MF. popular?

[Floyddroid]

Musical Fidelity gear seems to feature less and less on the current scene. I really do think it went the same way as the over priced Scottish stuff and that better amps can be had for a fraction of the price.
Having had dealings with them in the past i am not surprised they are less spoken about than the other popular UK brands.
I do conceed that MF have made some great amps though in the past,:eyebrows:

[Roy S]

Still using the B1 Amp I got off ebay for £50 in my second system, sounds fine

[steveledzep]

Musical Fidelity gear seems to feature less and less on the current scene. I really do think it went the same way as the over priced Scottish stuff and that better amps can be had for a fraction of the price.
Having had dealings with them in the past i am not surprised they are less spoken about than the other popular UK brands.
I do conceed that MF have made some great amps though in the past,:eyebrows:

I agree. The new prices were very high. My last three amps have been MF all bought s/h. I replaced an Audiolab 8000A with a MF A3 about 6 years ago. 3 years ago I replaced the A3 with an A3.2 and I have recently obtained an A308. My Phono amp and Headphone amp are both MF too. I'm very pleased with the sound I'm getting but couldn't justify their cost new. All of mine are UK built and they are built very well indeed. In summary, great value for money second hand, but expensive new. As you say, don't hear much about them now.....? :scratch:

[Audioman]

I agree. The new prices were very high. My last three amps have been MF all bought s/h. I replaced an Audiolab 8000A with a MF A3 about 6 years ago. 3 years ago I replaced the A3 with an A3.2 and I have recently obtained an A308. My Phono amp and Headphone amp are both MF too. I'm very pleased with the sound I'm getting but couldn't justify their cost new. All of mine are UK built and they are built very well indeed. In summary, great value for money second hand, but expensive new. As you say, don't hear much about them now.....? :scratch:

Well they still get plenty reviews in the hi-fi mags. Their Dacs and music server have had coverage as well as their very expensive class A range. Apart from the top priced gear most of their stuff is made in Taiwan. It's their more affordable mid market amps that don't receive so much attention. Unfortunately like many other mid market brands prices have risen towards the high end leaving affordable to the likes of NAD and Cambridge. If Rega can make affordable quality products in the UK why can't others?

[Hydie]

I like MF equipment, I think it's good value. I'm using a complete v8 set up in a study system. OK it's not at the higher end of their range.

[Floyddroid]

Interesting comments. i agree with the fact that more UK products should be made here. It's a shame that MF are at the juncture that they seem to be. Once the bastion of british Hi-fi they are now making products that on the surface don't get the Kudos as they used to a few years back. i have owned many MF products myself and enjoyed them. However, in such a financial climate i really think their pricing policy needs reviewing.

[Audioman]

Interesting comments. i agree with the fact that more UK products should be made here. It's a shame that MF are at the juncture that they seem to be. Once the bastion of british Hi-fi they are now making products that on the surface don't get the Kudos as they used to a few years back. i have owned many MF products myself and enjoyed them. However, in such a financial climate i really think their pricing policy needs reviewing.

Steve.

I would agree there is a gap between their v products and their higher to high end kit. I would also agree the high end stuff is overpriced by as much as 100%. I think this may indicate were the market is at the moment. Either cheap made in the far east or low volume and hence expensive high end gear. I expect these are the most profitable markets. The problem is as you point out MF don't make products that come close to top SQ in the over £500 to under £2000 price range any more.

Interesting when they discontinued the last range a few years ago lots of their top amps and cd players were on offer at half the retail price. I think this is partly the reason that the older models are so affordable used. It's determining which sound good in my opinion as they varied from superb to ordinary sounding. Also there is an opinion that they use cheap components so that their designs do not perform to their potential. Odd that the ex service manager and MF themselves offer an upgrade service.

Paul.

[Tim]

I used to own an A3 amp, A3 CD player and X-Cans all acquired S/H. Excellent build quality but I thought lacking in performance compared to their price tag, got very good money for them on resale via eBay mind you :)
I doubt I would buy MF again though - I did consider the upgrade option but again thought this far too expensive via MF and gave up after JS Audio Repairs failed to reply to my request for a quote.

From a casual observer's perspective they look like they have lost their way of late, which is a pity for a British Hi-Fi company that were once held in high regard. The Rega Brio-R outperforms the M3i IMO and its half the price! The M3 case is visually more pleasing than my Rega but I can live with that.

[Floyddroid]

nicely put Paul.

[Floyddroid]

Yes, MF were/are the company of choice for those who believe that size matters. In the male jewelry stakes the monster MF amps especially the heavily engineered silver jobbies did look very impressive. the majority of the ones i have listened to however, sound very pedestrian. It is sods law that the ones i have listened to that sounded well were the very early ones which had a very industrial appearance. I had the A3 amp and CD and whilst they looked great they only ever seemed happy with small scale music. That's ok if you want to listen to a string quartet or a little folk music but if you wanted them to boogie they dug their heels in.
My colleague who is an audio engineer had a look in the top of his Tri-Vista SACD player only to doscover a cheap and cheerful DVD transport. This unit eventually broke down and is now a static display due to MF's unwillingness to help with it's repair. as a consequence i have stayed well and truly clear of MF myself ever since.:scratch:

[DSJR]

MF were loathed in the trade at one time and had a terrible reputation, not because of the gear, but because of the way the company did its business with its dealers. Latterly, they seemed to become a Sevenoaks brand, which usually puts off the remaining independant dealers.

Some great gear (thanks to Tim de P who I believe designed much of it), but far too much baggage.

B1 amp? is it the one with a proper full set of components, or the ghastly sounding post-review model with most of the amp missing inside?

[MartinT]

I was just reading about the MF AMS100 amp. £13k for an amp that produces 110W per channel and 1kW of heat.

Now I know I'm the flag bearer for solid state and my system gives a good idea of what SS can do, but that's just plain madness. Who wants to burn that amount of mains power and heat up their room while listening, with less output power envelope than I would consider ample? Yes, I haven't heard this model so can't comment on its sound, but I've heard other giant MFs and have doubts that it could really justify that price tag.

[rusty bearing]

Can't comment on much of what's been said but I bought an X-150 ex demo probably 8 years back, been really happy with it. Still going strong to this day and they seem to have a good resale value as well.....:)

[chelsea]

Think people got fed up with mf slashing prices making the 2nd hand prices almost worthless.
Also that card given out that you needed 8 billion watts didn't help.

[The Black Adder]

I think they are still trying to sell off the stock of (IMO) ridiculous Superchargers.. Dunno, to me since they released those they seemed to have gone a little quiet.

[wee tee cee]

I use a M1 DAC/V LINK/HPA, they sound very good to my ears in my set up. I use the HPA as a single line pre amp.In conjunction with valve mono blocks and statics the sound is very agreeable.They need careful partnering as in some set ups it can sound rather forward and bright. Works very well with hd650s as a headphone rig....Horses for courses!