Mistral hybrid amp, DAC and CDP!

[Santy]

Had a chance to listen to some hifi components from Mistral, a UK based company manufacturing Tube Amplifiers, CD players, DACs, Speakers and even AVRs.

An FM was given the task of giving feedback on its performance so that the distributor can decide whether it makes business sense to import them and sell. After a few listening sessions, he found the performance of the system, especially the amplifier to be mind-blowing so it raised my curiosity levels. He also wanted a collective opinion about these three matched components that were already doing the music duty on his rack- the Mistral DT- 307B tube amp, DT-307DA DAC, and DT 307C CD player. All 3 components cost the same: GBP 250. So I along with docd, spirovious, darshanjoshi and thecoolestone headed to his place for a short session.

The setup along with SBT as another source was paired with the Wharfedale Denton speakers. The build quality of Mistral 307B a 25+25 W hybrid amplifier can be summarized in just one word- Solid. The face is made of a chunky 10mm thick aluminum plate, the top is made of stainless steel, the sides are contrastingly black, the knobs have a top class finish and they feel very solid. The tubes protruding out with an amber glow and the massive transfo sticking out on top are treat to the eyes. The build of the other two units are no slouch either- similar cabinet with a robust finish. The amp has a Bluetooth connectivity something not many stereo amps would feature. The previous version 307A had a usb input probably meant for iPhone connection but it seems to have been replaced with Bluetooth in 307B, hence the suffix. It has got only two analog inputs on it, we thought atleast three would have been better.

So we started off with some tracks from Pink Martini CD and were surprised by the ability of the amp to drive these tough-to-drive speakers (86db) with ease. The agility of the amp was something difficult to believe for its size and specifications. There was an amazing coherence between the DAC and the AMP with a tight matching of the pace and rhythm. The highs were crystal clear and the mid bass was punchy. The overall dynamic prowess was pretty impressive be it soft or aggressive passages, it has a good presence throughout. Despite being so compact, the amp packs a punch. I am sure it can drive even floorstanders for that matter. The sound is pretty big, full bodied and tonally balanced. The DAC was very airy and detailed and can satisfy even seasoned ears, I believe. It has better resolution than the logitechs analog output and definitely more airy and crispy.

We played more CDs, Fourplay, Adele 21, Introducing AR Rahman off the CDP and many tracks on SBT like Smooth Operator (Sade), Black Velvet (Alannah Myles), A Lover in Berlin (Kari Bremes), What Exit (Spyro Gyra), Ear to There (Taufiq) a few I remember.

When we played directly off the CDP, the sound became mellow. The resolution too was lost and the overall involvement factor was missing. As an FM said, this is obvious because for the same cost of the standalone DAC, we get a CDP+DAC. During this comparison, we felt that the amp added a gain so we boosted the volume while playing on CDP so as to have a neutral listening level but we still concluded that the CDP had a veiled sound. However as a transport, I am sure this will do a good job. Has a sleek plasticky remote with minimum essential buttons.

There is no remote for the amp though. The amp did get warm after a long session even under AC, but I dont think it is close to being alarmed. There is a bass boost button (+6db, not sure which range gets boosted) that we did not try. May be suitable for those who would expect it. Strangely while the CDP and the DAC had power port the amplifier had the power cable fixed to the unit.

The DAC has optical, coaxial and USB inputs- one each. Not sure if the USB needs proprietary drivers- we did not test it. It has a minimalist interface on front, one button for INPUT switching and another for choosing the sampling mode. It can either lock at native resolution or upsample to 96Khz or 192 Khz. The DAC is quite neutral and has a good dynamic range. The noise floor was satisfactorily low and it has the ability to differentiate clearly between good and not so good recordings.

The Dentons were really shining all through. The only component that was fixed throughout. A very musical bookshelf with a very brilliant mid range for those smooth and natural vocals, and a strain free highs. It sharply rolls of on the bass curve losing out of the low frequency extension but it has got a very quality bass till that frequency it manages.

We also paired the DAC and Dentons with Rega Pre-power combo, something that costs 6x of the amp being reviewed. The pre was Cursa 3 and Power was Maia 3 they are out of production. Of course the biggies had a much bigger sound and that was more natural sounding. Someone commented that it can put you to sleep even at moderate volumes- so smooth it was. Truly capable and musical amp, in a league of its own. I personally found the little amp more thrilling and flashy though the Rega combo was more warm and refined.

All Mistral components if they manage to get imported, will be sold at a very juicy price of Rs. 22k +/- 2k which by all means is a great value considering their performance. Especially the hybrid amp at this price IS A STEAL. It may not be able to prepare a large room for party music- it may distort at higher volumes but for normal listening, its quite capable in all sense. If someone is looking for a good stereo system, this DAC + AMP + a good pair of bookshelves in the range of Rs.20 to 40k will keep them happy for quite some time (in audiophile timeline).

Thanks to the FMs for dropping in and thanks to our friend who hosted us for the evening. We had ended a nice and satisfactory session concluding that most of the British hifi units have a reassuring performance. Mistral is not an exception. I hope it is available in India soon and if it does, you can expect it on our own hifimart.com.

 

[ranjeetrain]

I own a Mistral amp for many years now. Great amp. I also know the OEM in China who manufactures on behalf of Mistral. The amp is in China right now. I will send it to India next time I am sending my stuff.

 

[SoundCraft]

Thanks for the review,Would've liked it to be bit more elaborate (to get a true sense of the sound) but none the less good ! Is it still available for one to hear ??

One correction though,The Company is from China having offices all over the Europe ! I had met the company folks in one of the visits to trade fair at HK couple years back,So know the company's background,Also as one of my friends was also looking to import the stuff so had taken keen interest in studying the brand, but due to some unforeseen reasons it couldn't materialise.

But good to know that it might finally come to India !

 

[docd]

I think Santy has described our session very well. I agree with most of what he has written. The whole setup is wonderful "eye candy"! Fit and finish is excellent. The audio quality literally grabs your attention the minute you start the music. Well balanced sound,with slight emphasis on the bass and mids. If ever an amp could be called 'punchy' this was it!
For me, the best component was the DAC. You could immediately feel the difference in the SQ with it in the chain. It made the sound refined and added a bit more detail to both the CD player as well as the Squeezebox.
The small footprint of the Mistral is an added bonus, you can use it in your bedroom as a second system.
I would go as far as to say that Mistral gave the Rega setup a close run. Of course, the sound signatures of both were different, but believe me, audiophiles won't be disappointed when they hear the Mistral.
Of course we heard it all on the Dentons, which is an award winning speaker on it's own. It would be interesting to see how it fares with some budget BS, something like Cambridge Audio S30.
The only downsides: lack of remote for the amp, and slightly veiled sound of the CD player when played without the external DAC.
For someone just starting his journey into the world of hi-fi the Mistral is VFM. With the present exchange rate, I think this is as close to a pocket friendly audiophile set-up one can get!

 

[Santy]

Thanks for the review,Would've liked it to be bit more elaborate (to get a true sense of the sound) but none the less good ! Is it still available for one to hear ??

One correction though,The Company is from China having offices all over the Europe ! I had met the company folks in one of the visits to trade fair at HK couple years back,So know the company's background,Also as one of my friends was also looking to import the stuff so had taken keen interest in studying the brand, but due to some unforeseen reasons it couldn't materialise.

But good to know that it might finally come to India !

Yes but we did not have a very critical listening. The room was quite small, the speakers were quite close to each other and we could not spend more time with them. But it will be available locally by mid of next month.

Yup, it is made is China so are many UK/ US brands. But I think it is designed/ engineered by British- though I am not sure. Probably it made sense for them to relocate to China to pursue this business.

 

[darshanjoshi]

Well Said Santy & docd !

To be very honest, it looks VFM products specially for people on Budget.

I would just like add few things to what Santy said.

Initially we started the Music from CDP + Amplifier. I was actually surprised to see that the Amp could easily drive an 86 db speaker with ease.
The sound was nice but some things were missing. Although it would impress any beginners, for sure.

I am not saying I am an Audiophile. But after listening to other Hi-Fi stuff for last 3 years, I felt something was missing to my ears.

Then DAC was introduced in the chain and Voila, the difference was so Audible. Lows became tight, Mid became clean and very detailed and highs became Airy. Lovely sound for a small setup !!

Then another DAC was introduced in the chain, i.e. Caiman. For me, Mistral DAC was better !!!

With Rega Pre Power, Everything became very smooth and natural specially the Highs. However I liked the lows with Mistral AMP for sure.
Again Caiman was introduced with Rega, Now the difference between DAC's was minimum. Could hardly say the difference. Mistral was slightly better. Maybe Mistral DAC and Amp were matched well.

I wish we could hear more speakers with same Combo.

However, Mistral products are really impressive if they are available at a price point mentioned by Santy.

 

[spirovious]

It was another great experience with a new setup which looks entry level,but only for the price and not performance.Santy and other forum members has already described it very well,still writing my technical views.

When we entered the room,the first thing which was noticeable immediately was the pace and the timing of the amp.One can't believe that such a small amp can drive Dentons(sensitivity 86db) with so ease.Bass was powerful and tight.Midrange was clean with good imaging and depth.Treble was airy with details.We settled down for serious listening and soon found that we need some more focus.When asked about the setup,the source was Mistral CDp.So we added misral DAC in chain and the sound has a different feel.The soundstage was much wider and the congestion in the sound was gone.The seperation in the instruments were good.Compared with Caimon,Bass was better with mistral and little wider soundstage.Treble to my taste now became little edgy but not ear fatiging.Overall we had a positive impression.Unfortunately we didnt have another speakers to compare.But we had another pre-power combo to test DAC.
Once connected,the immediate noticeable difference was the treble(high frequencies)which I felt little sharp in earlier set up has now well sounded and sweet.
Vocals also now smoother and over all warm sound now.We felt like get going with music for hours.

So final take,the DAC was the most impressive for the price and performance to me.The amps overall performance was very good too.If you pair with warm sounding speakers,you can get true hifi sound for less.
We also felt that source is very important to get best sound from this setup.To add this music played from Squeezebox to DAC was much better than played from CD player.

Thanks for FM who gave a chance to listen a beautiful VFM hifi setup.

 

[TheCoolestOne]

First of all a big thank you to the Host and also to Santy for arranging the audition.

Though an in-depth critical listening could not be carried out due to space constraints which affected placement of the speakers to an extent we did the best we could with what ever was available at our disposal. Though the Dentons did a good job, another set or two of bookshelves for comparison would have been awesome.

Nothing much new to add on to the well encapsulated summation by Santy and thereafter Docd, Darshan and Spiro but to reiterate on what was written earlier - Fantastic Little Beauties is what I would describe the Mistrals as their build quality, finish, weight and aesthetics of the components are top notch. Added to that, a small footprint is a bigger bonus. Made in china it maybe but not at all like some of the run off the mill Chinese tube amps / components we see today.

The DAC for me too was the shining star. The Mistral has a cohesiveness and sparkle to it and its SQ was inherent in the chain from the word go and though the Bresford Caiman did not match completely in this setup it was a different story all together in the Rega Setup. Of course good recordings made big difference on the SQ.

The Amp did drive the 86db Dentons comfortably but it would have been nice to hear how much more of a difference easier to drive speakers would provide.

Is it good for a Secondary Setup / Bedroom Set up or even a small main setup? Yes. But like mentioned by others the only pain in the you know where would be the lack of a remote. My current set up lacks a remote so I know the experience.

I am in the market for a VFM DAC with multiple inputs especially a USB and the Mistral most certainly fits my bill. What more could you ask for / expect at this price point ? :clapping:

 

[SatMumbai]

Thanks Santy.

The amp looks very nice and the size/format is a lot more friendly than the huge monsters. I always like these half formats. The price is enticing too

Well, as some one else has said, this is not British (atleast not purely British) and I do not say that in a negative way. I find British brands (Or brands tuned to British sound) are more colored and so the association to British might not do a favor to the amp, if it is really neutral.

I am so happy with the Chinese association these days as it signifies the current decades industrial strength and finesse of china (Be it any Apple product or Oppo or Jolida or many more..)
Chinese HiFi has really become a much stronger image and it is grossly misunderstood by the people who do not have complete knowledge of the entire manufacture cycle. The only problem is, like else where, one needs to sift through some rubbish to sort the gems out and it is not an easy task, most of the times.

Keep posting any further products that you get to review / audition.

 

[navinsinha]

Has anyone auditioned it with a turntable?

 

[docd]

Has anyone auditioned it with a turntable?

We didn't have a TT during our audition. Iam sure that if a good phono pre amp is in the chain, the sound quality should be good. All in all the Mistral combo did give us a it of an analogue feel. I think here that the amps tube pre was playing a part. It would be interesting to find out if Mistral did in fact make a matching phono preamp.
In fact due to shortage of time we couldn't even check out the Bluetooth streaming ability of the amp. I wonder how it matches up to Arcam's rBLINK!

 

[Santy]

Thank you FMs (spiro/docd/coolest/darshan) for joining me and penning your thoughts. I fully agree with your opinion. We managed to listen and write something about the Mistrals despite our busy schedules. I wish I had no job to take care of, so that I have all the time on earth to stay 'overnight' and spend 'full time' 'reviewing' audio equipments at showrooms, hifi shows and FM's home.

The Mistral will reach hifimart soon it appears.

@Sat
What you said is so true. We need to come out of this Chinese paranoia.

 

[captrajesh]

I am sure it can drive even floorstanders for that matter.*

Most of us have the misconception that bookshelf speakers are easier to drive than floor standers. Even I had the same conception which was changed by a respected amp maker. Actually for achieving a given SPL level the converse is true.

BTW does this FM want to remain anonymous? Why has his handle not been mentioned!

 

[Santy]

While it is true that some bookshelves are harder to drive than some floor standers due to lower sensitivity, the recommended power for FS is typically higher due to multiple and possibly bigger drivers. In the same example, the recommended power for Denton despite being less sensitive is 20 to 100W, while it is common to see specs of 200W recommended power for FS. It simply means that they are designed to handle more power. You are right in stating that FS are more efficient in reaching same SPL than BS but for same reason they are preferred for bigger rooms nullifying that advantage.

Regarding the FM, well I am not sure if it really matters; but there is always the PM route if you are so keen.

 

[captrajesh]

the recommended power for FS is typically higher due to multiple and possibly bigger drivers. In the same example, the recommended power for Denton despite being less sensitive is 20 to 100W, while it is common to see specs of 200W recommended power for FS

The point of discussion was the ability of Mistral amp with a given power rating in driving speakers. With that statement (I am sure it can drive even floorstanders for that matter) you seemed to indicate that FS are harder to drive than floor standers which prompted me to post a counter.

You are right in stating that FS are more efficient in reaching same SPL than BS but for same reason they are preferred for bigger rooms nullifying that advantage.

Regarding the FM, well I am not sure if it really matters; but there is always the PM route if you are so keen.

Since the convention (on HFV) is to mention the FM's name and that was absent conspicuously, asked out of curiosity. Not sure if it is necessary waste the bandwidth on finding out whose set up that is.

 

[Santy]

Capt
The power rating of an FS is usually higher because the available power is distributed among multiple drivers. We tested the amp with a two driver speaker. It might possibly drive a 3 or 4 driver speakers also quite comfortably. That's what I meant.

Yes, floorstanders are generally easier to drive than bookshelves at a given SPL at a given distance. But in large rooms, if you need same SPL at a farther listening position, you may have to drive the BS hard and distortion might set in much earlier than a FS of same series. If we need even FR (esp. the low end) at same SPL in big rooms, you need big speakers and they need more power.

I am sure these are nothing unknown to you given your experience.

And please do consider exceptions as there are a plethora of models out there with very different capabilities and characteristics.

Since the convention (on HFV) is to mention the FM's name and that was absent conspicuously, asked out of curiosity. Not sure if it is necessary waste the bandwidth on finding out whose set up that is.

Don't worry, at the cost of my bandwidth I will let you know. Check PM
BTW they were demo pieces - nobody owns them yet and I believe it was quite evident.

 

[captrajesh]

at the cost of my bandwidth I will let you know. Check PM

Thank you for your PM buddy and of course saving my bandwidth.

BTW they were demo pieces - nobody owns them yet and I believe it was quite evident.

Naive of me. I should have guessed.