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Musical Fidelity amp on the way

Ok no beer tonight (got wasted last night). It still sounds beautiful.

Listened to some chamber music. Korngold quartets (Doric Quartet, Chandos), Schubert piano sonata (Rubinstein, RCA). The concert hall ambiance is simply amazing.

In fact this amp sounds more like what I expected from a tube amp than the Yaqin I had without the bass compromise.
 
davidro said:
Ok no beer tonight (got wasted last night). It still sounds beautiful.

Listened to some chamber music. Korngold quartets (Doric Quartet, Chandos), Schubert piano sonata (Rubinstein, RCA). The concert hall ambiance is simply amazing.

In fact this amp sounds more like what I expected from a tube amp than the Yaqin I had without the bass compromise.
Click to expand...

Thats one reason why I like MF. While they have and do make tube gear, their SS gear is not hard, edgy or fatigue but rather oh so slightly sweet and musical with very good pace.
 
davidro said:
Ok no beer tonight (got wasted last night). It still sounds beautiful.

Listened to some chamber music. Korngold quartets (Doric Quartet, Chandos), Schubert piano sonata (Rubinstein, RCA). The concert hall ambiance is simply amazing.

In fact this amp sounds more like what I expected from a tube amp than the Yaqin I had without the bass compromise.
Click to expand...

Its a shame is wasn't released in the US, otherwise I'd be looking for one. I love solid state when its free of grain, hash and fatigue and thats what I remember about the MF XA-200's I listened to. What's the treble extension like on the XA-100? That was about the only area of weakness I could hear with the amps I listened to and even then I thought it was just different rather than not extended.
 
slippers-on said:
Thats one reason why I like MF. While they have and do make tube gear, their SS gear is not hard, edgy or fatigue but rather oh so slightly sweet and musical with very good pace.
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I can certainly relate to your comments.

Art K. said:
Leave it on.
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That's an idea :D

Spektre said:
What's the treble extension like on the XA-100? That was about the only area of weakness I could hear with the amps I listened to and even then I thought it was just different rather than not extended.
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Well my AR speakers aren't known for treble extension so I'm not sure if I've heard the true test of the amp's ability in that area :D

But as with the tube amp I had, the treble sounds airy and clear with this. It's not aggressive high, but rather lightweight, soft high. That's my impression.

slippers-on said:
David...have you joined the club yet? http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=7501Not a lot of traffic, but not many have Musical Fidelity I suppose.

Also the new DAC is out http://www.bm.rs/Musical Fidelity/Musical Fidelity M6 DAC Preview Broshure.pdf
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Sir I've joined that forum thanks to you :D I'll check out the thread...

If I do get a DAC for my SB Duet MF gear definitely will be a candidate. I've heard good things about their entry V-DAC.
 
Well my AR speakers aren't known for treble extension so I'm not sure if I've heard the true test of the amp's ability in that area

But as with the tube amp I had, the treble sounds airy and clear with this. It's not aggressive high, but rather lightweight, soft high. That's my impression.
Click to expand...

If you still have the Usher's why not give them a try, they have plenty of treble energy.
 
Neat idea. But the Usher's carrying our its duty at my office. When I get a chance I'll give it a go.
 
Listening to some Purcell choral works (from G Leonhardt Edition). The beauty of the music with this setup is simply heavenly and I can't force myself to leave home to work.
 
I don't know how I missed this thread the first time around.

davidro said:
I only have a phone camera but here we go...
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You must have a pretty nice phone. I've never owned one that could take pictures anywhere near that good.

davidro said:
These are just initial impressions.

The sound overall reminds me somewhat of the upgraded/modified Yaqin tube amp I once had. Just a lot of air into it & seamless. Wide-dispersing sound is naturally achieved. The bass is not thundering but, again, natural, plentiful and encompassing, akin to what you hear in a concert hall with fabulous acoustics.

Karajan/BPO's live recording of Schoenberg and Brahms CD (Testament), the performance of which is magnificent with regretfully drowning sonics, sounded a lot less boxy than before revealing a tad more of concert hall ambiance.

Beatles vinyl reissue of 'Help!' recording sounded livelier and fuller. Probably not exactly richer, but my AR speakers have perhaps too much of that anyway.

This morning I'm listening to string arrangement of Bach Goldberg Variations (Nonesuch). I used to find the string sound of this recording a little too brittle and, well, 'digital'. Now it sounds more relaxed and less like a studio recording.
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Most of your listening impressions are similar to the MF A3.5 CD player I have (just as slippers noted similarities with his MF CD player), which is about 5 or 6 years old I think. I take it this amp does the human voice really well?
 
I've yet to hear a MF power amp, but love my A3cr preamp very much. Deep, wide and detailed sound. Sounds better with every upgrade I make elsewhere in the system. Congrats on your new amp!

:thmbsp:
 
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