Musical Fidelity Demo Night or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Music

Last night at my local HiFi store, there were Musical Fidelity reps demoing their new line of Tri-Vista equipment(integrated amp, CD player, upsampling DAC). I thought I would make an appearance since there was free food and a door prize(DAC).

After two hours of listening, being harrassed by sales people(later to find out from Musical Fidelity rep that the person bugging my friends and I was one of the top 10 salespersons in the country), eating, and not winning the door prize, I was filled with delight to learn that my system is right about where I want it to be.

My immediate impression of the demo was that I was impressed. There was some violin concerto playing first that was particularly lifelike. Then was the new Stones remasters, some Keb' Mo' live DVD, and the obligatory KOB. Overall I was not impressed. It was just loud. I thought about my system which cost me about $800($400 of which is from one component) and then compare it to $10k speakers, a $5000 int. amp, and a $3000 cd player. I have never felt so good about my audio state of affairs. I may and probably will upgrade in the future but most likely only in DIY forms since it's fun and a challenge.

Blame it on my ears, blame it on my youthful inexperience. I heard noticable difference but nothing even worth 3 times the price let alone 30 times. I'm sure if my rig and that rig were to side to side it would blow mine away but how often do you compare audio equipment side to side? Only in stores and if at home you sure can't be focusing on the music.

So with that I know for sure, no wasting money on hardware for me. I'll buy reasonable quantities of LPs and CDs and not worry about how a new phono stage could change my impression of the music forever. This hobby is supposed to be about the music.

What happened?

Best Regards
Francis

 

all the stereo stores are using the stones sampler to demo their stuff. If y'all go to buy something soon, ask the salesman to throw in the stones sampler, as a deal sealer.

I've been looking for new gear. I've had pretty much the same stuff for twenty years, and it's all crapping out at the same time!

 

Forgot to mention that the poor deluted salesman wouldn't believe my friend that MFSLs were equalized to death. He actually believed that they were the purest form of these recordings known to man. I should have brought some Hoffman stuff.

 

But I'll blame it on the sun,
The sun that didn't shine,
I'll blame it on the wind and the trees.

I'll blame it on the time that never was enough,
I'll blame it on the tide and the sea,
But, my heart blames it on me.

-Stevie Wonder

Thanks for the report. I hear that Musical Fidelity are having a demo night towards the end of the month at San Francisco Sound showing off their new SACD player. I'm going to try to be there.

Regards,
Geoff

 

Yea, Raleigh was the first stop. The rep said they were going to hit Seattle, SF, LA, and New York. If youre in the area give a try. Maybe I'm just a sourpuss.

 

Re: Re: Musical Fidelity Demo Night or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Music

I love that Stevie Wonder song. Gives me chills just to see the lyrics. Uhhhh (sound of wind being knocked out of writer).

Oh, and I too thank you for the MF report.

 

Well, you all know what good, well polished mastered stuff sounds like on your system, right? Bring a CDR of it with you. Ask them to borrow the play button. Make yer own decision. If they start talking while you're concentrating, tell them to please be quiet. (grr)

Don't use what you're not familiar with. Not necessarilly DCC or MFSL discs, just things you know like your own bedroom. Bad is bad, even if someone else is gushing poetry from his mouth about what he's hearing.

 

Pretty vague statement here ashe. If you believe that all MFSL's were subject to this problem you're sadly mistaken.

 

I was exaggerating. I've heard quite a few that I've enjoyed tremendously. However he would not admit that they are equalized at all. I quote "The only equalization on the Mobiles is on the actual master tape." Prime example of people buying the hype and thinking with their wallets.

 

The majority of recordings on CD are EQ'ed in the mastering stage. Even Steve uses EQ. That is why I quit worring so much if something is tweaked a bit. I tweak stuff sometimes. It's all in what you like.

 

Steve,

I'm aware that many things are an issue in mastering, but I thought it was a common practice to do a bit of EQ to a master tape when mastering whether it needed it or not.

 

Damn straight Steve! And we will.