I just plugged in and started playing my new A1. Check please! I’m done! It’s the most musical/emotional amp I’ve ever heard. I’ve got my vidars in mono with Lintons and I might sell them. Te sound out of the A1 is exactly what you said….just makes you want to bob your head and dance. The bass is awesome…not overwhelming, it’s just perfect. Thanks for introducing me to this amp. I wonder if all musical fidelitys gear is this nice?
i agree daniel... im thinking of buying another mf amp now since i enjoy the a1 so much. maybe the m6si ? m8si ? i dont wanna shell out the money for nu vista but im def thinking of trying another mf amp
This is now at the top of my 'Next Amplifier' list. 25 Watts of Class A? Minimalist, purist design? No DAC, tone controls? Count me a fan of this little guy!
The original Musical Fidelity A1 had a huge, sound spread using its own brand speakers both channels were combined in a unique strangeness, setting it apart as a gimmick for happy temporary buyers and might be bettered by a downmarket Technics New Class A with Wharefedale Laser 130 on imaging and overall quality feel but the A1 was awesome ... in a small way, more like a Solid State imitation of the EAR 509 that A1 designer Tim P had been famous for.
I owned the original A1, which I bought in 1985. I loved it. Ran it with Wharfdale and then KEF speakers and a Thorens tt. It was the begging of my audiophile journey. I always return to MF amps and nearly 40 years later I now have the nu-vista 800, which I love (again with KEF speakers).
Hey Steve , thanks for all that you do . Great videos. Do you think the Musical Fidelity A1 would work with one of your other favorite audio products , the KEF LS 50 meta ? Thanks again!
Thank you Steve for your wonderful review. How does it compare to SUGDEN A21 or A21SE SIGNATURE? The British Audiophile also very recently released his wonderful review on this amplifier.
Love your enthusiasm, Steve! The old school look and design of this amplifier warms my heart. It reminds me of the old school Soundstream car amplifiers from the 80's. I just may have to pick one of these up. Thanks, my audio friend!
What is the 'old school' for everyone? It's a private school that parents pay to send children to and these former 'posh school' people alone, bought Musical Fidelity. They had special stores with you know stuff in them that we didn't find running with lower brands like Wharfedale.
@@keplermission No. "Old School" can refer to anything. It simply means that something reminds us of how things were done in the 50's, 60's or 70's. It can refer to an object, an ideology, or a method.
Hello, I just read Herb’s review on the A1. He did something very interesting and used it as a pre amp with a sit 4 I believe. I was wondering if the heat signature was much lower when used as a pre amp ? I still haven’t bought my amp yet. Ha! This might be the one.
It's the kind of thing that could be used best in the winter time. Unless I am mistaken, a Class A amp is 100% efficient at turning electricity into heat at idle.
Back in the 80s I owned the bigger brother to this amp, the A100. I remember the sound fondly. The bigger amp contained 3 fans for additional cooling. If one fan went down then the thermal management circuits shut down the amp. Mine went back to Musical fidelity twice in 18 months with fan failures so I sold it (despite the quick turn-round from MF). My cousin (a professional musician) owned the A1 for several decades and loved it. Both Musical Fidelity Class-A amps sounded great. "Engaging" would be a good description, these amps really draw you into the music.
Steve, you've inadvertently solved a long-standing question: who / what song does that clip " Funky Funky" come from? A local station uses it for their Funky Friday promo and we never knew who did it. Thanks for the Us3 recommendation.
thats super cool its still going. you have to get any work done to it ? 85 was the year i was born. i got the new release of it and enjoy the hell out of it
@@philrob4468 I had a fuse blow and when I took it in to fix they also fixed the source selector that was slipping and recommended I re-capped it as the capacitors were looking worse for wear. It's been brilliant since.
A linear, transparent amplifier will sound good whether it is class A or class AB, but it's much harder to design a really transparent class AB amplifier than a very linear class A amp; I've always felt that buying an older class A was more likely to provide the sonics I wanted than a class AB amp that I could afford.
I remember when the A1 first appeared and how I loved the unique design, but I chose the NAD 3020 then, because the extreme class A heat scared me off. Would really have loved to hear your thoughts on the Musical Fidelity A1 amp vs the Schiit Aegir. Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thx Steve.
I used to own the B200 amp. Couldn't agree more about the sound of musical fidelity amps. Though it needed about 40minutes to warm up to sound its best, once it did, there was the richness and tonal clarity of instruments that strike you immediately.
You know ... the B200 looks like the A1 but it's a cooler running Class B so that the A1 styled heat-sink cools it too much. They're utility built 'British shoe-box' type products followed by buyers that love them blindly, things like the Sinclair amplifiers - Wow!. You know, there are better buys in the lower price category, but it's like Colin Powell and the jelly mold Volvos he restored, these Volvos weren't the best car on the roads but he spent all his spare time saving them.
I have this amplifier on order. I will receive it shortly. Do you think this amplifier would work well with the Klipsch Cornwall IV speakers? Thanks Steve, I really enjoy your channel
A once nearby- living friend had the M.F. A1 in the late 80's, I heard the upgrade difference & it was vastly superiour in every way to a fancy looking Technics he had before. After a post- guarantee fault fix, for playing music during hot summer days, he'd put extended speaker wires on & bought longer interconnects, so he could lift it onto a north-facing window-sill diagonally behind his equipment rack for cooler air or some breeze to help cool it, & it's heat seemed to scare him. An engineer friend of ours repaired it twice in the 5 or 6'ish years he had it, until he bought one of my post-upgrade amps, a Crimson Electrik pwr/pre. The very first batch of A1's were said to have had reliability issues by 2 or 3 mag' reviewers, (maybe due to heat?) but I'm 100% sure M.F. would have overcome any & all reliability issues now they've bought it out again. P.S. The first Mark Levinson amp I saw & heard working, (ML25?) was rated at 25 watts p/ch in pure class A, it stood tall, large & heavy, and the paint on it's side pannels would eventually tarnish tho quite quickly due to heat alone. Some newer amp' makers miss-represent spec's e.g. my previous Jungon power amp, (a 99C ?) was spec'd by Jungson as 80'watts max in class A but I've seen the measurements & scope test showing how it does the first 15'ish watts only in pure A, then goes up to 140'ish watts (below point-1 THD) with a slowly increasing class B trans' bias, it never bothered me as with even lower of averagely efficient speakers, i / we don't go beyond 4 or 5'watts, or a very loud sounding 10'watts rms
Nice one Steve. I owned an A100 up until a few years ago. I loved it but I listen all day long and It just made me uneasy because of its heat. A replacement that was as enjoyable was a bit costly, (it is a jardis). But it goes to show if it was good decades ago it will be good now.
You know, the A100 put out more heat as 99% 'Class A'. But the truth is that cool running Technics 'New Class A' in the awesome SU-V505, ran with Wharfedale Laser 130 and it was better than the Musical Fidelity A100 but the people who bought that upper market brand couldn't bear the thought of using the same equipment as people who were of a lower social class, it was a prestige/ pride thing.
Great review Steve. How would you compare the MUSICAL FIDELITY A1 vs the SCHIIT AEGIR. I think everyone would be highly interested to know your thoughts on this. Thx again.
Thanks Steve. Has anyone else out there compared the 2 amps, and have further detail to add to the comparison? Beyond the warmth factor, would you categorize them as pretty equal in regards to bass tightness, body, airiness, depth, width, and image size? Thx for your input.@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac
Just got me a pair of Klipsch CW4s. The dealer told me my big-watts A/B amp would probably not play nice with the CW4s, and recommended the new A1. What can I say? The A1 plays sooooo nice. Incredible. What a nice combo. Done? Maybe. :-)
It is alleged that this amp was designed on th back of a cigarette box by a famous high end hifi designer whilst Antony Michelson, the CEO of Musical Fidelity, was having a conversation with him. Michelson reportedly asked "How much do you want for the design?" the answer being, "just a bag of groceries" and The Musical Fidelity A1 was born.
Class A solid state amplifiers sort of perform like low watt tube amps where they feel much more powerful than their rating. I have a Nelson Pass Burning Amp 3 that's about 35-40 w/8ohms and with my 87 dB, 8 Ohm Usher speakers there is no shortage of power whatsoever.
I agree. My 6 wpc class A set tube amp sounds powerful and alive even when A/B’ing against my 104lb Mark Levinson class AB 100wpc power amp up to 85 db peak.
@@epi2045 I don’t doubt it. I also have an Odyssey Khartago which is also about 100 watts or so and, yeah, the burning amp goes neck and neck with it as far as volume and even sounds fuller with better bass not to mention beats it in many other ways. What are the specs on your speakers?
@@sean_heisler I have a custom built Tarkus speaker designed by Paul Carmody. It has a large separate 62 liter cabinet for the 10” woofer and the 6.5” mid and 1” silk tweeter on the top cabinet. Specs: Tuned down to F3 of 29hz and extends to a smooth 20khz. 8 ohms and dips gently to 5 ohms. 89 db sensitivity. Pushes to 106 db comfortably. It’s an emulation of the Wilson Audio Watt/Puppy. It’s a big speaker driven by just 6 watts. Would you believe that it has so much deep bass that it rivals my 15” sub? When I say deep… I mean deep.
@@epi2045 Nice! Just looked it up and they look great. I’m seeing variations of how the enclosures are built and I see the Wilson-esque approach. Those haven’t crossed my radar before! Amazing to think 6 watts pushes all that!
@@sean_heisler '6 watts?' Think six ounces, then consider what it's six ounces of. Six ounces of low quality or six ounces of high quality? People forget there are different qualities of watts. Radio Shack in the early 1970s made a lot of high quality low power stuff but we needed special loudspeakers. Six watts drives what six watts will drive, but we need to use lightweight motors.
I like that you were ten years off with the age of Us 3. I'm the same: ever since the millennium any record or film that I look up seems to be ten years older than I thought!
One thing that sounds good or bad to people is the brand, and you know Schitt has a certain ring to it, and Wharfedale you know? Yorx you know? These are sounds like bird song that identifies a type of buyer. As soon as somebody lumps a KEF speaker with a Musical Fidelity amplifier, it's you know, a used product buyer's opinion. They bought one on an internet auction site.
I have a pair of Falcon ls3/5a Gold Badge, although they apparently need a lot of power to really sing, I really like the idea of matching them with this new A1 amp.
I wonder how this A1 might pair up with a set of the new Zoo DWs? I believe the Zoos are champions for low to mid level listening (Fletcher/Munson curve)... am I wrong? The heat was a challenge on some of the earlier A1 iterations but with modern components and the increased size .... hopefully this is now a non issue. I must admit, in searching for a replacement for my aging Adcom GFA5500 (power) and Rotel preamp.... this Musical Fidelity A1 certainly "feels" like the "one". Interesting sonic-times we live in wherein we depend so much on really good reviewers (like you Steve) to help us make informed decisions if we are actually going to purchase (and that would be me). LOVED this review!!!!
Hello, I was wondering if these could drive the Elac B6.2 87db 6Ohms -small to med size room? won't be playing super loud. I just received the CA- 1 by audio by alsten but have to send it back because of a knob and coun't hook it up and did not get to listen to the amp. a bit disappointed the amp came like that. So, I was wondering if I should get a replacement or go with the A1? Help. Ha!
I own the A1-X and i also own an A100. Back in the day i also had MA50 mono blocks. The best of their amplifiers ever i still to this day think is the A1000.. i have heard that the A1001 was ok as well
The A 1 sounds interesting. Although it's not a tube amplifier it seems to do what tube amplifiers do. I have an old 20 watt Scott LK 48 that have a muscular feel as well. So much so I hooked it to my Magnepan 1.7s and was astonished. At decent listening levels it drove them quite well. I'm curious to know if the A1 can do the same.
No ... the A1 is 8 ohm and the Scott uses 7189A that can drive 4 ohms, Maggies are 4 ohm. 7189A were a US version of the old 'Empire' British EL84 that were at best rugged, used in portable guitar amplifiers because as designed to cope with American railroad cars, long distance travel that the British tube couldn't offer. The British Empire was different from the United Kingdom, it was a global concern.
Well… I’m pretty excited to give this a try… I have no dealers around me so ordered it on a whim. I’m hoping it is going to be as engaging as u say. Thanks for the review
@@adamlitchfield3371 I have been really enjoying the amplifier… I had a cxa81 before this and I find this amp pulls me into the music so much more… all round great sounding amp. Find myself wanting to listen to more contemporary styles of music such as strings … symphony, new age classical and composition style music more and more. It does rock great and is a good all round amp… but when he comes to making your heart melt… man strings sound amazing on this amp
I’m considering buying this and have Tekton lores. I occasionally play music loud since I’m a drummer. Do you believe I would be able to get enough volume?
Very nice, I still run a pair of the MA65 monoblocks which are bridged A1 circuits pushing 65 watts each, hooked up to some Neat momentum SX5is at one end and an audiolab 8200cdq for the preamp & DAC. Love them. How do I submit a picture for 'system of the day'?
System of the Day needs a great picture, we need a room out of a 1930s Sherlock Homes movie. Most of what we get in Steve's rooms are you know where the Audio is rather better than its owner's house. It's stuff culled from estate sales finding its way to new buyers and feels like bad luck just seeing it once. Yikes.
It will be interesting to see if this version of A1 holds up better than the original, which had serious reliability issues associated to heat, at least as far as I know. My headphone amp has a similar profile- gets hot like you read about, and, of course - I think , makes a better lover than a mate. Otherwise, very cool design.
I’ve been reading great things about this amp. And don’t let the low power rating fool you. This is a expensive high end component as compared to a mainstream receiver sold at Best Buy for 500.00 and a exaggerated power rating just for marketing purposes.
No ... power rating? A long time ago I told people on here about the Technics SU-Z2 that in England with a 240 volt supply used 470 watts to give 2 x 35 watts. What did it mean? Well I looked everywhere on the internet to find just what the Musical Fidelity A1 uses from your wall socket and all I could find is what it puts out to the speakers but that isn't the power consumption. If it is an ugly room heater as people say, how much juice does it burn? Most British 35 watt amplifiers use about 190 watts at 240 volts and at 120 volts in the USA, use about twice that much current. Yeah but...
The magic is in the 'power-amp' section. You can almost bypass the pre-amp section by the direct section. Really no point in using it as a preamp only.
I'm a huge MF fan especially to the A-series. I had given away a Luxman pre/power combination C03/M02) for a 100€ A1 in the end of the 90ies. It was much more musical in every sense. Since then I had every brother except MA50 Mono or A1000 and had recapped and modded them all by myself. The most exotic was a A1 final edition which was in fact a B200. There this version was more working in Class A/B but had 40 watts/channel. I had replaced the plastic knobs by some from Farnell within the same design but produced in alloy. So two things I would like to know. Are these plastic knobs (volume/input)? If you are familiar with the A1 you will get aware of Mark Henessy who did some fine mods especially to the preamp section. The TdP design in this section was dropped by MF due to cost cutting of MF first amplifier! So the preamp section was copied from a mixer with the effect to bring dc voltage to the volume pot that will kill it over time. Mark did a redesign with only few parts and a better opamp. Therefore I can not think of sticking to the original layout in the preamp section in this retro version. This would keep me away from buying a new one. Could you figure that out with MF, please.
The pre section has been improved but you don't really need to use its gain section, it can be defeated. Knobs are good quality plastic and this is a good thing because they don't get hot... Btw that was not MF first amp.
Being a tube lover ever since ......there are/were some exeptions......I could buy this SS one without having/asking for a listening test! Just like I bought fifthy years ago a Luxman L30.........made for music , not for audiophile hi-end performance ending with listening fatigue.
Steve what do you think about combining the A1 with a pair of sensitive Klipsch speakers? I am thinking of having a pair of Klipsch RP 600 m together with the A1.
It would have been interesting to open the amp up to see what kind of construction and parts are in there. I'd be a bit worried about cheap construction especially with a hot running class A amp and how it would hold up over time...or not.
Sorry, my bad I guess I somehow looked away during the few seconds the internal shot was on screen but I did catch the audio the first watch of you mentioning the pure path setting so I'm surprised I missed the pic. Still a bit tricky to assess all that much at 1080p from the pic. From what I could see some of the resistors look pretty small. I don't think anything looked like SMT but couldn't really be sure, or about the quality of the board itself. Do you have any thoughts about the internal construction and how it might compare to the original version?
I returned a pair of speakers for store credit and on a hunch and a whim I used that store credit and pre-ordered the A1. My A1 unit arrived double boxed, and like Steve I was very impressed with the charming sound of this amplifier. This is my first amp experience with solid state class-A circuit topology and now I’m in love with it. I think of it as this analog vortex of hot dense energy that summons tunes that glow like neon lights. It does all the neon colors, the tones have a luminous watch dial in the dark quality, the way the tones pop and flow makes it easy to connect the intent, that music aims to convey, think chord and sentiment. I don’t think of it as warm sounding in the way that tubes glow warm, the color is not orange or red the coloration is like the half moon power switch on this unit it glows blue. This half moon power switch design has this clickety-click, that is in itself a time warp back to the mid 1980’s, remember the tactile feels of cassette tape players from way back then, that rectangle key of a button before silent buttons became the trend.. P.S. the remote is magnetic
The sound of the A1 was ... you know, it was okay as a 25 watt amplifier, using the speakers of the day that in England never went much below 80Hz. Some people claim they used Wharfedale but the A1 was more expensive than that. Nobody ... not a single buyer ... bought Wharfedale for an A1. They used you know, British market stuff, I never even bothered looking at what they used. It was a good, big room filling sound but it a bad time in NYC, the 1980s, wow! You know, any remember the British speakers we used back then? They were TDL, JPW and Mordaunt Short, you know stuff like that, not KEF, not Mission.
@@keplermission I'm listening to Dream Division's 'Lumarian' album from the Library of the Occult Records collection, did you know that blue stars are the hottest and most massive of all, can you feel me now
I made them all What was good in original A1 ( and I hope they kept that in newest version) is output stage constructed by Great Tim de P. What was not good in original - everything else, electrical/schematic vise but also complete package is simply inadequate for its heat ( 8W in A Class @ 8R) nor power supply was anything close to being enough So, again, they kept same format/size, so just selling extra-fine English Mist slightly renewed Now, what's needed that one can hear gorgeous output stage in full Tim de P. glory is - to make it properly, with power supply and case (heatsinking) equal to Papa's FW products, standing current set to level enabling full power in A Class Historically - A1 have its place, but with time clearly revealed what is good and what is wrong with it I'm allowing possibility of wonder that someone had enough brain to replace previous line stage (that one being utter drek) solution in newest A1, allowing some more potential, but it's obvious from pictures that (again) someone is claiming much greater A Class power envelope than it is possible with existing PSU size (xformer) nor is possible with heatsinking capability Nice amp so-so, but half of claimed and certainly as predecessor ( and majority of MF products) you have jeopardy same as having cheapest third world made extension cord. So, if you can't make your own - buy it If you have no mileage to see through PR sneaking around the truth, buy it But - if you did you homework knowing at least some of N. Pass work (not just amps, but spreading knowledge) - find old schematic of A1 and build your own, properly Here goes P. W. Klipsch Lapel button.
Design of new one is 99% the same TdP design. Improvements have been made in power supply and transformer, PCB layout, phono stage details for less hum and noise, component quality and rating and heat dissipation. Plus tape monitoring button has been replaced by Direct button which bypasses preamp gain stage (but not the volume control) so effectively only the power stage is used. Hope this covers your questions. Regarding the rest of your mumblings, listen to this amp first before making assumptions. I have I was impressed.
@@razisn To each his own I was technically clear in my mumblings what deficiencies of first one were, and clearly same limitations are incorporated in new one Anyone with enough technical knowledge will understand and weight properly what I wrote Rest ....... well, just enjoy in what is made far from real potential of Tim de P. circuit potentials Btw. repeating same words which someone in PR department wrote, using them as "facts" ......... in many cases are just repeating of half truths. ZM rogerandover, leaving you to enjoy in Glory of half-made proper amps
@@ZenModLabs Ι would love to see you elaborating on your 'clearly'... I gave you a response on all your technical points so what remains is 'clearly' pointless mumbling and rambling.
This is a class A/B amplifier. Musical Fidelity's marketing webpage for this amplifier at their website states, "The A1 is built around a completely discrete and symmetrical Class A topology. It‘s able to output 25W of pure Class A power @ 8 ohms load with 25A of maximum output. While the numbers here might seem rather low, the ability for the output stage to drive difficult speakers is a small miracle in itself. The amp design being dynamic class A, and if Class A standing current is exceeded, it will automatically allow more. It therefore “slides” (NOT “switches”) smoothly into class B style operation, temporarily allowing the further current draw needed." In that quoted marketing blather, that last sentence describes what a class A/B amplifier does.
You are confused. You are confusing push-pull vs single ended output stage topology with Class AB vs Class A. There is NOTHING that necessitates a Class A amp to be single ended. Class A means the transistors are biased such that they are always on for the amp's specified power. A single ended amp can only be Class A by definition but a push pull amp can be anything depending on how the output devices are biased. The A1 is a push pull amp. Is a push pull amp specified as X watts of Class A power not a Class A amp just because it may be able to produce more than X watts of power when sliding into Class B?
Does it have the reliability of its predecessor ? Can you still cook bacon and eggs in it ? Such a compact device, delivering 30 watts in class A, can't really be reliable, because overheating can shorten the life of components, especially capacitors !
It is not overheating. Who told you it is overheating? The heatsink gets hot. The caps used can very well operate in the 65C degree range this amp operates. So did the old one. No reports for prematurely failing capacitors even for the old one.. What used to fail was mostly the volume pot. It is better now.
UK imports, Musical Fidelity and Creek were hot in the 90s. Love the fact that this MF has no digital in... nothing to upgrade, will not be obsolete, years of fun.
The heat sink fins are quite shallow - I would expect them to be much deeper/taller. For comparison, look at the size/surface area of the heat sinks on the Amp Camp Amp - which is less powerful. Edit: or just look at the First Watt J2 - it has far greater surface area on just *one* of its two heat sinks.
@@yantrussart6584 The original external looks have been kept in tact apart from width and height. Top plate goes up to 60-65C which is hot but not too hot in my book. This is not really important because what is important is how hot the internals get. Component quality and heat ratings have been greatly improved.
I had the original A1. Had it for over 15 or so years before moving to valve integrateds. Loved that amp sounded superb through my Mission 700s (The 1980's ones)
Mission 700s? The Musical Fidelity A1 owners didn't buy Mission 700, you know Mission were Persian Capital designed (Big Money) and aimed at the Rap music community, Iranian and London/ West Yorkshire scene. Musical Fidelity were upmarket and had their own MF Reference and (a name copied from Radio Shack) 'MC speakers'. The MF music was some strange stuff that Steve never reviews, but British establishment stuff.
@@adotopp1865 No ... speakers are engineered for applications. Mission 700 were for Farad Azima's Cyrus amplifier that you know, to be honest were dull, they needed bright speakers, the tweeter with higher SPL than the mid/woofer. Mission were assembled in England and later ... used a Scottish power iron, but Mission really carried on where Amstrad left off, they were nice speaker for Rap and pop music. MF is absolutely upmarket, your 700 were not the right match for MF A1 but cheaper and similar build style.
@@keplermission The mission 700 and 770 were designed by Peter Comeau in UK . Mission products are and were made in the UK. I have sent products to Mission in UK for service. I also have corresponded with Mission in the 1990's obtaining parts and information.
@@jimfarrell4635 the MK2 was supposed to fix issues with the original…it didn’t but was likely a little better…as this will be…but ultimately by going retro they didn’t fix the elephant in the room…the undersized case. See First Watt for proper case design
@@seanb3303 The new A1 case is quite larger... First Watt just used the same generic case from a haul of cases NP ordered to be made years ago. He just fits all the amps in the same case. Also please show me a FW amp that costs as much as the A1 and looks as interesting externally..
The first version of this one was a very good amp sonically and a quality build. However, a pain in the arse to service, if something in the pre or power stage goes wrong. Due to its unconventional circuitry archtecture and the two-piece heat sink on the top. Makes you wonder whether they did it on purpose. No idea about the new one, but if they didn't address those quirks, I'd be very sceptical of buying it. Looks like they left the heat sink the same.
PCB layout has radically changed (if this is what you are referring to as 'architecture') and I believe the top plate is in one piece (not 100% sure though). Top plate does still adhere to the internal heat sink via thermal paste.
A lot of early 80's British amps like the A1, A&R A60, Audiolab 6000 had zero ventilation. This was theoretically a great design feature to prevent any dust buildup, and wasn't a big issue in UK.... But many of these amps overheated in southern Europe and USA. All those amps need the PCB removed completely for working on which is a pain.
Good music! But a terribly inefficient machine where most of the energy heats the room. “Max. Consumption: 130W” being class A that maximum is continuous right? Make sure set it to standby.
I guess that's a matter of how you define "well"! In a small room, not playing particularly dynamic music or playing loud, I think it would sound really nice!
Yeah but that Zu 'Denon' 103 ..? Yeah it is the Zu DL-103. Steve is getting a bit like Joe Biden. Uranians and all that. (Been in the job too long, huh?) His internal impedance you know, between the ears? Isn't what it used to be.
Thank you Steve. This amp was the first amp I heard in a home situation that really set the standards of what music at home should sound like. (And it kept our Chinese food warm) This amp belonged to a friend of mine who was living at my house at the time. We hooked it up to my old magnepan mg 1 speakers and it was amazing. And although I stepped up the ladder since, I think going back to this would still be magical. Still have the mg1 speakers by the way. Replaced them with tympani 4a. Also magical.
Yes, it’s difficult to get more music out of a speaker than you get with magnepan. I will try to sign up for your system of the day thing. Don’t know how yet but I will find out.
I auditioned both and the A1 had a better tonality, except that the Rega had more body and bass control with my speakers. The Linton may be an easier load.
I just plugged in and started playing my new A1. Check please! I’m done! It’s the most musical/emotional amp I’ve ever heard. I’ve got my vidars in mono with Lintons and I might sell them. Te sound out of the A1 is exactly what you said….just makes you want to bob your head and dance. The bass is awesome…not overwhelming, it’s just perfect. Thanks for introducing me to this amp. I wonder if all musical fidelitys gear is this nice?
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing
@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliacYou didn't answer the question. Do other musical fidelity gear perform at a high level?
How does the A1 compare to the leak 230 u reviewed..which gets the higher recommendation?@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac
i agree daniel... im thinking of buying another mf amp now since i enjoy the a1 so much. maybe the m6si ? m8si ? i dont wanna shell out the money for nu vista but im def thinking of trying another mf amp
@@philrob4468 same here. I’m ready for another amp too. Seriously considering the m5 of m6.
This is now at the top of my 'Next Amplifier' list. 25 Watts of Class A? Minimalist, purist design? No DAC, tone controls? Count me a fan of this little guy!
The original Musical Fidelity A1 had a huge, sound spread using its own brand speakers both channels were combined in a unique strangeness, setting it apart as a gimmick for happy temporary buyers and might be bettered by a downmarket Technics New Class A with Wharefedale Laser 130 on imaging and overall quality feel but the A1 was awesome ... in a small way, more like a Solid State imitation of the EAR 509 that A1 designer Tim P had been famous for.
Spot on!!!!!!!!! I feel exactly the same and the price (here in Canada) is definitely fair.
Thats one of the uglyiest designs ive ever seen...
I owned the original A1, which I bought in 1985. I loved it. Ran it with Wharfdale and then KEF speakers and a Thorens tt. It was the begging of my audiophile journey. I always return to MF amps and nearly 40 years later I now have the nu-vista 800, which I love (again with KEF speakers).
@@keplermission please don’t post things like this on UA-cam.
@keplermission You are a Troll 🧌 please stay off the internet with misinformation please 🙏
I will put what I want, Kef is overated garbage.
Ooo dear
I used my A1 earlier today with Denton 80th speakers so you're talking sH#te.
Hey Steve , thanks for all that you do . Great videos. Do you think the Musical Fidelity A1 would work with one of your other favorite audio products , the KEF LS 50 meta ? Thanks again!
Thank you Steve for your wonderful review. How does it compare to SUGDEN A21 or A21SE SIGNATURE? The British Audiophile also very recently released his wonderful review on this amplifier.
I have the same question
Love your enthusiasm, Steve! The old school look and design of this amplifier warms my heart. It reminds me of the old school Soundstream car amplifiers from the 80's. I just may have to pick one of these up. Thanks, my audio friend!
What is the 'old school' for everyone? It's a private school that parents pay to send children to and these former 'posh school' people alone, bought Musical Fidelity. They had special stores with you know stuff in them that we didn't find running with lower brands like Wharfedale.
@@keplermission No. "Old School" can refer to anything. It simply means that something reminds us of how things were done in the 50's, 60's or 70's. It can refer to an object, an ideology, or a method.
Excellent review! Yours was the one I was waiting for. 👏
Us3 = so good. Actually 30 years old at this point ...crazy how time can fly
Hello, I just read Herb’s review on the A1. He did something very interesting and used it as a pre amp with a sit 4 I believe. I was wondering if the heat signature was much lower when used as a pre amp ? I still haven’t bought my amp yet. Ha! This might be the one.
Hey with cooler autumn temps coming on it's nice to know you can buy a room heater that drives speakers!
It's the kind of thing that could be used best in the winter time. Unless I am mistaken, a Class A amp is 100% efficient at turning electricity into heat at idle.
@@EskWIRED Yes, but the particular amp consumes about 100W at idle.
Do you live in a closet?
The bad news is that your electric bill goes up....the good news is your heating bill goes down!
Steve….. between the A1 and the Billie amp which one would you prefer with Zu Dirty Weekends with clarity caps ?
Billy is worlds better I had both of my systems
Can you explain why you specifically say world's better @@jackfalco5351
Back in the 80s I owned the bigger brother to this amp, the A100. I remember the sound fondly. The bigger amp contained 3 fans for additional cooling. If one fan went down then the thermal management circuits shut down the amp. Mine went back to Musical fidelity twice in 18 months with fan failures so I sold it (despite the quick turn-round from MF). My cousin (a professional musician) owned the A1 for several decades and loved it. Both Musical Fidelity Class-A amps sounded great. "Engaging" would be a good description, these amps really draw you into the music.
It is present in a Danish Hifi year book in 1986.. So I go for 1985..
Steve, you've inadvertently solved a long-standing question: who / what song does that clip " Funky Funky" come from?
A local station uses it for their Funky Friday promo and we never knew who did it. Thanks for the Us3 recommendation.
1985 - that is when I bought mine. Still running it =)
thats super cool its still going. you have to get any work done to it ? 85 was the year i was born. i got the new release of it and enjoy the hell out of it
@@philrob4468 I had a fuse blow and when I took it in to fix they also fixed the source selector that was slipping and recommended I re-capped it as the capacitors were looking worse for wear. It's been brilliant since.
A linear, transparent amplifier will sound good whether it is class A or class AB, but it's much harder to design a really transparent class AB amplifier than a very linear class A amp; I've always felt that buying an older class A was more likely to provide the sonics I wanted than a class AB amp that I could afford.
I remember when the A1 first appeared and how I loved the unique design, but I chose the NAD 3020 then, because the extreme class A heat scared me off.
Would really have loved to hear your thoughts on the Musical Fidelity A1 amp vs the Schiit Aegir. Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thx Steve.
And the remote doubles as a cigarette lighter
Talk about timing. I just bought a 25x2 Yamaha class A vintage amp and tuner. Great sound and seems more than 25 watts for sure.
I used to own the B200 amp. Couldn't agree more about the sound of musical fidelity amps. Though it needed about 40minutes to warm up to sound its best, once it did, there was the richness and tonal clarity of instruments that strike you immediately.
You know ... the B200 looks like the A1 but it's a cooler running Class B so that the A1 styled heat-sink cools it too much. They're utility built 'British shoe-box' type products followed by buyers that love them blindly, things like the Sinclair amplifiers - Wow!. You know, there are better buys in the lower price category, but it's like Colin Powell and the jelly mold Volvos he restored, these Volvos weren't the best car on the roads but he spent all his spare time saving them.
May not be the best out there but liked it nevertheless,. It was my first musical fidelity amp.@@keplermission
I’m very happy with my Musical Fidelity M2si!
My m5si kicks all sorts of ass. Love the m series of musical fidelity ❤
Good for you.
Is the si3 as good as the si2 or is it just that it has more watts?
I have this amplifier on order. I will receive it shortly. Do you think this amplifier would work well with the Klipsch Cornwall IV speakers?
Thanks Steve, I really enjoy your channel
This is exactly the Setup i want to buy. And experience so far? Thanks for answer!
A once nearby- living friend had the M.F. A1 in the late 80's, I heard the upgrade difference & it was vastly superiour in every way to a fancy looking Technics he had before. After a post- guarantee fault fix, for playing music during hot summer days, he'd put extended speaker wires on & bought longer interconnects, so he could lift it onto a north-facing window-sill diagonally behind his equipment rack for cooler air or some breeze to help cool it, & it's heat seemed to scare him. An engineer friend of ours repaired it twice in the 5 or 6'ish years he had it, until he bought one of my post-upgrade amps, a Crimson Electrik pwr/pre.
The very first batch of A1's were said to have had reliability issues by 2 or 3 mag' reviewers, (maybe due to heat?) but I'm 100% sure M.F. would have overcome any & all reliability issues now they've bought it out again. P.S. The first Mark Levinson amp I saw & heard working, (ML25?) was rated at 25 watts p/ch in pure class A, it stood tall, large & heavy, and the paint on it's side pannels would eventually tarnish tho quite quickly due to heat alone. Some newer amp' makers miss-represent spec's e.g. my previous Jungon power amp, (a 99C ?) was spec'd by Jungson as 80'watts max in class A but I've seen the measurements & scope test showing how it does the first 15'ish watts only in pure A, then goes up to 140'ish watts (below point-1 THD) with a slowly increasing class B trans' bias, it never bothered me as with even lower of averagely efficient speakers, i / we don't go beyond 4 or 5'watts, or a very loud sounding 10'watts rms
Nice one Steve. I owned an A100 up until a few years ago. I loved it but I listen all day long and It just made me uneasy because of its heat.
A replacement that was as enjoyable was a bit costly, (it is a jardis).
But it goes to show if it was good decades ago it will be good now.
You know, the A100 put out more heat as 99% 'Class A'. But the truth is that cool running Technics 'New Class A' in the awesome SU-V505, ran with Wharfedale Laser 130 and it was better than the Musical Fidelity A100 but the people who bought that upper market brand couldn't bear the thought of using the same equipment as people who were of a lower social class, it was a prestige/ pride thing.
Great review Steve. How would you compare the MUSICAL FIDELITY A1 vs the SCHIIT AEGIR. I think everyone would be highly interested to know your thoughts on this. Thx again.
I'd guess Aegir is more neutral, A1 has a warmer personality.
Thanks Steve.
Has anyone else out there compared the 2 amps, and have further detail to add to the comparison? Beyond the warmth factor, would you categorize them as pretty equal in regards to bass tightness, body, airiness, depth, width, and image size? Thx for your input.@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac
Just got me a pair of Klipsch CW4s. The dealer told me my big-watts A/B amp would probably not play nice with the CW4s, and recommended the new A1.
What can I say? The A1 plays sooooo nice. Incredible. What a nice combo.
Done? Maybe. :-)
Enjoy!!
It is alleged that this amp was designed on th back of a cigarette box by a famous high end hifi designer whilst Antony Michelson, the CEO of Musical Fidelity, was having a conversation with him. Michelson reportedly asked "How much do you want for the design?" the answer being, "just a bag of groceries" and The Musical Fidelity A1 was born.
Class A solid state amplifiers sort of perform like low watt tube amps where they feel much more powerful than their rating. I have a Nelson Pass Burning Amp 3 that's about 35-40 w/8ohms and with my 87 dB, 8 Ohm Usher speakers there is no shortage of power whatsoever.
I agree. My 6 wpc class A set tube amp sounds powerful and alive even when A/B’ing against my 104lb Mark Levinson class AB 100wpc power amp up to 85 db peak.
@@epi2045 I don’t doubt it. I also have an Odyssey Khartago which is also about 100 watts or so and, yeah, the burning amp goes neck and neck with it as far as volume and even sounds fuller with better bass not to mention beats it in many other ways. What are the specs on your speakers?
@@sean_heisler I have a custom built Tarkus speaker designed by Paul Carmody. It has a large separate 62 liter cabinet for the 10” woofer and the 6.5” mid and 1” silk tweeter on the top cabinet.
Specs: Tuned down to F3 of 29hz and extends to a smooth 20khz. 8 ohms and dips gently to 5 ohms. 89 db sensitivity. Pushes to 106 db comfortably.
It’s an emulation of the Wilson Audio Watt/Puppy. It’s a big speaker driven by just 6 watts. Would you believe that it has so much deep bass that it rivals my 15” sub? When I say deep… I mean deep.
@@epi2045 Nice! Just looked it up and they look great. I’m seeing variations of how the enclosures are built and I see the Wilson-esque approach. Those haven’t crossed my radar before! Amazing to think 6 watts pushes all that!
@@sean_heisler '6 watts?' Think six ounces, then consider what it's six ounces of. Six ounces of low quality or six ounces of high quality? People forget there are different qualities of watts. Radio Shack in the early 1970s made a lot of high quality low power stuff but we needed special loudspeakers. Six watts drives what six watts will drive, but we need to use lightweight motors.
For my Denon receivers I use AC Infinity coolers on top of them and that solves the heat problem. I swear by these products.
I like that you were ten years off with the age of Us 3. I'm the same: ever since the millennium any record or film that I look up seems to be ten years older than I thought!
I looked at getting one back in the 80s but bought an audiolab instead, and I'm still using it
Always cool to revisit an album or song years after you've forgotten about it
Sounds rather excellent Steve. Definitely a amplifier to consider. Thanks
One thing that sounds good or bad to people is the brand, and you know Schitt has a certain ring to it, and Wharfedale you know? Yorx you know? These are sounds like bird song that identifies a type of buyer. As soon as somebody lumps a KEF speaker with a Musical Fidelity amplifier, it's you know, a used product buyer's opinion. They bought one on an internet auction site.
It's best value to my setup: electronics for night music. It's bass plentiful enough even at low volumes
I have a pair of Falcon ls3/5a Gold Badge, although they apparently need a lot of power to really sing, I really like the idea of matching them with this new A1 amp.
I wonder how this A1 might pair up with a set of the new Zoo DWs? I believe the
Zoos are champions for low to mid level listening (Fletcher/Munson curve)... am I wrong?
The heat was a challenge on some of the earlier A1 iterations but with modern components
and the increased size .... hopefully this is now a non issue. I must admit, in searching
for a replacement for my aging Adcom GFA5500 (power) and Rotel preamp.... this
Musical Fidelity A1 certainly "feels" like the "one". Interesting sonic-times we live in
wherein we depend so much on really good reviewers (like you Steve) to help us make
informed decisions if we are actually going to purchase (and that would be me).
LOVED this review!!!!
Hello, I was wondering if these could drive the Elac B6.2 87db 6Ohms -small to med size room? won't be playing super loud. I just received the CA- 1 by audio by alsten but have to send it back because of a knob and coun't hook it up and did not get to listen to the amp. a bit disappointed the amp came like that. So, I was wondering if I should get a replacement or go with the A1? Help. Ha!
I own the A1-X and i also own an A100. Back in the day i also had MA50 mono blocks. The best of their amplifiers ever i still to this day think is the A1000.. i have heard that the A1001 was ok as well
When am going to get the Emotiva dac preamp review? That's what I am really interested in
Thank goodness for Steve and his reviews
Listened to it today paired with Dynaudio contour 20i, fantastic sound!
I miss my A100. That guy drove anything!
The A 1 sounds interesting. Although it's not a tube amplifier it seems to do what tube amplifiers do. I have an old 20 watt Scott LK 48 that have a muscular feel as well. So much so I hooked it to my Magnepan 1.7s and was astonished. At decent listening levels it drove them quite well. I'm curious to know if the A1 can do the same.
It certainly sounds like a good, not too tubey, push-pull tube amp.
No ... the A1 is 8 ohm and the Scott uses 7189A that can drive 4 ohms, Maggies are 4 ohm. 7189A were a US version of the old 'Empire' British EL84 that were at best rugged, used in portable guitar amplifiers because as designed to cope with American railroad cars, long distance travel that the British tube couldn't offer. The British Empire was different from the United Kingdom, it was a global concern.
The last thing I'd call the A1 is muscular and it doesn't sound like a valve amp at all.
Hi Steve, just noticed you still have the Elac UniFi References hooked up at the back ? Just curious, you do everyday listening on those as well ?
Yes, as TV speakers.
Do you think its worth upgrading the caps? I bought this amp from Upscale Audio, Kevin Deal.
If you like tweaking, sure! Of course you will avoid the warranty.
Should have used the Aegir assuming you had one at hand. Cool amp, Steve. Nice to see Musical Fidelity making waves again. Thanks
From skimming I assumed that was the S amp he was comparing to until I saw this comment. Thanks.
Yes, the Aegir, also a class A/B amp with high class A bias, would have been a much better comparison. But I think Steve no longer has an Aegir.
Well… I’m pretty excited to give this a try… I have no dealers around me so ordered it on a whim. I’m hoping it is going to be as engaging as u say. Thanks for the review
What did you think of it Phil? I'm thinking of ordering one this week
@@adamlitchfield3371 I have been really enjoying the amplifier… I had a cxa81 before this and I find this amp pulls me into the music so much more… all round great sounding amp. Find myself wanting to listen to more contemporary styles of music such as strings … symphony, new age classical and composition style music more and more. It does rock great and is a good all round amp… but when he comes to making your heart melt… man strings sound amazing on this amp
@@adamlitchfield3371 im loving it... sorry forgot to reply... but of course im thinking man what should i try next lol
@@adamlitchfield3371 did you end up getting it?
I still have the original MF A1, and it works like a charm. I'm not going to change it unless it dies on its own.
I’m considering buying this and have Tekton lores. I occasionally play music loud since I’m a drummer. Do you believe I would be able to get enough volume?
Very nice, I still run a pair of the MA65 monoblocks which are bridged A1 circuits pushing 65 watts each, hooked up to some Neat momentum SX5is at one end and an audiolab 8200cdq for the preamp & DAC. Love them. How do I submit a picture for 'system of the day'?
System of the Day needs a great picture, we need a room out of a 1930s Sherlock Homes movie. Most of what we get in Steve's rooms are you know where the Audio is rather better than its owner's house. It's stuff culled from estate sales finding its way to new buyers and feels like bad luck just seeing it once. Yikes.
@@keplermission 🧌
@@KillianMcBride I think someone has had a few drinks too many...
Wow! Great review of the MF A1. So pleased as it's a really lovely looking piece of kit!
It will be interesting to see if this version of A1 holds up better than the original, which had serious reliability issues associated to heat, at least as far as I know. My headphone amp has a similar profile- gets hot like you read about, and, of course - I think , makes a better lover than a mate. Otherwise, very cool design.
MF promise that it will due to larger volume and top plate size, perforations on the sides and better rated components inside.
I had the original AI I bought new. I had no issues whatsoever and I used it for about 20 years.
@adotopp1865 awesome! Mine was more of question than statement. It looks really cool & MF has a long history of awesome products.
What hifi compared both. They concluded the original and the new one were really really clones like, that includes the overheating as well
@@Bouba1874 but is it overheated if it's working as designed and not blowing up?
I’ve been reading great things about this amp. And don’t let the low power rating fool you. This is a expensive high end component as compared to a mainstream receiver sold at Best Buy for 500.00 and a exaggerated power rating just for marketing purposes.
No ... power rating? A long time ago I told people on here about the Technics SU-Z2 that in England with a 240 volt supply used 470 watts to give 2 x 35 watts. What did it mean? Well I looked everywhere on the internet to find just what the Musical Fidelity A1 uses from your wall socket and all I could find is what it puts out to the speakers but that isn't the power consumption. If it is an ugly room heater as people say, how much juice does it burn? Most British 35 watt amplifiers use about 190 watts at 240 volts and at 120 volts in the USA, use about twice that much current. Yeah but...
The quality is back because Heinz Lichtenegger’s Pro-Ject Audio Systems is now owner of Musical Fidelity😎
So a great amp and situated at an angle you get a free George Foreman grill.
Would this pre-amp benefit with the addition of a separate amplifier?
That’s what I was thinking, too.
The magic is in the 'power-amp' section. You can almost bypass the pre-amp section by the direct section. Really no point in using it as a preamp only.
@@razisn Understood.
I'm a huge MF fan especially to the A-series. I had given away a Luxman pre/power combination C03/M02) for a 100€ A1 in the end of the 90ies. It was much more musical in every sense. Since then I had every brother except MA50 Mono or A1000 and had recapped and modded them all by myself. The most exotic was a A1 final edition which was in fact a B200. There this version was more working in Class A/B but had 40 watts/channel. I had replaced the plastic knobs by some from Farnell within the same design but produced in alloy. So two things I would like to know. Are these plastic knobs (volume/input)? If you are familiar with the A1 you will get aware of Mark Henessy who did some fine mods especially to the preamp section. The TdP design in this section was dropped by MF due to cost cutting of MF first amplifier! So the preamp section was copied from a mixer with the effect to bring dc voltage to the volume pot that will kill it over time. Mark did a redesign with only few parts and a better opamp. Therefore I can not think of sticking to the original layout in the preamp section in this retro version. This would keep me away from buying a new one. Could you figure that out with MF, please.
The pre section has been improved but you don't really need to use its gain section, it can be defeated. Knobs are good quality plastic and this is a good thing because they don't get hot... Btw that was not MF first amp.
Being a tube lover ever since ......there are/were some exeptions......I could buy this SS one without having/asking for a listening test!
Just like I bought fifthy years ago a Luxman L30.........made for music , not for audiophile hi-end performance ending with listening fatigue.
It would go great with my Rega Planet and the JM-Reynaud speakers
“Oomph, muscle.” It’s as if Steve is describing my Rotel A11 tribute -- the way it compared to my analytical Hegel H190.
New A1 is even richer in tone than the a11, but overall sound is pretty similar. I have both, they're each terrific.
Had the B1, loved it with Wharfedale speakers
Steve what do you think about combining the A1 with a pair of sensitive Klipsch speakers? I am thinking of having a pair of Klipsch RP 600 m together with the A1.
Yes that would be a wonderful combination
How does the A1 compare to the leak 230 u reviewed .Steve
Steve i wish you would include some Classical selections in your reviews. some of us listen to Classical as well.
I love the remote!
It would have been interesting to open the amp up to see what kind of construction and parts are in there. I'd be a bit worried about cheap construction especially with a hot running class A amp and how it would hold up over time...or not.
There is a picture of the inside in the video!
Sorry, my bad I guess I somehow looked away during the few seconds the internal shot was on screen but I did catch the audio the first watch of you mentioning the pure path setting so I'm surprised I missed the pic.
Still a bit tricky to assess all that much at 1080p from the pic. From what I could see some of the resistors look pretty small. I don't think anything looked like SMT but couldn't really be sure, or about the quality of the board itself.
Do you have any thoughts about the internal construction and how it might compare to the original version?
Bought new, still own, the culmination of this design from Tim De P, the A1000. Still hard to beat frankly.
Hi Steve, question how do i rate the X1 against the X A2 which I currentley own?
The only way I know for you is to listen to them both!
I returned a pair of speakers for store credit and on a hunch and a whim I used that store credit and pre-ordered the A1. My A1 unit arrived double boxed, and like Steve I was very impressed with the charming sound of this amplifier. This is my first amp experience with solid state class-A circuit topology and now I’m in love with it. I think of it as this analog vortex of hot dense energy that summons tunes that glow like neon lights. It does all the neon colors, the tones have a luminous watch dial in the dark quality, the way the tones pop and flow makes it easy to connect the intent, that music aims to convey, think chord and sentiment. I don’t think of it as warm sounding in the way that tubes glow warm, the color is not orange or red the coloration is like the half moon power switch on this unit it glows blue. This half moon power switch design has this clickety-click, that is in itself a time warp back to the mid 1980’s, remember the tactile feels of cassette tape players from way back then, that rectangle key of a button before silent buttons became the trend.. P.S. the remote is magnetic
The sound of the A1 was ... you know, it was okay as a 25 watt amplifier, using the speakers of the day that in England never went much below 80Hz. Some people claim they used Wharfedale but the A1 was more expensive than that. Nobody ... not a single buyer ... bought Wharfedale for an A1. They used you know, British market stuff, I never even bothered looking at what they used. It was a good, big room filling sound but it a bad time in NYC, the 1980s, wow! You know, any remember the British speakers we used back then? They were TDL, JPW and Mordaunt Short, you know stuff like that, not KEF, not Mission.
@@keplermission I'm listening to Dream Division's 'Lumarian' album from the Library of the Occult Records collection, did you know that blue stars are the hottest and most massive of all, can you feel me now
@@keplermission What are you mumbling about? You are clueless.
What speakers are you using please w it & what size room ty ?
Interested to hear how it compares to Sugden & belles integrated (a/ab)
I made them all
What was good in original A1 ( and I hope they kept that in newest version) is output stage constructed by Great Tim de P.
What was not good in original - everything else, electrical/schematic vise but also complete package is simply inadequate for its heat ( 8W in A Class @ 8R) nor power supply was anything close to being enough
So, again, they kept same format/size, so just selling extra-fine English Mist slightly renewed
Now, what's needed that one can hear gorgeous output stage in full Tim de P. glory is - to make it properly, with power supply and case (heatsinking) equal to Papa's FW products, standing current set to level enabling full power in A Class
Historically - A1 have its place, but with time clearly revealed what is good and what is wrong with it
I'm allowing possibility of wonder that someone had enough brain to replace previous line stage (that one being utter drek) solution in newest A1, allowing some more potential, but it's obvious from pictures that (again) someone is claiming much greater A Class power envelope than it is possible with existing PSU size (xformer) nor is possible with heatsinking capability
Nice amp so-so, but half of claimed and certainly as predecessor ( and majority of MF products) you have jeopardy same as having cheapest
third world made extension cord.
So, if you can't make your own - buy it
If you have no mileage to see through PR sneaking around the truth, buy it
But - if you did you homework knowing at least some of N. Pass work (not just amps, but spreading knowledge) - find old schematic of A1 and build your own, properly
Here goes P. W. Klipsch Lapel button.
Design of new one is 99% the same TdP design. Improvements have been made in power supply and transformer, PCB layout, phono stage details for less hum and noise, component quality and rating and heat dissipation. Plus tape monitoring button has been replaced by Direct button which bypasses preamp gain stage (but not the volume control) so effectively only the power stage is used. Hope this covers your questions. Regarding the rest of your mumblings, listen to this amp first before making assumptions. I have I was impressed.
@@razisn To each his own
I was technically clear in my mumblings what deficiencies of first one were, and clearly same limitations are incorporated in new one
Anyone with enough technical knowledge will understand and weight properly what I wrote
Rest ....... well, just enjoy in what is made far from real potential of Tim de P. circuit potentials
Btw. repeating same words which someone in PR department wrote, using them as "facts" ......... in many cases are just repeating of half truths.
ZM rogerandover, leaving you to enjoy in Glory of half-made proper amps
@@ZenModLabs Ι would love to see you elaborating on your 'clearly'... I gave you a response on all your technical points so what remains is 'clearly' pointless mumbling and rambling.
This is a class A/B amplifier. Musical Fidelity's marketing webpage for this amplifier at their website states, "The A1 is built around a completely discrete and symmetrical Class A topology. It‘s able to output 25W of pure Class A power @ 8 ohms load with 25A of maximum output. While the numbers here might seem rather low, the ability for the output stage to drive difficult speakers is a small miracle in itself. The amp design being dynamic class A, and if Class A standing current is exceeded, it will automatically allow more. It therefore “slides” (NOT “switches”) smoothly into class B style operation, temporarily allowing the further current draw needed." In that quoted marketing blather, that last sentence describes what a class A/B amplifier does.
You are confused. You are confusing push-pull vs single ended output stage topology with Class AB vs Class A. There is NOTHING that necessitates a Class A amp to be single ended. Class A means the transistors are biased such that they are always on for the amp's specified power. A single ended amp can only be Class A by definition but a push pull amp can be anything depending on how the output devices are biased. The A1 is a push pull amp. Is a push pull amp specified as X watts of Class A power not a Class A amp just because it may be able to produce more than X watts of power when sliding into Class B?
I wonder if the phono amp sounds better as the Schiit Mani 2 I have?
Great stuff Steve, Thanks
What is better with the new version of M3si?
Reminds me of my old Van Medevoort A110 amp. Unfortunately had to leave behind when I moved off the island to the US
International shipping in a wooden crate, buy a power converter
@@erwinvangrinsven9345 no worries I left the US and are back in the NL again 👍
@@RogierYouyou can eat worstenbroodjes again👍
Does it have the reliability of its predecessor ?
Can you still cook bacon and eggs in it ?
Such a compact device, delivering 30 watts in class A, can't really be reliable, because overheating can shorten the life of components, especially capacitors !
It is not overheating. Who told you it is overheating? The heatsink gets hot. The caps used can very well operate in the 65C degree range this amp operates. So did the old one. No reports for prematurely failing capacitors even for the old one.. What used to fail was mostly the volume pot. It is better now.
UK imports, Musical Fidelity and Creek were hot in the 90s. Love the fact that this MF has no digital in... nothing to upgrade, will not be obsolete, years of fun.
Would it drive Maggie’s? Say Magnepan 0.7 or LRS+? I wonder if 36W (to 4ohms) suffice
That's a good question if I have time I will give them a try.
Yea "Hot Stuff" is right, they sound great until the power transistors over heat! (Heat sinks are too small).😞
They don't. Neither did the old ones which were in a TO3 package in a hotter chassis. You are a clueless parrot not even able to parrot well.
I will have to stick to my MC7270 that little thing would be red line just about the time the Ar3 started to wake up.
The heat sink fins are quite shallow - I would expect them to be much deeper/taller. For comparison, look at the size/surface area of the heat sinks on the Amp Camp Amp - which is less powerful. Edit: or just look at the First Watt J2 - it has far greater surface area on just *one* of its two heat sinks.
Top plate 2d surface is quite large. You can't judge these things by look.
@@razisn Taller fins would add a lot more surface area. Look at the J2 that was mentioned - it has much greater surface area.
@@razisnif it runs that hot, it could use more heat sink. Thing is, they are $$$
@@NeilBlanchard The original external looks have been kept in tact apart from width and height.
@@yantrussart6584 The original external looks have been kept in tact apart from width and height. Top plate goes up to 60-65C which is hot but not too hot in my book. This is not really important because what is important is how hot the internals get. Component quality and heat ratings have been greatly improved.
I had the original A1. Had it for over 15 or so years before moving to valve integrateds. Loved that amp sounded superb through my Mission 700s (The 1980's ones)
Mission 700s? The Musical Fidelity A1 owners didn't buy Mission 700, you know Mission were Persian Capital designed (Big Money) and aimed at the Rap music community, Iranian and London/ West Yorkshire scene. Musical Fidelity were upmarket and had their own MF Reference and (a name copied from Radio Shack) 'MC speakers'. The MF music was some strange stuff that Steve never reviews, but British establishment stuff.
@@keplermission this musical fidelity A1 owner used Mission 700's though. They were a perfect pairing.
@@adotopp1865 No ... speakers are engineered for applications. Mission 700 were for Farad Azima's Cyrus amplifier that you know, to be honest were dull, they needed bright speakers, the tweeter with higher SPL than the mid/woofer. Mission were assembled in England and later ... used a Scottish power iron, but Mission really carried on where Amstrad left off, they were nice speaker for Rap and pop music. MF is absolutely upmarket, your 700 were not the right match for MF A1 but cheaper and similar build style.
@@keplermission Well I liked the set up before I used the A1 with Sonus Faber minimas and later SF Minima Amators
@@keplermission The mission 700 and 770 were designed by Peter Comeau in UK . Mission products are and were made in the UK. I have sent products to Mission in UK for service. I also have corresponded with Mission in the 1990's obtaining parts and information.
What’s the warranty? I believe the original and revised version are famous for cooking too much and eventually failing
The new one uses much better and more reliable through hole components. They should cope fine with the heat.
@@jimfarrell4635 the MK2 was supposed to fix issues with the original…it didn’t but was likely a little better…as this will be…but ultimately by going retro they didn’t fix the elephant in the room…the undersized case. See First Watt for proper case design
@@seanb3303 The new A1 case is quite larger... First Watt just used the same generic case from a haul of cases NP ordered to be made years ago. He just fits all the amps in the same case. Also please show me a FW amp that costs as much as the A1 and looks as interesting externally..
@@razisn FW is not chi-fi so it’s not going to be as cheap. But it has a proven track record, obviously…and a very strong value in used market.
Did anyone compare the sound of the old A1 and the new A1?
The first version of this one was a very good amp sonically and a quality build. However, a pain in the arse to service, if something in the pre or power stage goes wrong. Due to its unconventional circuitry archtecture and the two-piece heat sink on the top. Makes you wonder whether they did it on purpose. No idea about the new one, but if they didn't address those quirks, I'd be very sceptical of buying it. Looks like they left the heat sink the same.
PCB layout has radically changed (if this is what you are referring to as 'architecture') and I believe the top plate is in one piece (not 100% sure though). Top plate does still adhere to the internal heat sink via thermal paste.
A lot of early 80's British amps like the A1, A&R A60, Audiolab 6000 had zero ventilation. This was theoretically a great design feature to prevent any dust buildup, and wasn't a big issue in UK.... But many of these amps overheated in southern Europe and USA. All those amps need the PCB removed completely for working on which is a pain.
The Schiit amp - preamp - combo sounded … well … Schiitier … !!!
19:31
@@arte2arquiteto I never yet learned how to use brackets and full stops, care to remind me?
@@keplermission Antonym for pillow-biter?
Yeah. I look for neutrality less and less, beauty, tone, weight more and more.
Good music! But a terribly inefficient machine where most of the energy heats the room. “Max. Consumption: 130W” being class A that maximum is continuous right? Make sure set it to standby.
Continous (like when idling) is about 90-100W. This is a push-pull amp. There is no standby, it's either on or off.
How does this compare to the topping La90 discrete?
Topping is way better
@@crazyprayingmantis5596 you tried both?
@@crazyprayingmantis5596😂
Is it powerful enough to drive Ls3/5a ?
Yes, in a room or at a listening distance suitable for the LS3/5a.
Is A1 capable to drive dynaudio heritage special well?
I guess that's a matter of how you define "well"! In a small room, not playing particularly dynamic music or playing loud, I think it would sound really nice!
Had the version they made about 12 years ago. Was nice sounding a bit thin but nice.
Yeah but that Zu 'Denon' 103 ..? Yeah it is the Zu DL-103. Steve is getting a bit like Joe Biden. Uranians and all that. (Been in the job too long, huh?) His internal impedance you know, between the ears? Isn't what it used to be.
That was a different internal design.
Could u review the audiolab 9000a please thanks
Brilliant amplifier
How did the Billie stack up??
Billie kills this I have both
Wish you had an Aegir on hand to compare it to.
1985. Owned it since 1986
Had one many years ago ,i'm trying hard to remember what i did with it though , ....
Thank you Steve.
This amp was the first amp I heard in a home situation that really set the standards of what music at home should sound like. (And it kept our Chinese food warm) This amp belonged to a friend of mine who was living at my house at the time. We hooked it up to my old magnepan mg 1 speakers and it was amazing. And although I stepped up the ladder since, I think going back to this would still be magical. Still have the mg1 speakers by the way. Replaced them with tympani 4a. Also magical.
Thanks for watching, wow Tympani!!
Yes, it’s difficult to get more music out of a speaker than you get with magnepan. I will try to sign up for your system of the day thing. Don’t know how yet but I will find out.
I bought my a1 to tame the kantas no1 focal analytical top end.
Hello, which one is better for a Linton, this one or the Rega Elex? Thank you.
I auditioned both and the A1 had a better tonality, except that the Rega had more body and bass control with my speakers. The Linton may be an easier load.