Mola Mola Makua Preamplifier

Description

Makua is the control centre for a separates system with several sources. It combines analogue input selection and volume control with programmable routing, while optional modules can add digital conversion and vinyl playback without another external chassis.

What the base preamplifier does

Five input positions offer selectable balanced XLR or unbalanced RCA connections. These are five selectable input pairs, not ten independent simultaneous sources. Two parallel balanced output sets support suitable bi-amplification arrangements; they are not independent listening zones. Makua does not drive passive loudspeakers directly.

DAC and phono are options

The DAC module adds digital inputs and Roon Ready network playback; a Roon Server and licence are still required. The phono module adds configurable MM/MC cartridge gain, loading and equalisation. Do not assume either board is included: agree the fitted configuration before ordering.

Makua, Kula or Tambaqui?

Choose Makua when you want a separate power amplifier such as Perca and flexible analogue source control. The Kula includes stereo power amplification. The Tambaqui is a standalone DAC with volume control but no analogue input selection.

Configure it around your sources

Tell us your power amplifier, source connections and any cartridge model. We can advise on modules and routing, confirm the fitted specification and discuss setup and delivery.

Manufacturer specifications and documentation.

The wider view: Mola Mola Makua reviews in brief

The Makua is Mola Mola’s preamplifier and the control centre of a system of separates. A DAC board and a phono stage can be fitted inside it, so one box can do the work of three. It is set up and run from an app that talks to it over Bluetooth.

Grover Neville reviewed it for Part-Time Audiophile in February 2021 and described its sound as “transparency in the truest sense of the word”. He thought the phono stage about the cleanest and least coloured he had ever heard. He had expected to dislike running a preamplifier from an app and ended up ranking Mola Mola’s among the best apps he had used anywhere.

Sam Rosen reviewed it for Enjoy the Music in March 2022 and called it “the closest thing I have heard to wire with gain so far”. He heard a little more bite at the top and a little more rhythm in the bass, which added detail and fun without hiding anything his DAC had to offer. Setup took him under 45 minutes. He found the phono stage dead quiet and very flexible, and said he would buy the Makua with it.

Dean Waters used one for Positive Feedback in October 2024 with Mola Mola’s own DAC and power amplifier, and found the sound “unmatched in clarity, openness, and life”.

Rosen found that the extra treble detail suited speakers with a tame top end and could become tiring with speakers already tuned a little bright. The early review samples came with a basic remote, and Mola Mola now supplies its own remote as standard.

So it suits someone building a system of separates who wants nothing added to the sound, and it needs a power amplifier after it. The DAC option puts a Tambaqui inside, and the Tambaqui is the DAC we used as our reference in our review of the Innuos ZEN NG. We can talk through which boards you need.

What the reviewers say, in a nutshell

• Part-Time Audiophile, Grover Neville, February 2021. Transparent, with an exceptionally clean phono stage and a superb app. The supplied remote felt basic.
• Enjoy the Music, Sam Rosen, March 2022. As neutral as a preamplifier gets, with a touch of extra bite and a superb phono stage. Highly recommended.
• Positive Feedback, Dean Waters, October 2024. With Mola Mola’s own DAC and power amplifier, unrivalled clarity and openness.

Read what the critics say about more of our preamplifiers in The Hi-Fi Review Bible.

Part of the Hidden Home Ten, in system 4 (Innuos, Mola Mola and Sonus faber).