EMM Labs MTRS

STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER

Edmund (Ed) Manfred Meitner's name and reputation have long been synonymous with pioneering fields of digital audio, especially DSD. In 1971, after designing the first fully automated studio console, Ed identified what he calls "the jitter problem." He worked with Sony and Philips to help create and refine SACD and subsequently designed the first complete six-channel DSD playback system for home use.

In 1998, while developing the eight-channel A/D and D/A DSD converters still used to create most SACDs, Ed founded EMM Labs¹ and became head of design, with the goal of bringing DSD to the consumer realm. Far more recently, he designed the EMM Labs DS-EQ1 and Meitner DS-EO2 optical equalizers, which are sanctioned by DS Audio for use with their optical cartridges.

Less widely discussed are Ed's amplifier circuit designs, which are the heart of the EMM Labs MTRX and MTRS amplifiers he designed collaboratively with Mariusz Pawlicki, EMM manager of R&D, and the late Zenon "Zanny" Muzyka. Mariusz helped develop the operating scheme for the amplifiers, the "smarts" in the amplifiers' monitoring and protection schemes, and their new "hybrid" power supplies. (More on this below.) He is also actively involved in quality control (QC) and measures every amplifier that leaves EMM Labs. Zanny, who passed before completion of EMM's latest amplifier designs, contributed to their industrial design and power supply.

EMM Labs' history producing amplifiers dates back to 2012, when it released the original 1500W class-AB MTRX mono amplifier ($130,000/pair). The company has since released various upgrades, including those to the driver/input stage. In 2015, EMM released the 1000W MTRX2. Most recently, in November 2023, EMM announced its successor, the 1000W MTRX2 V2 monoblock ($115,000/pair), as well as the MTRS ($65,000), the company's first-ever stereo, class-AB power amplifier and the subject of this review.

The new MTRS