Rane Commercial MA 3 Amplifier

Rane MA3 Finally Purchased after 25 Years

After +25 years of researching and finally having a 'need' for the Rane MA3, it is finally here. This time the 'need' was mine! In the 90s I had several occasions to use the Rane MA6 amplifiers and repair them. Anytime I worked a new project, I always started with the Rane amps to see if they would be a good fit. They were a pleasure to use and easy to repair. The only downside of the newer MA3 is it is now SMD and lead free solder making it the next level of difficulty for self-repairs. Such is most of the industry. This amp is built like a tank and weighs close to 30 lbs! The front panel, bottom plate and rear panel are one piece -- perfectly rolled. The main filter caps are Nichicon and there's a nicely sized toroidal transformer. Each secondary after rectification holds about +33/-33 vdc. It is a shame to end such a fine line of amplifiers. This Rane MA3 is going to be the uppers amp for my stereo listening room. There is a clarity to amplifiers with the LM3886 chips that isn't available in other classes and topologies of amplifiers. I hope to keep it longer than 6 months. My last new amp was needed in a project and the client is happy and doesn't want to swap it out. I do miss the JBL CSA 2120 as it served well as lower cabs and upper equally well. But with the Rane MA3, I'm back to fully analog amplification. No EMP is going to stop my music! I'm driving the amp with a balanced preamplifier which gives it the most open and accurate reproduction of the audio. I briefly fed it unbalanced signals (during setup) and it was just anemic and prone to humm. The MA3 is a little picky and the humm was controllable with a EBTECH Line Level Shifter. I also tried the EBTECH Humm Eliminator 8 channel but it wasn't as successful. Different transformers. That was a four hour rabbit hole of making new cables to solve a problem not needing to be solved --just stick with quality balanced connection. The Fan! Being a commercial amp, it does have a fan so the heat sink size could be reduced for the three LM3886 chips. I'm now designing a dampened sound tube to allow air flow but cut the noise. If it were in the a/v closet it wouldn't be an issue. I think it is worth the effort since the amp is nearly perfect. Since there are very few remaining new units you could always get a used one(discontinued) They just don't break often. This unit was manufactured in 2015. . .It has been sitting in a warehouse for over a decade -- probably like the Ark of the Covenant It is really a NOS amp. . .the once clear packing tape is now the yellow brittle expected from the age of the unit. Like the boxes one stores in the attic. I'm glad to press this classic into service. Almost don't want anyone to come listen as they will want one also. This first couple hours were a little rough but I was out for most of the day and I ran pink noise into dummy loads for a good 8 hours and they smoothed out. Caps also needed the charge & discharging to work back into shape. Fastest break in of an amp I've done. Best wishes to all.