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Estimated price (community-sourced)
Around — community and catalog average, updates slowly
The Motherlode II is a high-end, tube-based line-stage preamplifier featuring a two-chassis design with a separate, external power-supply chassis connected via twist-lock umbilicals. The dedicated power supply uses a split toroidal power transformer, hybrid bridge rectification, all-film capacitor filtering, multiple chokes for channel isolation, Vishay wire-wound resistors, and tube rectification/regulation with a 5U4G rectifier and two OD3 regulator tubes, all housed in a copper-lined solid wood chassis with decorative Maple and Walnut accents. The signal chassis employs parallel Vishay resistors throughout the tube signal path, Mogami internal wiring, a Khozmo remote volume controller with digital display, Miflex paper-in-oil coupling capacitors, tube isolation damper plates, a resistor-based output level control, and Neutrik connectors. It is compatible with 6SN7 and 6SL7 tubes, offering a gain between approximately 5-30 dB depending on tube choice and output level control position, with bandwidth rated at 5-40,000 Hz +/-1 dB, input impedance around 50 kOhm, and output impedance of roughly 300 Ohm with 6SN7 and 600 Ohm with 6SL7. The Motherlode II provides four single-ended RCA inputs and two single-ended RCA outputs, with some units optionally configured with a single transformer-balanced XLR input, and is voiced for very low noise floors, high transparency, strong dynamics, and a large, three-dimensional, layered soundstage with precise imaging.
Amplification power output and characteristics
Analog signal output specifications
Input and output connections
Size, weight, and appearance
Specifications are community-contributed and may not be accurate or complete. Verify all details with the manufacturer before making purchasing decisions. Terms & Conditions
Components that show up alongside the Motherlode II in real systems. A verdict means the pair has been checked for compatibility and headroom — open it to see how the two get along.
The closest alternatives on specs, description and the systems they turn up in, with the specs they share set side by side.
The LL2.1 Deluxe's output impedance is 250Ω against the Motherlode II's 300Ω and its input impedance 10Ω against 50000Ω.
The LL2 Deluxe's output impedance is 250Ω against the Motherlode II's 300Ω and its input impedance 50Ω against 50000Ω.
The C500's output impedance is 220Ω against the Motherlode II's 300Ω and its input impedance 220Ω against 50000Ω.
The LS 36.5's output impedance is 110Ω against the Motherlode II's 300Ω. Both share input impedance (50000Ω).
Both turn up in the same documented systems.
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