I have owned my Baron 5881 for over one year. I Love Mesa Baron ;-) NORWAY

•Dynamics and slam factor are superb, especially for a tube amp.
•Its flexibility is all that you could ever ask for.
•Drives many pretty difficult speaker impedances/phase angles - it might surprise you.

•?

This opinion is for the stock 5881-equipped Baron. When these original tubes wear out, I'll be getting the mod done for the KT-90's. (A little extra tube-power never hurt anyone!) But, it might be a while: I bought this Nov. 1998 and the bottles are still going strong!

The Baron is a very versatile amp. If you're looking for subtle, warm, rounded "tube" sound for light jazz, classical or vocal music - you can have it with the full-triode setting. If you're hankerin' to really rock yo' crib, the full-pentode mode is your huckleberry. And you have anywhere in between with either the 2/3 triode or 2/3 pentode settings.

It's also a great feature that the amp doesn't have to be shut down to switch between settings: you can switch it on the fly and immediately hear what sounds best for the type of speakers/music/mood you're into at the time.

Then, of course, you can set the soundstage perspective with the negative feedback control, of which there are 4 different positions. Set at 0, you get a front-row perspective. As you increase the feedback level, the soundstage moves back to finally - a back-of-the-hall perspective at setting III. Now here's an amp I can use!

Tube biasing is easy and informative through the excellent large analog meters on the front panel and adjustment pots on the rear top.

All of this tailoring is accomplished without detriment to the overall gestalt of the sound.

Don't let anyone kid you - a tube amp can have tight, visceral bass impact if it's done right. The Mesa Baron has that in spades. Sometimes I think I'm listening to my old Krell or Adcom or something, but actually their bass was a bit threadbare in comparison to the more fully fleshed-out bottom end of the Baron.

All of the typical audiophile 'wish-list' attributes are there too (or most of them): detail, transients, air, space, layering, etc. But the great thing about the Baron is that it's not cold, dry, hard, glaring or piercing like the vast majority of transistor designs are (unless you run full-pentode mode into the wrong speakers). I know - I've owned and/or heard no small number of the supposed 'best' designs on the market.

If you like to roll your tubes for a different sonic signature, I'd suggest starting with the input tubes. Kevin Deal at Upscale Audio in California can get you some NOS French mil-spec, chrome-plated Mazda 12AX7's (no connection with the car company). They ain't cheap, but anything that's good usually isn't. And they sound wonderful in the Baron.

Sorry to once again lay this on you arc-welder-amp,solid-state fans out there: tubes STILL rule the audio world for the most realistic sound that's pleasing to the human ear. You can call it second harmonic distortion or euphonic/colored sound, but music is a human thing - our ears are not spectrum analyzers or oscilloscopes.

Randall Smith has come up with an eminently musical and useful product in the Baron. Too bad more amplifiers aren't built like this.

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•Audio Research Classic 120 monoblocks.
•Golden Tube Audio's 40 watter.
•Lazarus 200/200 (hybrid tube/SS.).
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•Original Adcom GFA-555 (good for a bass amp I suppose, but that was about it!)
•Krell KSA-150.
•Others that I can't recall...

transparency, power, and flexability of sound stage. can create a huge sound field with appropriate software. good speaker matching by way of varible feed back selection. neutral tonal balance for a tube amp (can even be a bit unforgiving if your speakers are tilted up). good reliability and excellent service/communication with mesa which is now out of the stereo business (back to guitars). soft start warm up extends life of power tubes.

original 5881 version needed wima mod to tame the high end. after this was accomplished this amp became comparable to arc's 100.

options in setting negative feed back and triode/pentode mode make initial set up time consuming but rewarding. i'm powering paragon jubilee/jems which are dynaudio speaker based systems and i found the best setting at 1 triode/2pentode with a 2 stage negative feed back. (this coincides by accident with randys recommended setting.)i have rolled tubes but ended up using mesas 5881s and yugo's for 12ax7a. this gives me a very neutral stage for very different sources, i.e. bat d5 cd player, cal audio alpha/delta cd, and and oracle/mit/glider turntable. each is very involving in its unique way. bat for orchestral, cal for jazz an vocal. very detailed and very involving. if i want to read i hook up the sf80. this amp isn't an answer to solid state problems for those who want solid state, nor is it a warmish tube amp which will solve problems of speakers with bright high ends (or upper mid-range), but with the right speakers it can be a good foundation for the rest of your system.

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sonic frontiers sf80 - owned. arc vt100. pre amp arc sp10

transparency, power, and flexability of sound stage. can create a huge sound field with appropriate software. good speaker matching by way of varible feed back selection. neutral tonal balance for a tube amp (can even be a bit unforgiving if your speakers are tilted up). good reliability and excellent service/communication with mesa which is now out of the stereo business (back to guitars). soft start warm up extends life of power tubes.

original 5881 version needed wima mod to tame the high end. after this was accomplished this amp became comparable to arc's 100.

options in setting negative feed back and triode/pentode mode make initial set up time consuming but rewarding. i'm powering paragon jubilee/jems which are dynaudio speaker based systems and i found the best setting at 1 triode/2pentode with a 2 stage negative feed back. (this coincides by accident with randys recommended setting.)i have rolled tubes but ended up using mesas 5881s and yugo's for 12ax7a. this gives me a very neutral stage for very different sources, i.e. bat d5 cd player, cal audio alpha/delta cd, and and oracle/mit/glider turntable. each is very involving in its unique way. bat for orchestral, cal for jazz an vocal. very detailed and very involving. if i want to read i hook up the sf80. this amp isn't an answer to solid state problems for those who want solid state, nor is it a warmish tube amp which will solve problems of speakers with bright high ends (or upper mid-range), but with the right speakers it can be a good foundation for the rest of your system.

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sonic frontiers sf80 - owned. arc vt100. pre amp arc sp10

SOUND, FLEXIBILITY

BUILD , SOUND YES SOUND,FLEXIBILITY

FIRST LET ME SAY I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH MR BEN LICERA SEEMS HE DOES NOT WANT ANYONE DISSING THE BARON,MR GARLAND'S VIEWS ARE HIS AND YES HE HAS THE RIGHT TO SAY WHAT HE WANTS TO SAY ABOUT THE BARON,MR LICERA SHOULDNT TAKE EVERYTHING SO PERSONAL,ANYWAY MY THOUGHTS ON THE BARON,I FOUND IT TO BA A GOOD AMP NOT A GREAT AMP,IT IS IN NO WAY A WORLD CLASS AMP I OWNED MINE ABOUT 4 YEARS ,I HAD IT REPAIRED 3 TIMES WHICH TELLS ME SOMETHING IS WRONG SOMEWHERE,I LOVE THE FLEXIBILTY BUT AGAIN I SAY IT IS A PAIN TO HAVE THIS FEATURE I WONDER IF THIS IS LIKE MORE MOVING PARTS TO WEAR OUT?OVERALL SOUND IS GOOD WITH GREAT DEPTH,EXCELLENT SOUNDSTAGE ,IT DOES NOT HAVE THE UMP IN THE BASS THAT MY OTHER 2 TUBE AMPS CAN PROVIDE SO DONT TELL ME IT'S THE TUBE AMPS IN GENERAL LACKING BASS IT IS THE BARON.I WONDER WHY THIS COMPANY'S GORRILA SEEM TO COME OUT OF THE WOODWORK WHEN YOU SAY SOMETHING BAD ABOUT THE BARON MAYBE THEY SHOULD MAKE A WORLD CLASS AMP AND NO ONE COULD COMPLAIN(I REVIEWED THE BARON ON ANOTHER WEBSITE ONLY TO HAVE HARRASSING E-MAILS FROM PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS COMPANY YES THIS COMPANY)I WILL NOT MAKE THIS MISTAKE AGAIN THE BARON IS A GOOD AMP BUT THEY ARE SO MANY OTHER AMPS BETTER AND AT LESSER COST,THE THUGS OF MESA CAN MAKE THREATS ALL THEY WANT BUT THIS WILL NOT CHANGE THE IMPERFECTIONS IN THE BARON, THE FRAME IS WEAK MINE WAS DAMAGED IN SHIPMENT SO I DO KNOW THE FEELING,GOOD AMP WITH SOME WEAKNESSES, OVERALL I WOULD NOT BUY AGAIN DUE TO THE BREAKDOWNS, I ALSO OWNED THE TIGRIS WHICH I CONSIDER TO BE A JOKE ,IT WAS ONE OF THE WORSE INTEGRATED AMPS I OWNED ,THE BARON WAS A MUCH BETTER AMP ,I USED A CJ TUBE PREAMP WITH A REGA PLANET 2000 CD PLAYER AND A PAIR OF MARTIN LOGAN AERIUS SPEAKERS

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CANARY 300B AMP, MESA OTHER AMP WHAT A LAUGH

This is in response to Mr. Joe Petty's review which I find very entertaining and quite comical.

Mr. Petty accuses me of taking personal about what Mr. Garland had to say of the Mesa Baron. But we shall see who really is taking the issue personal. Mr. Petty writes that Mr. Garland has the right to say what he wants to say about the Mesa Baron. What Mr. Petty does not realize and would not recognize is that, I, too, have the right to respond to a review which I find contradictory to what my experience with the product. To just stay silent would be unfair to the product manufaturer and would be a deservice to other consumers. It seems to me that Mr. Petty is only willing to entertain negative reviews about the Baron, and that any rebuttal thereof is wrong.

If Mr. Petty would only take the time to fully understand what I wrote, he will realize that I merely quoted Mr. Garland on his various views of the Baron and on each of those views, I presented my rebuttal. (In case Mr. Petty is not aware, whenever word(s) or sentence(s) are enclosed in quotation marks, it indicates that the writer is quoting or referring to what someone else has said or written).

Why doesn't Mr. Petty present his rebuttal to what I wrote in the same manner that I presented mine to Mr. Garland's. Then, maybe we can have a meaningful and productive exchange of views and ideas; a discussion that is based on details and specifics, supported by sound reasoning and not mere generalities and ambiguities capped with pure emotion.

If Mr. Petty would only re-read what I wrote versus what he wrote, he will realize that he is the one getting personal, not I.

Well, Mr.Petty, let's take a look at what you wrote:

1. You said that you owned your Baron for 4 years. During that time, you had it repaired 3 times. But you didn't say what the problems were...were they due to defective component or material, or poor workmanship, etc....I am sure that those 4 years were inconvenient, frustrating, and unacceptable. But why did you 4 years to get rid of that headache?

2. You also said you "love the flexibility" of the Baron. However, in that same sentence, you contradicted yourself by saying that you find this " a pain to have this feature.." So which one is it?

3. You consider the sound and flexibility to be Baron's strengths. But at the same time, you indicated that both (sound and flexilibilty) as Baron's weaknesses. How can that be?

4. You consider Baron as lacking "ump in the bass" compared to the 2 tube amps that you own(ed). Since you did not mention what those 2 tube amps are, I can only assume that the Canary 300B is on of them. (Lovely amp, by the way. A friend of mine owns a pair of these monoblocks driving a pair of Solliquy speakers.) I find it quite interesting and intriguing that you find four 300Bs able to reproduce and deliver more bass than a dozen 5881s or a dozen E34LS, given all other conditions remain unchanged (i.e. same speakers, same pre-amps, same music source). Have you ever wondered why tube bass amps usually utilize 5881s. Maybe, these tube bass amp designers don't really know what they are doing. What do you think, Mr. Petty.

5. You mentioned that you owned a Tigris which you consider to be a joke and that it was "one of the worse integrated amps" you owned. What other integrated amps have you owned, Mr. Petty. Anything in this world can be better or worse when compared to something else. The question is what is the criteria for comparison.

I just recently purchased a used Tigris. And last week, I took delivery of a pair of Merlin VSM Millenium with battery BAM. The Tigris played extremely well, producing sensational music.

6. You said that you are getting threats from the people associated with Mesa, which you referred as "the thugs of Mesa". So, Mr.Petty, what have you done about it? I think this is a serious matter that no consumer should take lightly...Have you reported this to the California Attorney General's Office, or at least, to the California Better Business Bureau? I'm sure you can find their addresses thru the Internet....

7. Lastly, you accused me of being personal. Yet, you are the one who put me in the light of "company gorilla" who "seem to come out of the wood work when you say something bad about the Baron..." I don't know you Mr. Petty, and you don't know me. For you to say I'm a "company gorilla" is totally out of line. And unless you have proof to this effect, I think you've just slandered me.

Let me assure you, Mr. Petty, Mesa is not paying me to write what I wrote. I'm just one among the millions of consumers who have same right as you and Mr. Garland to express opinions and experiences about a product.

Now, let's talk about the Baron. Numerous Magazines and professional audio equipment reviewers have given the Baron positive reviews; Chip Stern, John Atkinson, Marc Mickelson, Dick Olser, to name a few. These people can't all be wrong. Can they, Mr. Petty? And if you haven't noticed, the Baron doesn't appear in the advertisement pages of these magazines. So you and I cannot accuse Mesa of buying these positive reviews, can we Mr. Petty????

I welcome your response, Mr. Petty.

power, flexability

have not found any

Man are you guys serious about this product. It is a love it hate it unit. Very industrial which I like. Very well built. Great service when it was time to replace original tubes. Some have indicated problems. I found Mesa folks polite and helpfull. The bass is very good but not great. Very tight and clean but not in the best of solid state class. The more triode you dial in and the less NF you use and of course the bass will become weaker. Full triode is not where you set this amp for PF Dark side of the moon. Full pentode should not be used on Natalie Cole. This amp is for someone that likes to get involved with their system and when set correctly it is quite good.

I won't get into associated equipment. It does not matter with the Barron. You can make it sound like whatever will float your boat.

Problem with a product like this is the stupid factor. If you are not a tweeker buy a good push pull tube unit and enjoy the music. Even for a tweeker the Barron can at times drive you nuts.

This amp has great value for the money. It is industrial however. If you like lots of chrome, inch thick faceplates and rosewood trim buy something that will make you happy. It will cost a bit more but we only go around once.

Some of the best sound I have recently heard was this amp Cal audio Alpha/Delta CD and a MFA A3 preamp through a pair of classic Klipsch speakers. The full triode of the Barron made those horns sing on some old Mel cuts from the 50's. When more pentoid was used the results were not nearly as good. Those old Klipsch and Altec horns were used to Mix the old 50's vocal stuff and they still sound pretty good. It was fun anyway.

Bottom line to all this is keep it friendly. It's all about having fun.

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tube amps and preamps from Dyna to Audio Research, MAC to HK and everything in between

Flexible, sturdy and incredible sounding amp.

None

I have owned my Baron 5881 for over two years. In this period I have never had any problem with this stock amp. I have not even changed a single tube. The only maintenance neeeded is adjusting the bias and balance which is so easy and troubleless.

The biggest advantage of this amp which overwhelms any other amp available is the flexibility. You can adjust it to play any kind of music, even with the unit turned on. I prefer to listen rock with one pentode per channel on, one feedback and the rest in triode. Classic and jazz is incredible with all triode and no feedback since it just puts you together with the musicians. The more wattage you put (more pentode), the further back you are put. I think that the full power (160 Wats) puts the listener in the far back rows, which I do not like.

As for the quality of the music produced by this giant I must say that I just love it. Clear, solid or intimate when necessary. I simply stopped looking for other amps and do not inted to change it for any other, unless it be another updated Baron.

Since i live in Costa Rica I do not know how good is the service, anyway, I have not needed it.

I use this Baron with a pair of Sonus Faber Extrema and no preamplifier. Good cables and interconnects are indispensable conditions to achive a good sound. Believe it or not I use a pair of affordable Apature silver cables combined with Spectral 500 interconncts with excelent results.

I strongly disagree with Ben Garland's negative recommendation on the Mesa Baron and on Mesa products in general. The Mesa Tigris is of course another excellent product which has received countless rave reviews from the audiophile community.

Mr. Garland's review of and recommendation on the Mesa Baron should be completely ignored. Obviously, one cannot expect to buy an F40 Ferrari or a Hummer and expect them to perform to high expectations knowing full well that they are running on only half the cylinders.

Mr Garland, it seems to me, is terribly incoherent in his review. On the one hand, he said "the unit looks great, the one channel that worked sounded great. it had a ton of features.." But then, he complains about the frame, "..but the frame of the amp is a poor work of engineering, why would you make a frame of a amp that is so vulnerable to damage,..." I thought the frame was well designed. If Mr. Garland is actually referring to the grab rails instead of the frame, I can assure him and anybody else, based on my 4+ years of owning a Baron that these grab rails are structurally sound, functionally useful, and (at least to me) aesthetically pleasing. Of course, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Mr. Garland may find the present Miss America ugly!!!!

In the 4+ years of owning this Baron, it has not sustained, even, a scratch. I sent it to Mesa in April 1998 for the tri-tube and the WIMA mods...and came back without a scratch. So I am compeletely baffled by Mr. Garland's opinion of Baron's vulnerability to damage. By the way, it came back in a brand new packaging box. And as an added note, a Baron in its original packaging configuration includes a cross-member reinforcing wood to support and to prevent any shipping damage to the grab rails.

Then, he went on to say, "it unusual to find a dead transformer on a 35 year old dynaco, but how about mesa baron?" I have friends who own Mesa Boggie guitar amps and have not heard of blown or dead transformers either, and we know how these guys put these amps to torture day in and day out. The power tranformer used in Baron is the same transformer used in one of their guitar amps. And in the case of the guitar amps, this transformer drives twelve 5881's. That's twice as many compared to Baron. So, unless you abused a Baron, I'm confident it wil give you many, many years of listening pleasure....trouble-free!!!!!!! Keep in mind, even a warship or a battle tank can de damaged.....

As far as customer service rating is concerned, I'll give Mesa 5 stars. My experience with them has always been pleasant.

I bought my Baron in Sept 1996 (S/N 00220)and it has continuously performed flawlessly. In April 1998 I had the tri-tube and the WIMA mods done. I didn't do the soft start mod since I had already built an outboard soft start kit from Welborne Labs. Since then, I had been having fun and plesure playing the Baron using the Tesla E34L and the Mesa 5881. (This amp is boogieng almost everyday since I got it in 1996.). I even had a set of Svetlana 6L6GC. For driver tubes, I have a set of Telefunken 12AX7A, a set of Yugo 12AX7A, a set of NOS Mazda 12AX7 (1963), a set of NOS Mazda 12AX7 (1957), and of course, the MESA 12AX7. After 4 years, the original 5881s are still working. I listen to my Baron with 5881s 65% of the time.

As far as the EL34s vs 5881s are concerned, I couldn't agree more with Marc Mickelson's summation: "Are the modification and extra cost justified? (referring to the tri-tube mod). Yes, although the essential character of the Baron remains unchanged. With the E34Ls installed, the Baron is an even more likable bruiser, still able to kick out the jams, but the added measure of refinement that the new tubes bring is unmistakable and welcome. The E34L Baron has more body and is a bit sweeter, not enough to make me want to fidget with the mode or negative feedback, but jsut sweet enough to make me realize that the overall sound is more to my liking. In comparison, the 5881 Baron sounds alittle dryer in the upper mids, although this can be offset with a bit of negative feedback. Its bass is also the smallest bit tighter, a good thing."


I have no plans of parting with my Baron. It will continue to grace my living room for many more years to come. But I wouldn't mind having a Tigris in my study room.

For anybody who may want to ask me questions, I could be contacted at: el34baron@yahoo.com

Cheers and happy listening.

sound,options

frame

This review is on the mesa baron.first let me say the unit I bought had one channel out and I review the unit on that particular problem, the unit looks great the one channel that worked sounded great.it had a ton of features, but the frame of the amp is a poor work of engineering, why would you make a frame of a amp that is so vulnerable to damage, also the power transformers or output transformers have to be a problem if the unit is not damaged in shipping.it unusual to find a dead transformer on a 35 year old dynaco,but how about a mesa baron.? I spent $1700 on this piece of junk only to find one channel dead finally sold it for $800 on ebay, i lost $900,in the 35 years I have dealt in the audio field, I have lost some and made some but never have I lost like I did with the mesa baron, it is not recommended and I would not buy any mesa products, by the way I e-mailed mesa it only took them a week to respond, thats not customer service by no means.i am sure others find their mesa baron time bombs great amps and I may be wrong about the quality of this amp would just warn any and all who see them on the used audio boards to be concerned.if you have $900 to throw away go right ahead.

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