canonman
pfm Member
Ditto, nothing to do with us.
Musical Fidelity
- Thread starter Galty
- Start date
Ditto, nothing to do with us.
Tony L
Administrator
It surprises me too. I only really know the early stuff, Synthesis, Preamp, Dr Thomas, MVT, P170 etc, which was horribly built with dry joints all over the place, but if you found a working one it was pretty good in a big and bold kind of way. I rather like the P170 and it is a great second hand buy at current prices assuming one can solder. A friend currently has a far more recent 3.2CR power amp and whilst I've not popped the lid off for a look inside it does seem like a very good and powerful amp for 500 Brexit£ or so second hand.
One problem with MF for me is they seem to have had so many entirely contradictory ranges, designers, styles and ideologies over the years that there isn’t any real ‘house sound’ for people to latch onto. One of my favourite marketing blunders was their fairly recent argument that you need a crazy powerful amp as everything else is underpowered for the task at hand (KW range PR).... and then reissuing the A1! IIRC they even gave away a little KW Range cardboard calculator that proved the A1 was useless!
canonman
pfm Member
Only once, you were lucky! I had well over 10 years of the pleasure.
There was a famous Federation of British Audio do at the Cafe Royal.
Vereker, Tiefenbrun and other luminaries there and we all had a great time. We were AM's guests (we were also members but he was paying) Called wine waiter over and complained in a very loud voice...'this wine tastes like piss, get us another bottle!'
To be fair, we had good times too. I drove all of his Maseratis and Lambos. The Bora was epic.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
Never suggested it was... merely making conversation/reminiscing...
I well remember the flash cars yes. A dark blue old Maserati was my favourite.
canonman
pfm Member
With respect, bollocks. The PCB's were properly built. We had around £30K worth of flow soldering machine and all the ancillary kit (at 1980's prices), along with semi auto insertion machines which added a few more K's. Every PCB was comprehensively tested before it left us and retested/ inspected by MF. If your examples were poor, someone had been in there meddling.
I had several units over those years, all standard production. The Pre, Dr Thomas, Studio T, A370, P172, Synthesis etc. Never failed. 2 other A370;s bought at the same time, are still in use today and have never been serviced.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
That's about right re the contradictory ranges of gear yes. I don't recall any issues with bad soldering, it was mainly down to the cheapest components available being used and then right up to their limits ie if a resistor dissipated 1W they would use a 1W resistor and if you could just about light a fag on it well tough... they wouldn't spend the extra 5p to specify a 3W resistor...
The P140 and virtually identical P150 are excellent value little power amps and use the same basic circuit as the P170 but with a smaller PSU. A friend of mine is still using a pair of them I souped up with the best of everything that would fit in the casework about 15 years ago. He now has ATC speakers and money to buy other power amps but he's not heard anything he prefers!
canonman
pfm Member
The Bora was blue so that might have been the one. If only it had aircon that actually worked...
Tony L
Administrator
One of my friends was a real MF junkie back in the time the kit was new. He owned a Synthesis, MkI Preamp, Dr Thomas, MVT, and P170. Every single one, with the possible exception of the Dr Thomas (original shoebox-shaped one) had a fault that necessitated returning to the dealer, some multiple times. I distinctly remember having to slap the MVT in a certain point on the top panel to get both channels on.
canonman
pfm Member
Unlikely to be PCB problems. We were all professionally qualified chartered engineers and our 30 staff were well trained in electronic production. Our customer base in those days was amazing. BA, BBC, LWT, KEF, Rogers, B&W, Mordaunt Short, Creek, Gatwick and Heathrow airports, Nationwide Bank etc
Every single PCB was thoroughly inspected and tested before it left us so it would have been the next stage of production in Wembley.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
Sounds like an early A370 by the description so yep. Only actually 18WPC in class A but because it could go on to deliver 200WPC+ (a bit more than spec) that was enough to make it get hot like a 50WPC pure class A amp... so yes it ran hot. It was very expensive, sounded great and was "the new wave of British high end".. as touted by one K. Kessler. Some said it was the UK answer to the Krell KSA50/100 at the time I recall. Matching pre amp was the MVT, the initials being of one Dr Thomas, whose name some may recall from an earlier MF power amp. This was good but not that good... IMHO. The MVX (designed by TdP) which supplanted it was simply sublime... in spite of having output transformers!
James
Lord of the Erg\o/s
I was rather disappointed when I learnt my A-100 operated in class A for only its first five watt or so. But it sounded mellifluous while it lasted. After self combustion, it never sounded the same again.
alanbeeb
pfm Member
I had an MF Elektra E100 integrated amp in the 90s, it was OK - certainly better than the overbright Pioneer A400 that preceeded it. But everything of theirs I have heard since just seems to be slow, heavy and dull sounding and so they are now off my radar.
That Michaelson chap is an excellent clarinettist BTW.... his recording of Mozart's Concerto is one of my faves.
That Michaelson chap is an excellent clarinettist BTW.... his recording of Mozart's Concerto is one of my faves.
musicnuttyboy
Active Member
Back in the early 2000's I was the very happy owner of the Tri-Vista 300 integrated and matching SACD player.
They looked fantastic and sounded just as good with a pair of Martin Logan Clarity speakers and a PT Anniversary/SME V. A system I have very fond memories of that system.
They were reluctantly sold due to working abroad for a few years. I now understand the SACD player suffered from reliability problems with the transport which was by then no longer available so perhaps I sold just in time.
And back in the late 80's (i think) I had a pair of MC-2 speakers which sounded great and brought to life an Linn LP12.
They looked fantastic and sounded just as good with a pair of Martin Logan Clarity speakers and a PT Anniversary/SME V. A system I have very fond memories of that system.
They were reluctantly sold due to working abroad for a few years. I now understand the SACD player suffered from reliability problems with the transport which was by then no longer available so perhaps I sold just in time.
And back in the late 80's (i think) I had a pair of MC-2 speakers which sounded great and brought to life an Linn LP12.
RankingRoger
pfm Member
The Synthesis was the first proper amp I wanted. Never got one so if any one has got one for a reasonable cost I’d be interested.
I have absolutely no need for it (unless it will see off my Bryston) but that is never the point is it?
I have absolutely no need for it (unless it will see off my Bryston) but that is never the point is it?
Tony L
Administrator
That sales pitch was misleading in the extreme, arguably false advertising, but five Watts of class A covers most things to be honest. It is one reason I have a lot of respect for Quad’s (far more honest!) current dumping architecture which only has a Watt or two of class A but does bring many of the qualities. I’m pretty convinced by proper class A, but it is expensive, hot and therefore not an especially green solution. A little class A amp, tube or solid state, and efficient speakers is a good option though.
PS I had an original A1 for a short while. Short because I lived in Liverpool and some bastard broke in and stole it. Replaced it with an Onix A21 which was far more to my taste and system priorities at the time. The A1 was a nice little amp though.
Stunsworth
pfm Member
I have an MF A5CR preamp and the matching DAB tuner. The tuner was bought at an end of line sale by MF, though I haven’t used it in years as I stream radio these days.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
I can't recall the precise amount delivered in class A from an A100 but I reckon it's considerably more than 5W. The A1 was class A to full output BTW.
In the case of the Quad it's milliwatts....
I'm a big fan of class A myself and there can be no doubting its overall superiority to any other type of power amp but, as you say, it's very expensive, runs hot and eats 'leccy..
My main amp at home here is a class A beasty of my own design
Having an amp work in class A for the first few Watt's, and ideally to 10 or more, but them moving into class A/B is a very good way of getting the best of both worlds. 10WPC or so is enough to cover most real world volume requirements, leaving the rest (the other 90W lets say) to cope with big peaks.