Music First Pre with a Vitus Power?

[spook]

Hi All,

Does anyone have experience with using a MFA baby Reference with a Vitus power amp?

A while ago I was running pair of Boenicke W8se+ (which I am very,very happy with), from a Hegel H20 and an Audio Research ref 3. I upgraded the ref 3 to a Modwright LS300 valve preamp and was very happy. I played around with valve swapping and got a very lovely. fluid sound. I then bought a Vitus SS-050 power amp (with a built in volume control) for a good price. It sounded great but there was a lot of distortion and valve hum/hiss. I then ran the power amp directly from my dCS Rossini and was astonished at how much better it sounded in all departments. I switched back to the Modwright but this time with the Hegel and two ther old power amps I have tucked away (an Ayre v-5exmp and an AR Ref 75). The modwright sounded great with all three but not so good with the Vitus so I suspect that there is a compatibility issue with the two. I switched back to the Vitus on it's own and it just sounded so much better. So much so that it's definitely a keeper.

But I would like a preamp and have read much about the Music First Baby Ref giving great results and punching high above it's price point. I haven't used a passive pre before except for an old Tisbury years ago which is, of course, not in the same league. So, I was wondering if anyone on here has used an MF Baby Ref with a Vitus power amp and whether they were a good match?

All comments welcome but I would prefer those based on direct experience of owning or hearing the combination.

Many thanks,

Steve.

PS The other amps I've mentioned will be up for sale soon so if anyone is interested please get in touch.

[Macca]

seems like the Vitus already has a passive attenuator, hence your DAC working well with it directly.

Not sure what would be gained by putting another passive in front of that, other than giving more inputs and other controls like balance.

In that case you'd want the attenuation on the power amp at minimum i.e 'max volume' which should minimise any noise and give maximum dynamic range. But you probably knew that.

I've heard systems with Music First preamps a few times but not with a Vitus, sorry.

[spook]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, it might be best to leave it as it is but I have often found that adding a pre can have a positive effect on the sound as was the case with my other power amps. I wonder how the passive attenuators in the Vitus and Music First would compare? The pre would also give me more source options including a NAS and a valve tuner (i'm not a huge fan of the one in the Rossini).

[Macca]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, it might be best to leave it as it is but I have often found that adding a pre can have a positive effect on the sound as was the case with my other power amps. I wonder how the passive attenuators in the Vitus and Music First would compare? The pre would also give me more source options including a NAS and a valve tuner (i'm not a huge fan of the one in the Rossini).

I also prefer a proper pre-amp even though I've only one source.

In terms of what works, gain staging is the key, and impedance can matter too, especially with passives.

I've always found getting a pairing that works really well to be trial and error - even if it works on paper, in practice it can be sub-optimal or downright bad. In other words, you might have to just get one and try it :)

[hifinutt]

i have used MFA baby ref with msb s200 amps and several other amps . they are just superb pre amps and just exceptional at dynamics . i guess you are looking at that lovely red one in classifieds for 2400 ?

[spook]

That's correct but I'd like to be sure that I won't have a compatibility problem with it being coupled with the Vitus.

I tried to repond to you on PFM but there's a glych in the system at the moment.

Essentially, I'd like to know how the sound compared between using the MFA and connecting the source directly to the power amp? I know that would require attenuation to be provided in the power amp or the source. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Steve.

[hifinutt]

Hi Stephen
I have used umpteen mfa with loads of power amps and never once had a problem !!
I recall a friend using a Vol control dac direct into power amps with some big B&W speakers in a big room . I took my humble mfa classic over and listened first . it was ok , detailed and ok . but popped in the MFA and soundstage just widened massively and the bass made some windows shake . incredible difference

I once had the baby ref with a 12k arc ref 5 pre and we compared both . some preferred the mfa
As i mentioned before i dont like the limited steps you get with MFA , i need fine control and my BC eix has 100 steps and my BC pre 5 has 200 steps . Sonically i think the MFA baby is probably better than both but its just that ergonic feature that irritates
in the past i have used a BC dac inwith the MFA and power amps to give fine control