linear one.
Setup
The test was carried out with different speaker configurations. Surprisingly, I noticed a certain predisposition of the Larsons to give their best when paired with speakers that are on paper more difficult to drive. In any case I paired them with PMC 20.23s, which with their rated 87 dB on 8 ohms do not really represent the ideal companion of the monos but once again the propensity of the Larsons to manage any type of load well comes out and the driving it is relaxed and functional, bringing out all of its strength from the escutcheons when required. Another test also carried out with Thiel CS 2.7, also with 87 dB of efficiency, but at 4 ohms. The best pairing turned out to be the latter, despite the mono rating of only 20 watts and the recommendation from the speaker instructions to be driven with a 100 to 600 watts amplifier, but - let's go back there - class A really does miracles apparently. For further information, you can learn more directly from the words of the engineer Manunta here.
Left to right, Andrea Bolognesi, Antonio Trebbi and Marco Manunta
Further proof was made thanks to the fortuitous meeting with Antonio Trebbi, see website here, who made available his new Music for life showroom recently open to customers in Pisa near downtown, dedicated to music and audiovideo on which will be followed by a truly deserved in-depth analysis. Here we had the opportunity to test the Larsons coupled with the best of the ATC world from the SCM11 to the SCM50 passing through the Wharfedale Linton and Wharfedale Heritage Dovedale 90th Anniversary, further verifying the marked ability of the monos to adapt to any type of load without getting upset and always maintaining quality unchanged.
Listening
The songs chosen for this test were the most varied, ranging from classical to metal to electronic and jazz. In no case did the monos seem to be in difficulty, always making for a complete and precise listen. The voices in particular have acquired traits of naturalness and intelligibility such that one thinks they are dealing with isodynamic speakers rather than classic drivers, such is the Larson's ability to bring out transparency when needed. The particular solid structure is also highlighted when listening to something very unaudiophile, the sound pressures reached while listening to metal are more than sufficient to satisfy even the most hardened headbanger, as long as you don't have a huge room.
Jazz obviously makes us appreciate the quality of control and the correctness of the timbre, which also in this case never suffers and does not break down to the point of clipping, the bass present but correctly controlled and never overflowing helps the listener to immerse himself in the recordings, once more highlighting the swiss army knife qualities of the monos. Ultimately, with classical music there emerges a strong tendency to recreate a very realistic and very well focused scene, which helps in discovering the position of the orchestral players to the point of recognizing their positioning perfectly. The ease with which one moves from full orchestral to pianissimos and then resumes again is symptomatic of a mature and successful design that will surely reveal some details that perhaps you have never heard until now.
Also worth highlighting is the perfect separation of the channels, thanks to their design as mono, a configuration which by using a dual power supply accentuates this aspect even more, increasing listening pleasure and minimizing the possibility of interference.
Another feature that I consider truly essential for satisfying listening is the absence of background noise. How many times during orchestra pianissimos have we found ourselves hearing the background hum of a valve or the hum of a transistor? When this happens, we find ourselves catapulted into our room, an unwanted return from the listening dimension which has a very negative impact on the perceived pleasure. With the Larsons this problem is simply not there as they are free from any disturbance and completely silent, leaving only a beautiful black velvet on which the notes we have chosen lie.
In general, moreover, the speed of the transients and the dynamics are top of the class, as is the depth and control obtained on the low frequencies, often a sore point of valve tubes.
Thanks to their real class A power, the Larsons make most speakers sing very well, even rather difficult ones, recreating a credible, high and wide soundstage well beyond the physical boundaries, avoiding any problem relating to the variability of the result linked to natural decay of valve performance in relation to their physiological consumption, is really detailed, very detailed and beautifully unravels the playing sessions of many instruments together, giving each one the right position and intensity for how they were recorded. Anyone who wants to listen at very high volumes will have fun with these little monos which, until clipping arrives, do not suffer from any particular idiosyncrasies, a clear sign of a very refined design.
To conclude, I can only advise you to go and listen to them in person at Marco's or at the retailers of his new recent distribution, see here, who will not fail to reveal some of the secrets of their brilliant engineering.
Official technical specification
Output power: 22Wrms on 8 Ohms; 40Wrms on 4 Ohms; 30Wrms on 3 Ohms
Residual noise: 36uVrms, 20Hz-20kHz, A weighted
SNR: 111dB, A-weighted
THD+N: 0.05%, 1Wrms on 8 Ohms; 0.9%, 22W on 8 Ohms
Supply voltage: 48VDC
Mains voltage: 90-260VAC, 50/60Hz
Power consumption: 185VA, idle
Input: 5.5/2.1mm barrel socket, positive on internal contact
Size: 220x210x220mm WxHxD
Weight: 10.5kg, device and ancillaries; 11kg, packed
Official Italian dealer: to DML Audio website
Official current price in Italy: 8,772.00 EUR, pair
Associated equipment: to Andrea Bolognesi's system - ITA only
