TheDecameron
Unicorns fart glitter.
Thanks for this...but see above!
Music First Audio
- Thread starter mikechadwick
- Start date
andrews
pfm Member
I own a MFA Baby Reference V2 and am very happy with it – but concur with some of the observations made above
Firstly, on a personal note, what clinched the sale was that Jonathan saw a photograph of my late father (a Senior Lecturer in Electronics)– and then mentioned that he had been one his students!
The MFA is powered from a Naim NDS (just 2V output) – and replaced a Nain Nac. I then wanted to replace my Naim NAP power amplifier – and had a home demo with an Audio Research Ref150 - as I thought I wanted to change to tubes. Sadly the sound was ‘thin’ – though analytical. The dealer lent me a Ref 6 pre-amp– and the synergy was immediate and striking – and something that I could definitely live with (although perhaps lacking absolute fine resolution). However WAF (and space) meant however that both boxes had to go !
I have ended up teh MFA powering a solid state Benchmark AHB2 – and this further enhances the detail of the MFA – so that I now have a series of smallish boxes, that allow quite a lot of fiddling with! .
I am also frustrated by the 3dB steps – as mostly the Volume knob is at 12-15 O’Clock.
I found that placing the MFA on Iso-accoustics Gaia supports really improved the sound (I guess I might use the term - less harsh) – and I would urge this fairly cheap experiment on fellow owners. I do wonder if Jonathan might wish to explore isolation of the transformers *within* the case work
My unit has the electric motor – so the two transformers are spaced differently within the case- and again I wonder if this makes a difference?
Finally – I have just been experimenting with a Gutwire Ultimate (and perfect) Ground earthling cable – and surprisingly attaching this to the MFA does change the sound. This is noticeable even if the electric cable to the motorised unit is disconnected – go figure! Im still trying to decide what I prefer, and may write this up as this product has not been discussed on PFM to date
Firstly, on a personal note, what clinched the sale was that Jonathan saw a photograph of my late father (a Senior Lecturer in Electronics)– and then mentioned that he had been one his students!
The MFA is powered from a Naim NDS (just 2V output) – and replaced a Nain Nac. I then wanted to replace my Naim NAP power amplifier – and had a home demo with an Audio Research Ref150 - as I thought I wanted to change to tubes. Sadly the sound was ‘thin’ – though analytical. The dealer lent me a Ref 6 pre-amp– and the synergy was immediate and striking – and something that I could definitely live with (although perhaps lacking absolute fine resolution). However WAF (and space) meant however that both boxes had to go !
I have ended up teh MFA powering a solid state Benchmark AHB2 – and this further enhances the detail of the MFA – so that I now have a series of smallish boxes, that allow quite a lot of fiddling with! .
I am also frustrated by the 3dB steps – as mostly the Volume knob is at 12-15 O’Clock.
I found that placing the MFA on Iso-accoustics Gaia supports really improved the sound (I guess I might use the term - less harsh) – and I would urge this fairly cheap experiment on fellow owners. I do wonder if Jonathan might wish to explore isolation of the transformers *within* the case work
My unit has the electric motor – so the two transformers are spaced differently within the case- and again I wonder if this makes a difference?
Finally – I have just been experimenting with a Gutwire Ultimate (and perfect) Ground earthling cable – and surprisingly attaching this to the MFA does change the sound. This is noticeable even if the electric cable to the motorised unit is disconnected – go figure! Im still trying to decide what I prefer, and may write this up as this product has not been discussed on PFM to date
TheDecameron
Unicorns fart glitter.
Useful feedback Andrew. I think a home trial is mandatory then and when the components are aligned, I bet it sounds unbeatable. What do you make of the Benchmark power amp in comparison with other amps you’ve used? It sounds like an interesting design.
I took a drill to my baby ref mk.ii and added RDC isolation spikes, footers and combi bases, this did improve the sound.
Don’t tell John though he advised I shouldn’t do this!
I plan to get it rewired to better facilitate having monoblocks in there. I also want to add damping and shielding to the inside of the case, but these are nice to haves and not pressing matters.
I also want to change the colour of the front of the unit.
Don’t tell John though he advised I shouldn’t do this!
I plan to get it rewired to better facilitate having monoblocks in there. I also want to add damping and shielding to the inside of the case, but these are nice to haves and not pressing matters.
I also want to change the colour of the front of the unit.
andrews
pfm Member
I have BW 804d - whcih are said to be a difficult load?
I tried a couple of Solid state Amps with my MFA - and found that the Benchamrk was very revealing/detailed with no colouration (which is in contarst with Naim - with the mid-bass 'hump').
The Benchmark AHB2 has fanatstic reviews (eg HiFi News) which I suspect are correct, is reasobaly priced, and is small (WAF++) .
I had though of using it eventually in its monoblock mode - but comments on the web seem to indicate that this is not needed.
This amp has allowed me to assess differeneces in cables and unfourtunately (for my wallet) I have becoem a cable 'believer' as it really does allow one to hear *major* differences.
Again - perhaps surprisingly for such a small unit - it benefits from being on Isoacoustic Gaia's
hifinutt
hifinutt
"Finally – I have just been experimenting with a Gutwire Ultimate (and perfect) Ground earthling cable – and surprisingly attaching this to the MFA does change the sound. This is noticeable even if the electric cable to the motorised unit is disconnected – go figure! Im still trying to decide what I prefer, and may write this up as this product has not been discussed on PFM to date"
interesting find , there has been considerable discussion of these grounding cables on some forums . they do arouse some controversy but great you found it worked
https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?59269-The-Snake-Oil-Machine&highlight=gutwire
interesting find , there has been considerable discussion of these grounding cables on some forums . they do arouse some controversy but great you found it worked
https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?59269-The-Snake-Oil-Machine&highlight=gutwire
andrews
pfm Member
My final conclusion is that although the Gutwire changes the sound from the MFA - it does not improve it.
The sound is less 'exciting', less 'open' and sounds more 'compressed' - with no more detail
The change in sound on my NDS is one that is potentialy more acceptable (and/or an improvemnet) - with a real twang to strings, pianos and voice sounding more real - but the downside is loss of 'volume' and immediacy, narrower soundsatge, and a subjective loss of bass - I'm still pondering...
This inital observation is with the Gutwire 'Ultimate' cable - but I see that they have have just announced a more expensive 'Conusumate' earthing cable...
hifinutt
hifinutt
i use iso pucks under some kit , not fully evaluated it under amps etc. but certainly speakers they make a tremendous difference , at 25 quid each they are a fairly cost effective upgrade
dfe8b94961a22d7912c753bd656581fe0446ed47_2_375x500 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/, on Flickr
andrews
pfm Member
i use iso pucks under some kit , not fully evaluated it under amps etc. but certainly speakers they make a tremendous difference , at 25 quid each they are a fairly cost effective upgrade
I have also put Isoacoustic Gais under my NDS - which was beneeficial
They revolutionised teh sound from my speakers