Motherlode II

About the Motherlode II

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.