Pre/Power Amplifiers

Crowning Glory

Paired with Perlisten S7t Limited Edition floorstanders, a Hegel Viking CD player and PS Audio DirectStream MkII DAC [HFN May ’24], EMM Labs’ pre/power duo delivered a performance that quickly stopped me thinking about the cost of the two units. To put it plainly, if you are shopping for a stereo amp and preamp and can stretch to this price, the MTRS and PRE must be heard. As a pair too, because while the power amp draws the eye, the preamp’s impact can’t be ignored.

The MTRS brings the bass weight, dynamic poise and speaker-driving prowess you’ll hope for, but the crowning glory of this system’s sound – it’s remarkable transparency and neutrality – surely comes from the well-engineered PRE [see PM’s Lab Report, right]. And you’ll have a whale of a time getting levels set via its superb volume control.

It’s a genre-agnostic sound, too. The system’s focused, revealing and subjectively uncoloured presentation simply encourages you to listen to what you want. That’s how I ended up playing ‘Juno’ by Sub Focus [RAM Records, 44.1kHz/16-bit], a drum and bass track that mixes sci-fi-style warps and whumps with a somewhat incongruous brass motif... and found myself utterly absorbed. The MTRS proved quick off the mark, dispensing the sampled drums with a taut, fast impact, and letting Perlisten’s Limited Edition towers show off their sub-bass prowess.

Body Of Proof
Indeed, the bass handling of this pre/power is superb, albeit maintaining that neutral flavour. There’s prodigious heft and body, no trace of bloom or muddiness, and impressive resolution. The languid upright bass that underpins the title track of Norah Jones’ Come Away With Me [Parlophone; 192kHz/24-bit] showed textural detail, with each note’s slight vibrato apparent. Of course, the star of this piece is Jones’ relaxed, breathy vocal, and the smoothness of the delivery gave the track the jazzy, easy-listening vibe it demands. The rich, pure tone of her opening line after the song’s middle eight was striking enough for me to make sure I noted it down. Similarly, Keb’ Mo’’s ‘Anybody Seen My Girl’ [Keb’ Mo’; Epic EPC 478173 2] showed off his charismatic vocal style – the ideal blend of grit and smoothness – and the fluency of the acoustic guitar that envelopes him.

Deep Purple’s ‘Burn’ [Deepest Purple; EMI 44.1kHz/16-bit] sounded gloriously lively, with Ritchie Blackmore’s blazing guitar and Jon Lord’s keyboards fully on view, but the no-mess nature of the PRE/MTRS revealed a little thinness to the recording. Joe Satriani’s ‘A Phase I’m Going Through’ [Shockwave Supernova; Sony Music 96kHz/24-bit] was meatier and more immediate, a flurry of staccato basslines and slick-toned electric guitar with plenty of detail to reveal the maestro’s hammer-ons, pull-offs and pitch-perfect bends.

The PRE has a choice of three single-ended (RCA) and three balanced (XLR) line inputs with two sets of balanced and one single-ended output. The RS232 and USB ports are for system integration and software updates

Delta Force
So this EMM Labs duo is nothing if not revealing, and that includes both musical detail and soundstaging. The depth and spread it afforded to the instrumentation on Muddy Waters’ ‘My Home Is In The Delta’ [Folk Singer; Geffen 96kHz/24-bit] was superb, while percussive details on Chris Rea’s ‘Daytona’ [The Road To Hell; WEA 246285-2] seemed to find even tighter positioning than I’m used to. The MTRS also pulled its weight here, acting as the yin to the PRE’s yang by attacking the snare and kick drums with force.

Lush Life
This capacity was again in evidence on Led Zeppelin’s ‘When The Levee Breaks’ [Led Zeppelin IV; Atlantic 8122796446], where the slam and presence of John Bonham’s isolated drums gave the album-closer a great feeling of space and scale. Similarly, the system’s snarl, energy and attack ensured The Cult’s ‘Lil Devil’ [Electric; Beggars Banquet BBL 80 CD] was a thrilling listen, its stripped-back production by Rick Rubin showcasing sharp edges, well resolved basslines and crystal-clear hi-hats.

When there’s less of a need for the MTRS to dig deep, this system still lives up to its premium positioning thanks to that sense of transparency and balance across the frequency band. Given cellist Redi Hasa’s ‘Little Street Football Made Of Socks’ [The Stolen Cello; Decca 44.1kHz/24-bit], EMM Labs’ pairing sounded biting and sweet at the same time, highlighting the physicality of his playing alongside well-resolved treble. And as the piece builds, layer upon layer, it was hard not to be swept up by its lush detail and lilting rhythm.

With Johan Johansson’s brooding electro-orchestral ‘The Beast’, recorded for 2015 film Sicario [Cutting Edge 302 067 369 8], the PRE and MTRS sounded as confident as they did with Elton John’s more conventional ‘Rocket Man’ [Honky Chateau; Mercury 528 162-2] with its rich piano and crystalline percussion. As for the dance single ‘Ratchets’, from quality-conscious Danish producer Hedegaard [Spinnin Records, 44.1kHz/16-bit], this absolutely banged, as the younger generation might say. Impossibly heavy synth and bass, playing in unison, loaded the room, and ramping up the level rewarded me with simply more weight, more scale and more drama.

Access to the PRE’s functions is driven by a row of context-sensitive buttons and the adjacent rotary encoder that covers off volume and menu navigation. The display reveals all!

Spicy Sounds
This is a system for all seasons, and one that will have you loath to pack in your listening sessions. Just do be careful what you listen to: spurred by rumours of a reunion of The Spice Girls, I played their 1997 latin-influenced single ‘Spice Up Your Life’ [Spiceworld; Virgin 44.1kHz/16-bit]. The vocals sounded rather thin and the production wouldn’t merit a GSCE pass. Skip forward some quarter-of-a-century, however, and this pre/power’s rendition of Taylor Swift’s ‘So Long London’ [The Tortured Poets Department; Republic Records 48kHz/24-bit] shows how much pop music has progressed. It begins with choral singing spread wide before collapsing into a dance beat, and as Swift sings about her latest failed romance, the presence and scale of the vocal was immense. It was good enough to make me a ‘Swifty’...

Hi-Fi News Verdict
Is a stereo power amplifier from EMM Labs a concession to its marketing department? That doesn’t really matter, as the MTRS more than lives up to designer Ed Meitner’s reputation for exacting engineering and pure, unblemished sonics. Partnered with the PRE, the result is a musical triumph of transparency, nuance and dynamics. You can spend less on ‘more’, but never pass up the chance of an audition.

Sound Quality: 91%