Musical fidelity power amps anyone?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by avanti1960, Dec 3, 2019.

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  1. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    very little info about musical fidelity power amplifiers on this side of the pond. potentially looking at an M6S-PRX. thanks in advance for your info.
     
  2. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    My local is a dealer, I’ve heard their stuff in demo there a few years back and bought a phonostage from them. Hard to generalize since they make so much stuff but I really I’d say it’s good but not amazing. No idea about the amp you re talking about but the company was bought by Pro-ject a year or more ago.

    based on what I’ve heard I don’t think it’s up to the level you have established as normal for your main rig.
     
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2019
  3. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    They use inexpensive PS caps, which makes me wonder where else they skimp. I was considering the same amp until I saw they use Jamicon caps in some of their amps.
     
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  4. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
  5. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    You should demo one. I believe your concern about the caps would vanish.
     
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  6. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    You don’t have any concerns about 240 wpc from a chassis that small? I’m looking for the risk of a back back injury from moving an amp with that much power.
     
  7. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    Always thought the A100 was pretty nice.
     
  8. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    Power doesn't mandate a big chassis, especially if an amp has external heatsinks. But channel separation is another matter.
     
  9. Agitater

    Agitater Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto
    There are several Musical Fidelity dealers in the Toronto area, so I’ve had a chance to demo several products. The M6s line (I own the M6 phono preamp - it’s truly superb) is the sweet spot in the high-end lineup for Musical Fidelity.

    The M6s PRE preamp and PRX power amp are confusing. They’re too good for their price points. The combination goes head to head with everything I’ve heard, auditioned and owned under CAN$10,000. That’s saying something. My long-term integrated amps were displaced by the M6 pair, but I was sorely tempted to dump my LFD NCSE MKII at the time in favor of the M8 that I also auditioned. I eventually moved up to the Luxman L590 AXII for that particular system.

    The M6s PRX power amp is a curious thing because if you measure the it the results comes up competent and competitive but not obviously outstanding. I always measure first, listen second. In a listening session with my music group and alternately driving a pair of Harbeth Monitor 30.1, Spendor A5r, Wilson Benesch Discovery II (on loan), Falcon Acoustics LS3/5A, Bryston Mini-T (on loan) and Magnepan 1.7 (on loan) speakers, the M6 just sailed along effortlessly. All of these loads were handled identically well by the M6s.

    The most impressive thing about the M6s is its musicality. Acoustic instrument timbres - small jazz ensemble, big bands, small orchestras and chamber groups, full orchestras - are delightfully natural, beautifully differentiated and natural above all else. The amp handled electronica - Yelo, Antwood, Pascale Project, etc., etc. - just as ably and easily. Wild dynamic shifts are handled effortlessly.

    Despite deprecatory and baselessly negative comments about capacitor choices and other such esoterica, the amp’s design and internal parts selection creates a cohesive and fine quality whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. But then, that’s great design so it’s to be expected from a solidly music-oriented shop like Musical Fidelity. As far as medium or long-term-reliability goes, my M6 phono preamp has been properly flawless and utterly reliable.

    For the cable hounds out there, I used Belden (10 AWG) 5T00UP that I have terminated myself for such equipment tests and comparisons. The cable (properly terminated with locking WBT banana connectors) provides vanishingly low impedance. DC loop resistance is extremely low, capacitive reactance is very well controlled across the audio band, and inductance remains very low throughout the audio band. In other words, the speaker cables have literally no effect on sound.
     
  10. MC Rag

    MC Rag Forum Resident

    I regret selling my MF xp200 power amp, that feeding Dynaudio contour 1.1 speakers produced fabulous sound, probably more enjoyable than my current system.
     
    yodog and FJC1966 like this.
  11. DrZhivago

    DrZhivago Hedonist

    Location:
    Brisbane Australia
    I am a proud owner of M6si. I know its an integrated amp, but its built like a tank (dual mono + separate pre-amp in one box). Gutsy (rock solid and tight bass) and very melodic, without sacrificing too much detail. Can drive heavy loads and can listen for hours without being fatigued. I would only upgrade if I ever get massive speakers. The ones that are normally driven by two hefty mono block amps.

    Regards
     
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  12. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    I have the M6500i Integrated. I think this may give a little more than the M6 pre and power combo for similar money (if you don't need the inbuilt phono stage). The M6500i amp design is basically the same as the M8 series (which is currently unavailable). M6500 is truly dual mono with a large toroidal transformer for each channel and more powerful at 500W into 8 ohms. Truly smooth and effortless with great detail. Runs pretty warm so not a good idea in a standard rack (also because of its size). It's built like a tank (30kg weight) and I can just lift it.
     
    avanti1960 likes this.
  13. caracallac

    caracallac Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    I've never had a problem with a musical fidelity component, they usually have well designed circuits and no nonsense components. Although that said, trying to get a replacement remote for my A3CD was a bit of an epic poem. The old A1000 integrated is one of the few amps I'm sorry I ever sold and the AMS series is well worth a look in my humble opinion.
     
  14. wownflutter

    wownflutter Nocturnal Member

    Location:
    Indiana
    I know 3 different people that use the X-A100 integrated amp. They've been running them for years with no issues at all. It's a nice sounding little amplifier. It's also built like a tank. You could probably heave it against the wall and it wouldn't hurt it.
    [​IMG]
     
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  15. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Good point about the heat sinks. I prefer class “A” power and a class “A” amp with that much power is about three time the size. I’m not sure what class their amps are but they consistently build very powerful amps in small boxes. I was looking at their mono blocks at one point and they were tiny, almost as if they were class “D”, I know their not but it’s in that ballpark as far as size is concerned. Designing a 240wpc amp that is meant to have the matching preamp sit on top of it also seems odd and a bit class “D”ish.

    [​IMG]

    That’s a lot of power for something the size of a 1987 CD player and one would think too much heat to stack another component.
     
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  16. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    They are class A/B. The M6 cases are not really that small. The M6500 and M8 models run more into class A I believe and have double the case height and large heatsinks each side. You are likely thinking of the M1 monoblocks that are discontinued. To my knowledge MF never made a class D amp. The MF that was notorious for overheating ( and got a rep for component cost cuts) was the A1 from the 1980s. Project, the new owners I believe have plans to reintroduce this amp in some form.
     
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  17. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    I find their ultra modern styling doesn’t age well and this is a strong example of that. The monster knob design of the new line will probably follow this example. Kind of an Euro/ IKEA look to their products.

    Possibly big reason why the values on the used market don’t hold up. Depreciation on new electronics is often substantial but none more so than MF and there is always inventory for a brand that isn’t substantial in the US.

    and I get it, put the name of any brand in a thread title and it turns into an owners fan fest. I’m not trying to troll, no need for pitchforks.

    I’ve shopped the brand, bought one of their products and have some opinions. I think their preamp or signal circuits are stronger than the amp section but if you need big power, it’s compelling for the price point. They look weird and sell cheap in the used market.
     
  18. wownflutter

    wownflutter Nocturnal Member

    Location:
    Indiana
    That particular model sells on the used market for the same price that it did twenty years ago. I think it's probably the only model that's done that.
     
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  19. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    It's like any brand. Certain models hold their value well. They haven't hiked their prices as much as some brands in recent years. There was a period were they changed models often and new product got heavily discounted through certain sources in the UK. Current styling I don't think will rapidly age and I prefer a large volume knob rather than the tiny buttons on some so called contemporary designs. In fact this casework (M2-M6 series) has been the same since around 2010 and still looks good. I do find the Nuvista (valve) high end product they make however to be quite ugly.
     
    Dennis0675 likes this.
  20. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    Probably not a good idea to start pointing the ugly finger in the world of hi-fi, as most of gen pop fits the description.
     
  21. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    Of course. It has to be ugly to make a statement.
     
  22. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    I assume that if it looks particularly bad that an engineer probably had total control and it sounds good.
     
    mrkrinkle likes this.
  23. Stone Turntable

    Stone Turntable Independent Head

    Location:
    New Mexico USA
    My ugly A300 integrated amp is still working perfectly, going strong, and sounds fabulous.

    [​IMG]
     
  24. Navarone

    Navarone Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Germany
    Hey guys,
    I am a long time lurker for so many interesting topics about audio going around here, but never did actually register until today when I saw question about MF power amps.

    Not long ago I had a loaner M6S PRX for almost two weeks through my dealer directly from MF, so I can tell you few words about it. That device was meant for dealerships demo, but I got my hands on it anyway.

    Build quality and design.

    Mine was silver, and had quiet a few scratches already, through which you could see black metal housing. So front is rather thinly silver painted / coated.
    Overall design is very simple. Full metal chassis - I like its minimalism and understatement. Model number/logo is textured and looks very nice.
    Company name has nice font and looks just right small printed on the side.
    On the front panel we have only two buttons, left one is an on/off toggle with rather sharp edges. Other one to the right is input selector button. I didn’t like the feeling of using either of them.

    [​IMG]

    Two glossy stripes on the front are plastic covers behind which are ugly as hell blue LEDs (whyy MF, oh why?!) showing us what input is selected and if the device is on.
    On both sides we find black metal ribs, endings are rounded, so nobody will get hurt while moving it (or petting it). I really like edge design going from front to the side.

    [​IMG]

    On the backside we will find semi quality bi-wire binding posts, a power outlet to use with our fancy power cables, RCA/XLR switch, two pairs of RCA and one pair XLR inputs and a loop output. Overall better than usual.

    [​IMG]

    PRX weights a healthy 20kg, everything fits well together and there is no squeaking while picking it up. Build quality is just fine for the price, nothing extreme though.
    It gets very warm after an hour or two, but never too hot to touch.
    M6s has the same slightly buzzing transformer problem as M6.
    Not loud - you will hear them only with your music entirely paused, but still that needs to be mentioned.

    Sound.

    I would say, that basically all money went just there.
    M6s has a lot of power and a big damping factor – control over speakers is hugely impressive. I am a low volume listener (even on headphones) but this amazing effortlessness cough me totally off guard and I had him apparently pretty cranked up as even my neighbors asked me during the day to keep it down.

    Sound characteristic is neutral, slightly on the bright side, slightly analytical.
    Notes have good contours, but sounding never to harsh, just smoooth.
    Bass can punch when needed, it has a HIGH quality bass and can do this ‘oomph’ we all like.
    I noticed I can listen (and enjoy!) poorly recorded 80s songs more than ever because of its smoothness. It reminds me a lot of Dynaudio Contour sound signature, which I imagine will be a very good match.

    M6s PRX is dynamical and fast, but not crazy fast, just in my opinion natural sounding like Yamaha amps, but they don’t even come close in control department.
    PRX is a high-end sound for masses, it plays on pair with amps that costs few times more. Though it is definitely not for everyone - there is not much A class “magic” or lushness here. But if someone is wanting that he shouldn't be looking on this 230 Watt power horse.

    I am not saying you should buy it, but you should at least have a listen, because this sound can be addicting and I’m catching myself missing it since I gave my loaner back.

    - Navarone
     
  25. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    i thought the same but it does weigh 43 lbs.
     
    Dennis0675 likes this.
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