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Music First Audio

I had a MF Classic Copper, I think paired with a Quad 306. It was one of the best pre amps I have had in so many ways, superbly transparent but at the time I felt it lacked a bit of oomph/drive, also never went loud. These days those things are less important to me and I'd try one again. I think the speakers in that set up were Elac BS244, perhaps with a more efficient speaker those issues would be resolved.

In any case I rate it highly. In a similar vein I tried a Tisbury passive pre with a Quad 306 which I found awful!

As is well known, I use Naim as my default amps, currently a Nait 2 but have been right up the chain and back down!
 
I am using a MFA Baby Classic with V2 transformers ( a special). It replaced an Audio Research Reference 3. I'd say the MFA is more natural sounding. The only thing against is that it has 2dB steps from O to -35dB and 3dB from there to ∞. I'd like the 2dB steps all the way as I listen at low levels. But I can work around. I took a chance on it and am happy that I did. It isn't lacking oomph or drive, as I read in some quarters.
 
I had one for a bit Mike. I went a bit passive preamp mental for a bit, and tried The MFA copper, Townshend,Line Magnetic, Django units, as well as several diy jobs.

The MFA was mid table, bested by the Allegri and the LM units that were both as ‘transparent’but seemed to kick harder. The MFA was a bit polite.

Ultimately I sold them all in favour of well built Nelson Pass B4 buffer clone. That seemed to have the best of both worlds ... nigh on zero effect on the sound of the power amp but with a bit of drive.
 
So, I found the B4 a bit polite.....

@k90tour, if you only listen at low levels (not that there is anything wrong with that) there is a likelihood that dynamic limitations may not be sufficiently audible/relevant.
 
There you go! It’d be a boring world etc ...

I’d be lying if I said that cost didn’t factor. The NP clone just did so much right for the money
 
I've got a silver-wound MFA and it's cracking. Very transparent and neutral. Success will depend on a match with the rest of the system, particularly the source and it's output voltage. They do lack drive relative to an active, but you need to be spending considerably more (I got mine 2nd hand off eBay) to get an active pre that has the drive AND similar levels of transparency.
 
No problem with the MFA sound at low volume, just that the larger steps meant that it was too loud or too quiet. I just sit back now and turn it up a bit.
 
Thanks everyone. To put this all in context, i’ve just invested in some Stax electrostatic SR009’s (second hand) and to drive them i’m using a Mjolnir Octave 3 “power amp” and my EAR868PL pre-amp. Problem is i’ve got way too much gain and can’t get the volume beyond 9.00 o’clock before the sound falls apart. One solution is put some attenuation between the pre and power which i’ll try that but I was also thinking that a passive may be the way to go and MFA seem to be pretty well regarded. Obviously i’d get a home dem first.
 
I found them ruthlessly revealing of the source - great with well recorded material but unlistenable on bad things - and slightly lacking in drive. I've been using a DCB1 buffer for a while.
 
I have one doing nothing in the rack - a mk1 copper.
I replaced it with an Aesthetic Calypso Signature which is much more expensive.

The MFA has a great sound, very transparent. But ultimately 22 steps for volume control means coarse level setting rather than the finer range I prefer. This was a major motivation for the change of pre amp.
I found that the +6dB switch helped with dynamics.
The easy mix of balanced and unbalanced inputs and outputs is also a big plus.
 
heihei said:
I've got a silver-wound MFA and it's cracking. Very transparent and neutral. Success will depend on a match with the rest of the system, particularly the source and it's output voltage. They do lack drive relative to an active, but you need to be spending considerably more (I got mine 2nd hand off eBay) to get an active pre that has the drive AND similar levels of transparency.
Click to expand...

now i hear this sometimes but just don`t get it . i had one of my first active pre amps which i loved and my friend bought round a mfa classic mark 1. immediately it had more slam , more dynamics than the active . that started a long process of several mfa amps . jonathan bought up the first baby ref for me to try which was stunning .

then i had an audiophile friend round to hear my baby ref [6k ] vs my arc ref 5 and they were so utterly close and the friend preferred the dynamics and slam and transprency of the mfa . i felt the realism of the ref 5 just slightly pipped it . these were CD`s thoughts and i think he put it very well

Okay my thoughts on the newest Music First preamplifier.

Yesterday in Phil's system we had the pleasure of listening and comparing three rather good preamps.

1. Music First Audio 'Baby Reference' - rrp c £6k

2. Music First Audio Mk II - rrp £5k

3. Audio Research Ref 5 - rrp £10.5k

We used a selection of tracks to try out as each of the preamps were inserted into the set up: Kraftwerk, Supertramp, Katie Melua, Trentemoller, Can Atilla, Led Zep had repeat plays.

I'll kick things off with my observations and I'm sure Phil will add his.

The 'Baby Reference' had been playing for a few hours by the time I arrived. It's the preamp I've been crying out for Music First to release - a Reference stripped of the additional outputs and the motorised remote. Appearance wise it looks like a slightly bigger Classic, with a coloured front panel with the same switches as the other models in the family. It has the Reference coils with less attenuation steps on the dial, and the +6dB switch now removed.

The sound is quite unmistakeable Music First - zero noise, crystal clear. The soundstage is well defined and easy to locate instruments - precise but not etched. It's unbelievably transparent. The most obvious thing that strikes you is the extra headroom at top and bottom end. As a result instruments and voices have more depth and solidity, there's more weight to the images so it sounds more real and convincing.

Jonathan popped back to collect the amp and so we had a chance to chat about its construction and get the lid off to see where he had used damping materials on the inside of the casework. There was some chat about the MFA MC step up which I'll be auditioning once I get my power amp back.

Next up, the Music First MkII I had brought for comparison. Mixed opinions on the differences. To me it was clear that I was hearing the benefits of listening to a well run in unit - the Reference was produced less than 2 days ago. As a result I thought that the MkII sounded a bit more even across the mid range, a touch more depth and the soundstage more spread out between the speakers. What was obvious was that the Reference had the edge on overall bandwidth, and that little extra weight of image.

Finally came the Audio Research Ref 5. It didn't take long at all to appreciate the vastly different presentation. The unit warmed up in about 10-15 mins and was fully on song. The most obvious feature - massive projection of vocals. Music flows from the Ref 5, very effortless and easy to enjoy. The soundstage is big and three dimensional and extends beyond the speakers. Its not as precise as the MFA preamps but it does make instruments sound 'right'.

They're all extremely good amps, just very different. A summary description which doesn't do them justice but may help to define the contrast, is that the MFA's sound is vivid and quite 'hifi' - with transparency, zero noise and incredible detail. The Ref 5 on the other hand just sounds 'analogue' and very easy to listen to.


https://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/46328-music-first-audio-baby-reference/

i find them to a be a very linear presentation unlike my 2 modwright 36.5 pre amps which have a more liquid midrange
 
HI

I have recently upgraded from a Classic V2 to a Baby Reference V2. Before the upgrade I had simultaneous home demos with a Pass Labs XP-12 (£5000) and a PS Audio BHK Sig (£6000) which allowed me to do blind comparisons (my daughter changed the cables to ensure the tests were blind). The PS Audio was very good but the Baby Ref V2 beat them all. I have the Baby Ref driving ATC active speakers.

On top of the great sound quality MFA provide excellent customer service. Jonathan Billington, the owner of MFA, personally delivered the unit one Sunday morning then left me to listen in my home system. He offered a full price trade in of my Classic V2 (I bought it on here for £900 but he gave me a £2450 trade in against the Baby Ref V2 - apparently he will refurb the unit and send it out for a demo - most of which lead to sales). When I took the Classic V2 down to his office he showed me where and how the amps are made. The transformers are completely hand wound and the level of craftsmanship is superb with just two of them producing all the units. Nice to see traditional methods still being employed in this day and age.

I agree the amp can be very revealing of poor recordings (rubbish in, rubbish out) but it adds nothing to the sound, just lets the music through. It is also very fast and detailed with a big sound stage. And you don't need a power cable so one less thing to plug in.

Give Jonathan a ring and arrange a home demo - it is the only way to know for sure if it will fit in with your system and give you what you are looking for. Good luck and enjoy the journey!
 
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As I say - it's very system dependent, and in mine there is a clear pick-up in dynamics going from passive (MFA and Bespoke both tried) to active (CH, Audionet, and Coincident).
 
I know Jonathon and the guys at MFA and the Bespoke people. I replaced my Pink Triangle Pip II with a Baby reference. I tried some of the Classics in Copper and Silver but the Baby reference was just better. I've not heard the Bespoke but have heard the MFa models in a number of systems in the Nag-Fi group. In every system they seem to offer very low noise and good matching to most amps and front ends. They add very little so will show you how the rest of your system works. I have been most impressed when hearing them in basic set ups where they give a nice musical presentation. I don't have any issue with the volume steps as I operate in the lower/mid range of the transformers as I run a Pass Aleph 3 with Avantgarde Uno which are very efficient. Definitely worth a listen.
 
so pleased that you got a mfa sorted stidge , of course its worth noting that the bespoke pre [ made by ex employees of mfa ] is equivalent to the baby ref v1 whereas now mfa have the baby ref v2 which is better
 
Thanks - me too!

The whole reason I started the upgrade process was because of the stuff I had read on the net about passive amps not being dynamic. Having nothing to compare against I was worried I was missing something. Being able to conduct a home demonstration of the Pass Labs (solid state), PS Audio (tube) and the Baby Ref (passive) was very interesting. I had them for about 10 days so was able to listen to a large range of music and carry out some in depth testing. The first thing I learnt was that passive pre-amps do not have any issues with dynamics (well certainly not in my system) . Secondly the Classic V2 was pretty close to the performance of the active pre-amps despite the fact they are double the cost. The level of detail was slightly less and the sound stage was slightly smaller but overall it was pretty close. It was also interesting that I couldn't hear a big difference between the tube and solid state amps. I guess this could be down to my particular system but given the often heated tube vs solid state debate I was expecting them to be noticably different.

I was going to go with the PS Audio BHK Sig (a Stereophile Class A recommended pre-amp) but then thought I would give Jonathan a ring to see if I could have a listen to the Baby Rev v2 before I proceeded. Glad I did because the MFA was better and I got a great deal.

Jonathan did mention the Bespoke guys who basically left and took his designs with them. Clearly he wasn't very happy but it drove him to redesign his products and make them even better. There are no plans for a Baby Ref V3 so the V2 will remain the top of the range which is good to know.
 
I saw a bespoke at kj west one recently but not heard it. Afraid after some years of superb service from mfa I would stick with them
 
Don't feel too sorry for MFA.... Jonathan took developments from John Chapmam of Bent Audio, used them and then stopped him from selling S&B products and launched MFA. John nearly went to the wall. It's all about money in the end. Nothing new and the way of the world.
 
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