M Jarve
Audio Geek and NGE Freak
I recently engaged in a deal to swap my Mitsubishi DA-P30 for a DA-P10. The DA-P30 is a great pre-amp, but it was not my cup of tea, as one may say. I noted that it seemed to have "flat" sounding bass without an external EQ to help, but that was my one and only exception to it. It is as clean as you could ask for, balanced, and very well built.
In any event, in an effort to expand my horizons, I posted the unit for sale in the classifieds and suggested I would take trades as well as cash. I got an offer to trade for some other Mitsubishi gear, and after some back and fourth, we decided we may work out a trade for a DA-P10. He sent the unit to me to examine before we finalized things.
The DA-P10 is a dual mono pre-amp, through and through. From separate secondary windings to on the power transformer, to the unique balance/level system.
Like the DA-P30, it is exceptionally well built, and has a feel more similar to my SAE mk. IB. A large, well regulated, well filtered power supply, and separate daughter cards for the phono preamps are always signs of thoughtful engineering.
The DA-P10 is a poster child for the “less is more” idea of design; although the front panel, dominated by a large volume attenuator, looks about normal, it many of the controls are in fact redundant, and affect only on channel. Each channel receives a bass and treble control (100Hz, and 10kHz, respectively), a low-cut filter (18Hz @ 12dB/oct.), and a level control. The way that the DA-P10 handles sound is almost akin to a mixer board, with each channel able to independently control tone and level, and the main attenuator acting as a main output. The two tone controls are enough to correct the sound for my room without an EQ.
Parts selection is very good, with FETs and poly caps used where appropriate. The volume attenuator is a 2-gang affair, but is free of noise and tracks accurately. The front panel, indeed the entire chassis, is cast and machined aluminum. Top and rear/bottom panels are heavy gauge sheet steel. The phono daughter boards are shielded from external interference.
Listening to the DA-P10 was an exercise in self restraint: It sounded so good that I kept wanting to change the music just to see if I could make it trip up. I am not ordinarily wowed by imaging, but the soundstage this pre-amp threw up was scary good. With the DA-A30 power amp, and Altec 890C speakers, this preamp created the most realistic and 3 dimensional imaging I have ever hear. I swapped in the SAE just to compare, and while it did an admirable job, it was not any match, sounding relatively 2-dimensional.
Tone, with the very neutral 890C’s was only 1 or 2 degrees warm of neutral. Sound with the tone controls at flat/defeat was full, without a middy hump.
Background noise was essentially non existent. The DA-P10, along with the DA-A30, reminded me of the h/k 430, only on a larger scale.
My only complaint about the DA-P10 is its size and format. It was designed to bolt on to the front of a matching DA-A10 power amplifier. As such, it is very shallow, making placement in a stack difficult. Not a big deal, but it does make placement more of an issue than I like.
For a while, I have been looking for a good preamp to sit in while I perform some needed upgrades on the SAE. In the DA-P10, it seems I have found that, and perhaps even a long term replacement or foundation for a second system. I have seen ebay auctions touting the DA-P10 as being in the same league as McIntosh or SAE, and had taken that assertion with a grain of salt. I can now say that based on my personal experience with this unit, that is no exaggeration.
In any event, in an effort to expand my horizons, I posted the unit for sale in the classifieds and suggested I would take trades as well as cash. I got an offer to trade for some other Mitsubishi gear, and after some back and fourth, we decided we may work out a trade for a DA-P10. He sent the unit to me to examine before we finalized things.
The DA-P10 is a dual mono pre-amp, through and through. From separate secondary windings to on the power transformer, to the unique balance/level system.
Like the DA-P30, it is exceptionally well built, and has a feel more similar to my SAE mk. IB. A large, well regulated, well filtered power supply, and separate daughter cards for the phono preamps are always signs of thoughtful engineering.
The DA-P10 is a poster child for the “less is more” idea of design; although the front panel, dominated by a large volume attenuator, looks about normal, it many of the controls are in fact redundant, and affect only on channel. Each channel receives a bass and treble control (100Hz, and 10kHz, respectively), a low-cut filter (18Hz @ 12dB/oct.), and a level control. The way that the DA-P10 handles sound is almost akin to a mixer board, with each channel able to independently control tone and level, and the main attenuator acting as a main output. The two tone controls are enough to correct the sound for my room without an EQ.
Parts selection is very good, with FETs and poly caps used where appropriate. The volume attenuator is a 2-gang affair, but is free of noise and tracks accurately. The front panel, indeed the entire chassis, is cast and machined aluminum. Top and rear/bottom panels are heavy gauge sheet steel. The phono daughter boards are shielded from external interference.
Listening to the DA-P10 was an exercise in self restraint: It sounded so good that I kept wanting to change the music just to see if I could make it trip up. I am not ordinarily wowed by imaging, but the soundstage this pre-amp threw up was scary good. With the DA-A30 power amp, and Altec 890C speakers, this preamp created the most realistic and 3 dimensional imaging I have ever hear. I swapped in the SAE just to compare, and while it did an admirable job, it was not any match, sounding relatively 2-dimensional.
Tone, with the very neutral 890C’s was only 1 or 2 degrees warm of neutral. Sound with the tone controls at flat/defeat was full, without a middy hump.
Background noise was essentially non existent. The DA-P10, along with the DA-A30, reminded me of the h/k 430, only on a larger scale.
My only complaint about the DA-P10 is its size and format. It was designed to bolt on to the front of a matching DA-A10 power amplifier. As such, it is very shallow, making placement in a stack difficult. Not a big deal, but it does make placement more of an issue than I like.
For a while, I have been looking for a good preamp to sit in while I perform some needed upgrades on the SAE. In the DA-P10, it seems I have found that, and perhaps even a long term replacement or foundation for a second system. I have seen ebay auctions touting the DA-P10 as being in the same league as McIntosh or SAE, and had taken that assertion with a grain of salt. I can now say that based on my personal experience with this unit, that is no exaggeration.
