THE MOLA MOLA KULA INTEGRATED

SET UP & LISTENING

After downloading the Mola Mola app on my iPad, and connecting to the Kula via Bluetooth, setting it up to my desired parameters was extremely quick and easy. You can assign inputs, adjust gain on each input, and set the phono stage up for your cartridge. I ended up using 72 dB of gain for my Rega Planar 6 turntable outfitted with Ania Moving Coil cartridge. With a Rosewill CAT7 cable connected, I was able to enable the Kula as a the Kula up on Symposium Rollerblock+ pucks, with a Symposium Svelte Shelf.

We cycled through albums we had been listening to recently with our usual electronics, and immediately our ears told us we had struck sonic gold. The Kula as a DAC and amplifier simply brought music to life with some of the most transparent, organised and life-sized sound we have ever heard. One of our all time favourite albums is In Search Of The Lost Chord, the Moody Blues 1968 psychedelic opus. We have numerous

ROON endpoint. The DAC decodes virtually every resolution up to Quad DSD. I was left wanting for nothing.

The Kula drove both Magnepan 1.7i speakers, and Alta Audio Alyssia stand mounts (review forthcoming). The Kula outputs 150 wpc into 8 Ohms, and a whopping 300 wpc into 4 Ohms, and had no trouble at all filling up a large room with high ceilings without as much as breaking a sweat. Indeed, its power seemed effortless. We left the Kula powered on at all times for maximum performance. We used an Audio Art Cable power cable, and set versions, including the sublime SACD, the 50th Anniversary Edition download, which includes a fresh, superb sounding 24 bit, 96 kHz remix, and numerous bonus tracks. We also have several original Deram vinyl pressings. The Kula presented the acoustic guitars, mellotron, flute, and the vocals with such pristine texture it was hard not to have the album on repeat.

We then cued up several late 60’s Fairport Convention albums, including rips of the Japanese SHM SACDs of Liege & Leaf, and Unhalfbricking. These pioneering British folk rock albums came across as amazing time