Musical Fidelity A5cr 2ch Pre-amplifier and Power Amplifier.

Hmmm following some recommendations from a couple of people I decided to take this pair home this weekend for demo and now I’m smitten !

As some might know my 2ch pre search goes back about 2 years ago when my current 2ch musical fidelity pre was playing up. Fortunately or unfortunately my 2ch pre got fixed up, however in the time I managed to demo some pretty interesting stuff in the $2500-$8000 price range including 2ch integrated amps and pre-power amps. What it highlighted to me very clearly was the importance of a good 2ch pre and the benefits it can bring, plus also the very different sound characteristics of the previous brands, their strengths and in some cases their weaknesses.

My key requirements on the features side for a 2ch pre have been remote control, HT input/HT bypass/HT direct switching to allow my 2ch system to be better integrated into the HT side of my system. Other requirements is a built in MC Phono stage though this wasn’t a essential requirement as could always use a separate unit for this. And lastly for the power amp side of things although still very much in love with my mono blocs have kept the mind open that there might be a better amp stage out there with similar characteristics and better refinement. All of which bringing me to this demo.

My auditioning included :
Part 1 (Friday night) – 2ch listening (CD & vinyl), multichannel music(SACD & DVDA) & watching a movie live on TV.
Part 2 (Saturday) – my usual test DVDs including sections from movies and music DVDs

In summary this combination is a cracker for 2ch music very much in the vein of the musical fidelity sound of old but with much much more refinement. Overall they have an energetic sound thats clean with very good detail, excellent clarity and soundstage all of which making them extremely suitable for HT. I’d see them as the heart of a serious 2ch system or as a very worthy upgrade for anyone looking to move their HT system to maximise 2ch performance without compromise.

The equipment:
Teac CD transport
Rega P25 turntable, musical fidelity phono stage
Musical fidelity valve DAC (circa 1992)
Denon 2900 dvd/universal disc.player
Harman Kardon AVR630 as a pre-pro
Elektra theatre 7 multichannel amp
Teac DVB820 HD stb
Richter Centre and Bipole surrounds, Thor sub & Subsonic rears
Musical Fidelity Pre and two 150W mono blocks driving (L&R)fronts
Mission 753 fronts
Speaker cables - linear crystal(centre), Vandenhul(fronts), cable talk flat(surrounds) & Linear crystal (rears)
Interconnects – Cinema cable vector VI multichannel for in/outs from/to HK AVR630, Jaycar Response interconnects to connect upto 2ch pre. Vandenhul, audioquest & verisilmitude for RCAs and coax interconnets between 2ch gear.

Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Paul & Rab from CAV for lending me the A5cr Pre-Pwr combination to check out at home.

The trial gear
Musical Fidelity A5cr Stereo Pre-Amplifier ($4000)
http://www.carltonaudiovisual.com.au/?q=node/view/346
http://www.musicalfidelity.com/mf/en/Products/A5/a5cr_pre

along with Musical Fidelity A5cr Stereo Power Amplifier ($4000)
http://www.carltonaudiovisual.com.au/?q=node/view/347
http://www.musicalfidelity.com/mf/en/Products/A5/a5cr_pow

Both are extremely smart looking with matt finish anodised aluminium fronts with black side rack handles and black heatsinks and casing combined with silver knobs and buttons and tiny blue leds (quite similar look to the rotel pre/pro-pwrs). Both are heavy(pre 14kg, pwr 19 kg) yet compact chunky looking.

The pre-amp is remote controlled using a quality Alps remote controlled vol control. Key features for me in the Pre are built in MC Phono stage & the very important one a HT bypass/ HT direct input allowing the pre-pwr combination to be integrated with ease into any HT system. To integrate into a HT system front L&R output are run from your HT AVR/pre-pro to the HT input on the A5cr Pre. When the HT input is selected on the A5cr pre the volume control is bypassed and signal from your HT AVR/Pre-pro is sent directly to the A5cr power amp to drive your fronts.

Interestingly the power amp has switchable dual inputs allowing some additional additional possibilities of using two sources though I did not explore that side of things. The power amp has two sets of speaker binding posts for biwiring. Some comparisons with my Elektra theatre 7 is interesting. The mf power amp has less heat sinks and runs a touch warmer than the Elektra theatre 7 but nothing to be worried about. In configuration it has some silmilarities to the Elektra theatre 7 in that both have a large toroidal transformer in the centre. Interestingly both the Elektra & the mf power amp both run the same Sanken amp stages and both bolted directly to the heat sinks either side of the amp. The Elektra uses 2 sanken amp stages per channel the mf uses 8 per channel 16 in total. The mf is spec’d to produce a massive 250Wpc and 200A of current the likes of which my main speakers have never seen before. The Elektra uses top quality nichicon muse capacitors and mf just their standard jamicon ones though has many many more in place than the elektra does. And that’s where the similarities end. To maximise channel separation The mf power amp is fully dual mono – as though it were two mono blocs built into the same case and completely symmetrical in design for the left and right channels.

An important key design feature for the pre and power amps is the ‘cr’ signia indicating they are choke regulated. Something mf has used in their top amps for the last three series to provide noise filteration. To implement this they have two additional power supplies inside the pre and power amps along with the main torroidals.

Both the Pre and pwr amp are made in Taiwan as per all the mf gear now but extremely well built. Could not see any signs of compromise and electrical work that I could see through the lid looked first rate as well. The components used are the same mf used previously with their UK made gear. Good news with the Taiwan made mf gear is the big drop in prices. The model previous model to the A5, the mf A308 pre-pwr for instance, cost $6000 a pop vs the $4000 each that the A5 combo.

The material:
Run Lola Run - title and opening scene using the DD5.1 soundtrack – this movie in the initial opening has good demonstration of low sub bass, spatial information, test of soundstage, projection of sounds, sound pans and vocals.

Morcheeba, Brixton to Beijing concert. DD5.1 track. Track 4 Tape Loop. Good for testing atmospherics, Vocals, a bit of sub plus good workout for the mains & surrounds with the concert and audience.

Master and commander chapter 4 – in DTS the scene with Canon balls is incredible test of sheer impact of a system, bass & sub setup, surround capability and sheer dynamics.

The Village ch 7, 17 & 19 – in DTS ES awesome test of atmosphere, detail, soundstage, scale and dynamics

Family Man – live of digital feed from teac dvb820 HD stb using Logic 7 7.1 decoding off the stereo sound track good test of surround processing, vocals and detail capabilities.

Meshell NdegeOcello – Plantation Lullabies, Tracks 5,6&7 – great mid to low bass, very good detail, vocals and soundstage.
Angelique Kidjo – Oremi, Tracks 10,11 & 12
Nitin Sawhney – Prophesy Tracks 1,2 & 3
plus many more tracks from some of my CDs, SACDs and vinyl :
Bjork – Debut
AIR Moon - Safari
Diana King - Think Like a Girl
Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms (SACD)
Daina Krall – Look of love (CD & SACD)
John Lee Hooker – The Healer
Enya – shepherd Moons & Water mark
Beth Orton – Central Reservations
Eric Bibb – Spirit of the blues (SACD)
Sade – Promise (Vinyl)
St Germain – Tourist (Vinyl)

Part 1 – (Friday night) – 2ch listening (CD & vinyl), multichannel music(SACD & DVDA) & watching a movie live on TV.

I’m a big 2ch fan and if buying these amps 2ch would be the no 1 reason so best thought I’d check that out first. I decided to start things off simply. Unhooked my existing mf pre and mono blocks and swapped them with the A5 pre-power. Hmmm noticed a very slight hum coming from the power amps toroidal and also a tiny bit of a hum coming out the fronts not significant but I would have preferred it if it wasn’t there !. Tried taking power off different sockets and also moving interconnects but the slight hum remained. Anyways after that I left the system powered and coasting for the next hour.

Listened to some CDs from 6pm Friday evening and First up I put in Enya’s watermark on CD. First thing that hit me was I was swamped with sound – the room filled with sound to the extremities. Second thing I noticed was the extended bass- I could hear it and feel it. Next up very noticeable the extended highs and clarity with which I could hear details – very noticeable with vocals for instance where I could hear inflections and textures never heard before.

Swapped to Diana king’s think like a girl CD – a very dynamic CD with a great bass line. I’d been listening with the pre’s vol control at the quarter to mark (around 60db). Decided to bump it up to the ‘10 to’ mark (70-80db). Beautiful dynamics, still extremely clean, love the bass line – there were sections where bass wafts through the room which I don’t think I’ve experienced on my system before. What I like about the bass is its there to be heard and felt but not overpowering. With the Diana king CD there are things going on everywhere and much more distinctly placed with the A5 combo whereas they sort of blend in to the mix with my old mf pre-power.

Followed up with a few more of my favourite CDs and then coming close to 8:30pm so thought probably time to hook up the A5 combo for HT. Ran two RCAs from analog outputs from my AVR straight to the HT input on A5 pre. Selected HT on the A5 pre Ran test tone on the Avr found had to drop level for the mains from +4 down to –5.

Watched ‘Family Man’ on ch9 using Logic 7 processing of the mpeg soundtrack. With my Elektra theatre 7 driving my centre, surrounds and rears and the A5 driving the fronts, impressions were vocals clean and clear, good pans across the screen. The A5 seemed to blend in pretty well without any clash in the sound between the centre or the mains or other speakers. During one of the breaks I swapped to the ‘we were soldiers’ movie going on another channel first thing I noticed was soundstage across the front – height seemed a bit more width about the same as with my mono blocs.

After the movie back to more CDs and then did some listening with vinyl to check out the A5 pre’s inbuilt phono stage. I was happy to find the built in phono stage is a step above my old mf phono stage. Quite enjoyed both the Sade and the St Germain records I played through. Had a richer sound to what I’m used to, cleaner much more enjoyable listening overall.

By this time it was about 2:15am and thought time for bed. God knows what the wife thinks is up with me being up so late but fortunately she was busy too working on the computer and most likely completely forgotten about me !. Decided to leave the amps on overnight so all warm and ready to go in the morning……

Part 2 (Saturday) – my usual test DVDs including sections from movies and music DVDs
After a bit of a sleep in, Saturday morning decided to check out some music and movies on DVDs after all the mains are a big part of the HT sound so important to check out the A5 in HT.

First up was Morcheeba, love this music DVD have listened/watched it many times. For me the one stand out with the A5’s in the system was front soundstage height definitely higher than with my mono blocs. Also noticed could quite happily crank it up without it starting to sound on edge or hard which I sometimes find with my old mono blocs. Certainly very clean sounding and yes very enjoyable. Particularly liked the high soundstage and the big ‘being there’ sound that I like.

Next up one of my recent favourites ‘The village’. Starting with ch 7 where the male lead walks beyond the boundaries of the village and enters the forest. Cranked it up to –15db and ohboy the atmosphere – and for the first time I actually realised the sound track creating the atmosphere is an actual orchestra with real instruments – had always thought it just electronic before. As the male lead walks in upto the red bush the snapping of twigs on the forest floor to the left and the growl & breathing from the unseen beast is superb. Also great is the waft or gushes of wind that go through as the beast appears to move out of scene. Superb scene for testing it all out atmosphere, detail, soundstage, scale and dynamics. Next up ch 17 and 19 also great as tests of dynamics and can make you jump especially if you haven’t seen it before. I didn’t make me jump, but was pretty happy with the dynamics there.

Next up Master and commander the opening scenes love the creaking of the ship all around you. Also noticed the sound of everything swaying infront of you with the swaying of the ship. The canon ball scene does not seem to have lost any of the impact or sheer dynamics and energy with this combo.

Finally tested Run Lola Run – the opening scene which still has the beaut effect of the wind draft of the pendulum swaying side to side and the steering and panning effects and test of vocals. With the casino scene had a listen to the ball going around and it still goes all around the room and lola’s scream still has all the shrieking energy I remember.

Some conclusions
The HT input works like a dream, and makes it very easy to integrate into any HT system. The remote control for switiching and vol control is a good addition for me as is the built in MC phono stage which is of superior quality ot my mf outboard stage.

Apart from the hum issue which hopefully is just installation related, both the A5 pre & pwr are extremely well built. The power amp runs a little warmer than say the Elektra but not hot and looking at the quality of the workmanship looks like something that would take me through another decade as my previous mf pre-pwr setup has.

The A5 combo is beaut for music with its clean, detailed & open, energetic sound and has a character very well suited to home theatre. Whether the sound characteristic is to your liking I cannot say and you will have to find out for your self. For me they suit me very well for HT and music and a good upgrade from my mf pre & mono-blocs I love so much.

PS check the link below for a pic of the A5 pre-pwr as I had in place for the demo.

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtop...ndpost&p=277726

Excellent review Al…. but who is a naughty boy then, you do realise Christmas is still a couple of months away.

thanks spearmint ! I do like presents !

ps have added a link to a pic to the way setup for the review

Very nice review and handsome gear!
It looks like I have to get a few more examples of test media - I have used many of what you have listed but I haven't heard of :
Meshell NdegeOcello
Angelique Kidjo
Nitin Sawhney
AIR Moon
Beth Orton or Eric Bibb

You took us on a great journey.

As do I (like presents)

Hmmm there is something wrong with the picture.........Ahhh I know the surroundings are wrong, they would look much better in my humble abode, along with MJR69’s DD18, and then it would be Christmas, now where is Santa when you need him, obviously delivered these items to the wrong places.

thanks mjr,

I do have some unusual music tastes !...a bit wide and varied. Thing is I really do like good vocals, instruments and a nice rhythm/beat or melody and seem to find it in all sorts of stuff !

Meshell Ndegecello, african american singer, soul-funk best description, has great bass lines, great vocals very nice sound stage, great bass guitar

Angelique Kidjo, great vocals, good for checking sound stage & detail, shes an african singer. Great 3D stuff in this one.

Nitin Sawhney, good dynamics, low bass lines, good sound stage & atmosphere with stuff. UK dance with an Indian flavour. Saw this guy live at the forum in melb and bought every CD he had after that. Have even got a bit of his vinyl coming over from the UK !

AIR Moon Safari, a french band with their most notable hit 'sexy boy', slightly retro almost vinyl sound to this CD, some beautifull femal vocals on a couple of tracks. Very atmospheric music.

Beth Orton, a bit middle america, one of the best femal vocals I've come across. Has a sort of haunting voice. Saw her live when she came out to melb. She's a bit waif like blonde B***o and you would not believe the music she puts out. All her music is very sad though !

Eric Bibb, black american soul/roots, unbelievable voice, he was on live at the basement recently and I picked up the dvd afterwards at JB. Have a couple of his SACDs. Raises the hairs on the back of the neck.

all well worth checking out. Do have a listen before buying though as just might not be to your taste !

Good review alebonau.


LOL, they won't go back.....

These are great amps, seem to have endless, unstrained power. And the pre works a treat with the Rega too. I recently recorded a cd and the depth of the soundstage, especially my drums, is quite astounding.

You just wait until they're run in !!! They've gotta be a keeper....

P.S.
if you haven't already, listen to:

Jennifer Warnes - The Hunter - track 7 - Lights of Louisianne
Carol Kidd - all my tomorrows - track 7 - when I dream

thanks cujo thats very encouraging stuff indeed !

yes the rega did seem to take to the pre very nicely which was good little bonus I thought.

will check out both jenifer warns and carole kidd as have liked their stuff.

Thanks for the explanation notes on the various artists. I grabbed Run Lola Run and Aero from your previous reviews and I think we have similar diverse taste.

Jennifer Warnes and Carol Kidd? I am getting very edumacated

Nice review and nice equipment.

So are they going to stay in your room?

Want me to run them in for you

Hi Al,

Excellent review.

Do you think you'd have the time to write up, with just the pre wired up?

Sounded like you were in the market for the pre; but the during the tests you decided to swap both your existing pre and monoblocks. Correct me if I misunderstood the review?

I am very interested to know about the MF pre and power amps. by themselves.

Comparing the power amp with your Elektra would also be interesting.....

So what have you decided, are you going to keep them?

Ritesh

G'day,

Nice review of the MF A5. I had a listen to these running some JMLabs Electra 926 speakers on the weekend. Very sweet sound. I note that the MF A5 amp can handle 2 ohm -- very important to me as the speakers I like tend to have difficult loads.



I wouldn't mind a review of the MF tube buffers. I'm investigating le bruit de tubes and perhaps external EQ is the best option.

--Geoff

Hi ritesh,

Yes my main focus has been a pre upgrade however have always kept mind open on the pwr side and with this demo decided to evaluate the A5 pre-pwr as a system. When I originally wrote the review I actually had about another 2 pages on the comparison with my old my gear which I ended up deleting as figured of more value to myself than anyone and plus the review at that stage was out to about 9 pages which I thought, although an indication of how enamoured I am with this pair, would bore any reader to death !

Sparing you the 2 pages I deleted, long and the short of it is my 2ch pre is outclassed by the A5 pre for detail, texture, soundstage and features. My old mono blocs I still love some aspects of them. But they too are outclassed for the clarity & clean sound of the A5 pwr. My old mono blocs, though they have plenty of slam, can get a bit hard and rough around the edges when pushed (perhaps a result of their bridged mosfet design?). The extended highs and lows I heard with the A5pre-pwr I believe are a combination of the A5 pre-pwr working together. The pre providing the detail, the pwr translating it at the speakers.

What I like about the A5 pre-pwr is that much of the mf character that I like with the mono blocs is there and it’s a good step up in sound quality & features from what I have.

I’ve tried the Elektra 7 in the past for my mains and made comment in the Elektra review, intend to do the same again for a friend with the A5 pre - can comment back if your interested though I'd think the elektra reference would be something more in the A5 league.

I only had the A5 pre-pwr for friday eve & sat so as much as I liked them they had to go back. I have an A5 pair on order but need to ensure about the hum issue before purchase.

hi geoff,

happy to hear you liked the A5 too.

if interested on the mf tube buffer you might be interested in the mf x10v3 we checked out in this gtg along with my old valve dac, the new mf and benchmark dacs
http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtop...ndpost&p=189737

mf also have the A5 cd player with same tube output stage but its pricey at $4k

You were serious on Sunday weren't you Al! On order...Spearmint picked it
What about the Elektra Reference (if not the Elektra 7) with the A5pre? Or is that MF umbilical cord just getting an upgrade

You owe it to us to try it at least (silly grin)
Great review btw

you got it in the 'MF umbilical cord' getting an upgrade

will be trying with the elektra 7 no question and reporting back !

Have a lot of respect for the elektra 7 2ch capabilities just prefer my old mono blocs charecter thats all.

Have heard the elektra reference twice now and lot of repect for it too.

The elektra tube pre and reference power was the only other contender. Have not even seen or heard (not from the want of trying) the elektra tube pre but have heard its quite unbelieveble.

when your smitten your judgements can be a bit flawed, I hope I have indeed made the right choice here !

Thought about it a fair bit and in the end I had an instant liking to the sound of the mf combo and thats pretty hard to pass up !

Al don’t stress about the upgrade, you have made the right choice. There are things we would all like to have, and maybe end up with something not quite what we were after, but in your situation, it is exactly what you are after hence why you were smitten by the pair.

Look at all the positives…

The pre has all the inputs you require, HT by-pass, remote control.

The amp has the bottom end control and punch you crave and dynamic head room for 2ch work outs.

The sound characteristics are what you love…

Then you have the LOOK!

What more could you want?





Err besides a couple of refrigerator sized subs or IB in floor cavity (sorry couldn’t help myself).

thanks very much spearmint !



especially on the sub comment ! brought a good grin to the face !

Hey Al great review you should have posted the two pages

Great review, if you end up getting them they'll be awesome, I do believe there's an umbilical chord to your MF likes, hey I'm thinking monobloc mf's to run your PC speakers or some pretty nice equipment coming up for sale soon?

By the way I'm not too sure how your system can improve much more it sounds so wonderful as it is!

thanks for the kind words Rod,

hehehe pc speakers ! tactile tansducers ......hehehe

I haven't forgotten your comment the other day about trying them to bi-amp my centre by the way !

would not have the heart to sell them probably would salt them away for another day maybe a nice bedroom study system one day to either mono bloc or bi-amp a couple of quality bookshelves ......hmmmm now I'd better stop thinking about that one !

Al when the new audio formats come out it might be 9.1?? so you'd need an extra 2 channels...


Unless of course you used the spare two on the Elektra 7 currently (sorry, couldn't resist the poke )
Love from another Elektra 7 owner

hehehe seems I'm well prepared for the future then...what ever it may bring.

Will try the mf monoblocs for the centre some time just to satisfy the curiousity if nothign else !. The elektra though with its silky smooth sound along with excellent detail and dynamics I think is just beaut driving my centre. Given my couple of spare channels on the elektra, will give it a go some stage with bi-amping the centre , do wonder what benefit that would bring.

I'll build you a sonotube and you can use the monobloc's to drive the dual voice coils of the 18" driver you get *grin*

Man now that sounds like a great idea !... * very Big Grin *

Ditto!
I really liked that Sonotube sound Nobby - nice and low. What does it get down to on your sweeps?

well theyre home !

, (lucky bugger)

Well at least you have a smile, that is good

BTW I have been meaning to ask, what was your excuse for buying them? I think I need to add some more excuses to my repertoire. (j/k)

Don't forget to give us some feedback after they settle in?

excuses ? who needs excuses ! hehehe

will definetely let you guys know how its going in a month or so

Wow - this also means your line buffer, pre, are unemployed? I'm not sure how they'd fit in that setup now.... Let us know how the HT bypass goes too, very functional idea.

yes pre been given the sack.

tube buffer still employed and use it for 2ch sacd/dvda for my 2900 as I have previously but have told it to take a short holiday(as it uses a plug pack transformer and I'm chasing hum)

The HT input on the A5 pre works like a treat seamlessly and can be selected via the remote control like any other input. I'm pretty sure its providing zero gain as it should as my mains is running same level setting as my other speakers.

congrats mate.
They should keep you happy for a long time

Al
How's the A5 sounding now?
I am of course wondering what it sounds like with the Elektra on 2 ch;) if you have found time to play with that option yet

Hi norpus,

Mf A5 pre-power are going very well. I was hoping to reserve judgement after I’ve had them for about a month. To allow for run in(for the amps and my ears too).

The biggest area of improvement so far I’ve found has been surprisingly with vinyl. The pre-pwr just sounds so natural and enjoyable than before. I think it’s the superior mc phono stage built into the a5pre that’s making the difference and perhaps the better pre and pwr amp perhaps. To be honest I’ve done more vinyl listening re-discovering all my old records than ever before. In fact find it hard drawing my self away to listen to the CDs that I have as well and enjoy just as much.

On CD have been quite blown away too on the odd disc as well. Eg was listening to ‘enya the celts’ – will have to play it for you guys next time we have a get together (yeah I know its probably going to have as much put off factor as the kylie locomotion track of spearmints !). On track three of the enya disc there is a chello and I swear it has the real rawness of a real chello. Something a lot of amps just tend to mull over. And feel it quite 3D as well almost like a saw like movement moving through the air about a meter or so infront of you. I did have it cranked up to somewhere about 80db plus for that ! hehehe

Another track that totally caught me by surprise is ‘Baby did a bad bad thing’ track 1 from San Francisco days Chris isaak disc. This track I’ve never ever noticed before but listening to it now at the start has excellent sound stage, some very low bass and some good vocals and delicate details and dynamics as well.

Really theres quite a few tracks on both these discs and a few others I’ve really enjoyed listening too so far.

One thing to keep in mind I find its just so easy to creep up in vol levels these days because of the greater refinement with these amps. Also they have just as much to appreciate at the lower levels with delicacy and soundstage as with at higher levels with the dynamics. I find my self quite often happily listening away at 80db plus levels, problem with that is the ears without realising can fatigue and something I need to be carefull off – don’t want to loose my hearing !

Some other things I’ve noticed. The way sound can just envelope you is great as is something I’ve been looking for. It has very open sound almost like theres literally nothing between you and the music – infact almost like someone has refocused the lens I’ve been looking through and all of a sudden everything is now very clear and defined – to the point its almost like its now in full blown high definition. The level of detail is spectacular over my previous amps. It has a clarity/freshness I can only describe as though is like comparing a limp lettuce with a crisp one or a luke warm red vs a crisp chilled chardonnay. The sound charecter I’d classifiy as forward, very upbeat, energtic & clean.

Its not as full in the midband as my previous amps which seemed to concentrate on that. The A5 is a bit more even handed and bit more extended in the highs and lows.

comparing with the Elektra theatre ? I've been holding back on that comparison till the amps have run in would like to give it atleast another week to the one month mark atleast I think. I want to also do a comparison with the theatre bi-amping my mains as well will need to dig out some y-cables I've got stashed away somewhere for that.

will do the comparison and post back - promise

thanks!
I can't wait to hear this new addition to your setup.

I've heard it now and Alebonau you are one lucky guy to have such a great sounding 2ch setup. It was excellent before so with this the superlative deserves an upgrade too - tres' excellence. If I had $4K to spare last week, I would have gone and bought one myself. But I did not fancy getting strung up with the waf (wife angry factor)

OI!


What's this I see sneaking into someone's sig!

Esoteric P500 transport

Please explain?

Oops
Well Nobby you did ask me what was happening with my system last weekend and I didn't have much new to say. So I set about rectifying this during the week - and can now report I have a viable 2ch setup now. Will report on it as soon as I pick it up today and have a play
As I said that day, very hard to keep up with you lads!! (not that this is my main aim, but its fun anyways )

thankyou norpus. très beau certainly as as opposed to Tra bant hehehe

no certainly very very happy and taken the enjoyment factor of my system to another level. Greater detail & clarity, better sound stage, and extended dynamics really can't ask for much more from upgrade.

now just wondering just how much difference another dac would make in my system vs my decade old mf valve dac.

I promised to post back on comparisons with the elektra theatre7 - I managed to do this couple of weeks ago and might be of interest ot others.

Realy charecter wise my new mf amps are lot closer than my old mf amps were to the theatre 7. Infact is bloody amazing just how close in charecter these amps are - closer in terms of refinement and smoothness. There still is some chrecter differences the elktra is lot more closer to neutral I think and the mf jsut has a touch of the mf charecter. In sound quality terms again here theyre quite close. the theatre 7 just has a touch of compression - flatness compared to the mf.

But were talking subtleties here. Yes difference is audible but its not like black and white comparison. You would not listent to the mf and say the theatre sounds mediocre by comparison. Certainly not, think the theatre 7 for 2ch still makes for a fine amp and you would need to spend quite a bit on a 2ch amp to get into its league. By the way I listened to the theare using just two channels to drive my mains and also swapped to using 4 channels to bi-amp my mains. bi-amping I felt reduced some of the compression and added a bit of extension to the dynamics.

Also last weekendhad the opportunity to compare vs a elektra reference (thanks to mike rowesoft) and did this as part of a gtg with norpus and nobby and mike. We've communicated our thoughts amonst our selves, my thoughts/impressions might be of interest to others. I think the reference has pretty much the same charecter as the theatre7. Compared to the mf its sound seemed a bit more 'back' vs the bit more forward nature of the mf. As far as sound quality I think there is literally nothing in it. Both pretty fine amps - I could not say anything to pick on in regards soundstage or detail/clarity or dynamics. Main thing between them is charecter, mf has its charecter whereas the the refernce lot more closer to neutral. I think the mf has a bit more musicality, the elektra though still had a very enjoyable sound and we're talking subtleties here. I think from a SQ stand point they both jsut as good just comes down in the end to which ones sound you prefer.

Thanks for posting your impressions of the two amps Al.

It is interesting that the perceived difference between the MF & Elektra reference is minimal, but there is a difference, as you have said many times it pays to audition these items before purchase, with in home being the ultimate way of auditioning.

Anyway it sounds like you are on a winner with your current setup (well done), looking forward to having an audition at some stage.

yes really nothing much in it I feel spearmint, infact if the A5 pre-pwr combo did not exist I think I'd be pretty damn happy with a reference. Infact I'm pretty sure I'd either have a s/h refernce already in the rack or a new one on order.

I actually broke my own rules here to a certain extent with my auditioning. I should have actually borrowed the refernce at the same time for an in home comparison along with hte a5 pre-pwr I brought home for a demo. You see I really was only supposed to be demoing the A5pre and brought the pwr along just out of curiosity to see what it was liek vs my old mono blocs. Ofcourse it was only because how enamoured I was with the sound of the pair that I ended up buying them

At the time perhaps a bit of heart over mind, but did make my decison based on the theatre 7's sound I know so well, and the refernce that I'd heard a few times by then in store demos. Still left me wondering to a certain extent though how it would compare to a refernce in-home and thanks to mike rowesoft managed to finally do a in-home comparison. Totally happy with my decision but can tell you even if I had gone a reference I's still have a bloody big smile on my face

as far as a demo you know your welcome anytime !



ps. a real find in my listenign of the last few weeks is "Beyond Skin" by Nitin sawhney - guy from the UK with a bit of an indian influence.

Track 4 has this amazing low bass on it. Only way I can describe it is stupendous ! Never heard anything like this out of my mains before. Goes right down and can feel it going down !

Track 6 has a great female voice and a wonderfull echo effect at the start and as it kicks on theres instruments coming out just left and right of you as though you were running side surrounds

Track 9 has this 3D bass that sort of moves around the room high up just above head height absolutely amazing never come across anythign like it.

Listening to this stuff is a great reminder for jsut how good 2ch can be !

If looking for this disc you will find it in the lieks of jb in the dance section another excellent disc from the same guy is Prophesy which has some excellent audio quality as well.

I just discovered something to be wary of with the MF Gear; if you own an AUSID STB with the optional IR adaptor, the 2 remotes share the same frequencies, but assigned to completely different buttons.... makes for very fun times indeed!

hehehe just yoru luck foggy !

I knew there was somethign stopping me buyign the ausid !

ps isn't the ausid locally made perhaps they can jsut switch the channels for you or something.

It's not really a problem for me al as;

1. the A5 will be in a different room when the HT is complete.

2. I'm using the Direct HT on the A5, so I don't need to use the A5 remote anyway as I use the AVR remote for volume control.

excellent !

oh, and I forgot to say how I feel now that the A5 has brought my speakers to life...



I've been enjoying the sound so much, that I actually forgot to get on the forums and tell everyone about it!!

I reckon a photo update is in order there Foggy.
Those 2 1/2" 'woofers' next to the tv would go pop if hooked to your A5
Show us your mains with A5

even more excellent, very happy to hear.

yes do post a pic update !

By popular request, here it is. Enjoy.

You are lucky that the equipment will be in a different room, having two peices of equipment sharing remote codes is a real life disaster, becomes EXTREMELY annoying.

Lovely setup there Foghorn - The JMLabs coupled with the MF would be something very much worth listening to.