Sale or Swap Musical Fidelity "The Preamp"

[phoenixpete]

I bought the MF Preamp from Doug Brady about a year ago as a "New old stock" unit, so it is in very good condition and spotless. I replaced the captive mains lead with some very high quality cable so this is not original but better obviously.
I am finding my system is a bit boomy and have tried everything I can to overcome this but have come to the conclusion that I would like to replace the MF preamp with something with tone controls. I know it is usually frowned on but I tried the preamp section of my Denon PMA-355 UK with the Bass turned down a bit and it worked fine, still sounds really good,no apparent loss of detail or anything else, infact it sounded very good indeed.
So if anyone has a nice preamp with tone controls preferably with remote volume control (but not essential) that they would swap for the MF please get intouch:)

Or of course I will sell the MF. I have the original box, Installation booklet and a pair of XLR to phono cables that came with the preamp. (It has XLR outputs).

Not sure how much it is worth but would prefer a swap anyway.
Maybe an Audiolab 8000 or similar?
Sorry about the fuzzy pictures:doh:
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p294/phoenixpete_2006/P6060078.jpg
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p294/phoenixpete_2006/P6060076.jpg
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p294/phoenixpete_2006/P6060077.jpg
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p294/phoenixpete_2006/P3220058.jpg

[Ali Tait]

Do you have curtains or blinds in there? That would help with the boom.

[phoenixpete]

Hi Ali.
I have curtains over the window directly behind the listening position which is a 2 seater material sofa,there is a carpet mat in front of the system and I have completely covered the ceiling with a cotton sheet affair suspended just above head height. This all helped a great deal with reflections etc and the room is pretty dead to the clap test but the quads just have that boom . I have moved them around a lot even bringing them about half way down the room which did improve it a bit but apart from that being not acceptable due to the possibility of people and dogs getting caught up in the wires behind them,but also it looks awful like that.:lolsign:
Not bothered about having tone controls as some are, I did have a Behringer DEQ but I thought that was very invasive of the sound overall and just killed it really.
Would also consider a Musical fidelity X-Tone so I could keep "The Preamp".

Have considered Bass traps but the cost is more than I am willing to pay.

[Ali Tait]

Ok, but I'd say it must be quite unusual to have a bass boom problem with 57's though!

Perhaps some diy bass traps?

[phoenixpete]

Ok, but I'd say it must be quite unusual to have a bass boom problem with 57's though!

Perhaps some diy bass traps?

Yeah I know:scratch: never thought I would be trying to turn DOWN the Bass with the 57s.

Bass boom was never a problem with the same setup but with Kef 105.3, Yamaha NS1000ms or the open baffles with 15" woofers???.
I loved those Kefs and the Yams, never should have sold either, but I never seem to have enough money to change gear without selling something to help fund the next thing.:doh:
Still, had some nice stuff over the years:cool:

[phoenixpete]

Looks like I will have a new pre-amp coming soon (Care of "John") so going to put the MF on ebay soon.
Not really sure what price to expect but probably £150 would be about right, as it is less than a year old. I have the original box so posting will not be a problem.
So if anyone on here would like it before it goes on ebay please get intouch.
I will update this thread when appropriate

Cheers :cool:

[HighFidelityGuy]

Things things like rugs, curtains and drapes won't really help much with your bass boom issue. That type of material is good at absorbing higher frequencies and reducing reflections but you need much thicker materials to absorb bass frequencies. It looks like you could fairly easily make some space in the corners behind your speakers. I would then recommend you try some bass traps of some sorts in those locations and if possible the corners behind your listening position. These can be found in various styles and price ranges. It just depends on how nice you would need them to look.

Something like the corner Orbis (http://www.advancedacoustics-uk.com/highendaudio/Orbis_Acoustic_Panel.html) from Advanced Acoustics would be perfect as they look nice and are free standing but they are a bit pricey. If aesthetics are less important and you want to do the same thing cheaper then StudioSpares and other pro-audio outlets sell various bass trap products. I use some of their corner cubes stacked up in various corners, nooks and crannies. :)

[phoenixpete]

Things things like rugs, curtains and drapes won't really help much with your bass boom issue. That type of material is good at absorbing higher frequencies and reducing reflections but you need much thicker materials to absorb bass frequencies. It looks like you could fairly easily make some space in the corners behind your speakers. I would then recommend you try some bass traps of some sorts in those locations and if possible the corners behind your listening position. These can be found in various styles and price ranges. It just depends on how nice you would need them to look.

Something like the corner Orbis (http://www.advancedacoustics-uk.com/highendaudio/Orbis_Acoustic_Panel.html) from Advanced Acoustics would be perfect as they look nice and are free standing but they are a bit pricey. If aesthetics are less important and you want to do the same thing cheaper then StudioSpares and other pro-audio outlets sell various bass trap products. I use some of their corner cubes stacked up in various corners, nooks and crannies. :)

Thanks Dave.:cool:
I have looked into the bass traps idea and like you say this is probably going to be the best route and no matter what pre amp I use bass traps will probably be of benefit anyway.
I have never been very happy spending fairly big sums of money on what look like cheap to produce foam panels.
I found a website that does foam cut to size and they do bass traps, not too bad a price but to cover the area behind the esl's they would need to be pretty big I think. Which ends up being quite expensive again,over £120 anyway. Just depends how much I really want to improve the sound I suppose. I would probably not be best pleased if I bought the bass traps and nothing changed.If I can sell the MF bass traps may be a go.:)
Link to the foam website.
http://www.efoam.co.uk/bass.html

[HighFidelityGuy]

No probs Pete, thanks for the link. :)
I've also read that high density glass fibre insulation has better low frequency absorption than acoustic foam. The problem with this is that it's rather messy to work with and would need to be completely enclosed in acoustic cloth to prevent fibres from getting into the air. THIS (http://www.wickes.co.uk/heavy-density-insulation/invt/161189/)is the type of stuff. It must be high density though, not the usual loft insulation stuff but also not the rigid Polystyrene ones. :)

[Reid Malenfant]

I've also read that high density glass fibre insulation has better low frequency absorption than acoustic foam. The problem with this is that it's rather messy to work with and would need to be completely enclosed in acoustic cloth to prevent fibres from getting into the air. THIS (http://www.wickes.co.uk/heavy-density-insulation/invt/161189/)is the type of stuff. It must be high density though, not the usual loft insulation stuff but also not the rigid Polystyrene ones. :)
I have no idea about that stuff, but i can tell you that Rockwool is vastly better at absorbing sound that acoustic foam ever would be. When vibrated the fibres rub together & generate a small amount of heat. This slows down the sound wave passing through the rockwool so it actually appears to be thicker than it it really is.

Having tried long haired sheeps wool & lots of other stuff including rockwool etc in stuffing sealed box loudspeakers i can tell you that i always get the lowest resonance frequency with rockwool with a given enclosure volume. Nowadays i calculate the true volume i need & then literally take 20% off the enclosure volume & know i'll get the resonance i want when it's stuffed :cool:

By the way, cheers for the link :) I reckon that stuff might be handy at some stage!

[phoenixpete]

The MF pre-amp is now on ebay if anyone wants to take a look.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MUSICAL-FIDELITY-/140563056486?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiF i_Amplifiers&hash=item20ba360766

[DirectDrive_Gordon]

Hi Pete, I have bought your MF Preamp and I'm very happy with it. It's working great with my modified QUAD 405-2 and KEF Reference Ones. Much prefer the sound to my Audiolab 8000Q - sounds more natural and organic although the bass is perhaps a tad loose.

[phoenixpete]

Hi Gordon.

I didn't realise you were on here:)
Glad you are happy with it and I hope it arrived safely.
I was allways happy with the presentation it gave,if anything I thought it was a little sort of dry a bit like a passive, but I think it was just doing it's job and not accentuating anything really.
At least it is in very good condition being less than a year old so should not give you any trouble for a very long time, and should you fancy a change it should be easy to move on.

I am happy with the SAE pre I now have, bought from "John" on here.
I just dial in -4 db on the bass and it works a treat at taming the bass boom.
Looks a bit industrial by comparison to the MF but I don't mind that at all.

:cool:

[nickthechef]

Hi Phoenixpete,

I believe i have just acquired your Musical Fidelity The Preamp off the chap you sold it to on ebay.
Was searching for some info about it and came across this post.
Was wondering what is the valve power amp you have there in your photo ?

Ps The preamp has been well looked after, it's still in mint condition. and sounding nice.

[phoenixpete]

Hi Phoenixpete,

I believe i have just acquired your Musical Fidelity The Preamp off the chap you sold it to on ebay.
Was searching for some info about it and came across this post.
Was wondering what is the valve power amp you have there in your photo ?

Ps The preamp has been well looked after, it's still in mint condition. and sounding nice.

Hi Nick.

I am still using the SAE Pre-amp and my 211 valve power amp.
The amp was made for me by a friend of mine, he does sell a few of his own brand amps and speakers, mostly through one or two specialist dealers.
He is now making different variations of amps based on the GM70 power valve as these are cheaper and more common at a decent price than quality 211's.
My one is called a 211 heaven by Transcription audio. It is a stereo power amp with the GE 211's, GEC U19 (I think) rectifiers and 2 x 5687's with very large mains transformer and a capacitor the size of a large beer can. All up it weighs 48kilo's.
Moved to Dorset now and the hi/fi is in a lovely big room, the Quad 57's sounding sublime.

Been a bit quiet on the hi/fi forum front lately just enjoying it and the Dorset life.

Pete.

[nickthechef]

Hi Pete,

I used to live in Dorset, great part of the world!
Does your friend still make amps? who does he sell through?
Have been looking to buy a nice valve power amp for a while. Never sure what to match with them pre-amp wise but thought you might have a few ideas seeing as you used to own the one i currently have :)

I have a pair of Dali Zensor 3's all nice interconnects and speaker cables. I like a lot of acoustic music and a pretty eclectic mix of everything else.

Nick

[killie99]

:scratch:

[phoenixpete]

Hi Pete,

I used to live in Dorset, great part of the world!
Does your friend still make amps? who does he sell through?
Have been looking to buy a nice valve power amp for a while. Never sure what to match with them pre-amp wise but thought you might have a few ideas seeing as you used to own the one i currently have :)

I have a pair of Dali Zensor 3's all nice interconnects and speaker cables. I like a lot of acoustic music and a pretty eclectic mix of everything else.

Nick

Adrian at Audioflair has Simon's amps and speakers on demo usually. Simon will make a pre-amp to match his amps or I know he runs a CD player with it's own volume control directly, so no pre-amp.
I am very happy with my SAE pre-amp and have also used ( and still have ) a Bryston pre which works very well too.
Adrian will be your best bet for technical help with matching.

[nickthechef]

Hi Pete,

Thanks for that i will check that out!