fantastic Amp, with loads of power but at the same time it has a very very refined sound, neutral and in one word "realistic". Very good design, very futuristic look and great easy of use. it has a superb and deep sound with all music you like, with a contolled bass, real drums sound, warm and deep, beautiful vocals and great piano and organ reproductions. Miles Davis trumpet on vinyl sounded astonishing in my equipment. Pink Floyd music reproduction is rich, very very detailed, warm, exactly the way you'd expect to listen to "space-rock".
A must to have for any audiophiles out there, and a great amp with superb features other brands offer at much higher prices....
Sure one of the best integrated amps ever made.

Very musical, neutral and transparant.

Maybe sometimes a little thin in the highs, but this doesn't make it sound unrealistic.

This is one great amp, it has a very pure sound. With great inner resolution en macro and micro dynamics.
Bass response is great, not the most punchy type, but instead very realistic and musical.
Sound is very organic, superbly neutral and transparant.
Maybe the only thing that you can fault this amp in is that the highs can sound a little thin at some times, but this never makes the amp sound unrealistic.
Musical moods come through perfectely, be it classical, be it hardrock and so on.
It neither sounds bright nor warm in my opinion, it just is very loyal to the recording.
And it will drive about all speakers you will ever come across without even breaking a sweat! It will pour through a bass response you may have never experienced with your own speakers.

Definitely the thinking audiophile company, MF products are fairly priced and top notch in service and dependability

could have better speaker connecters

Has lived up to all the positive reviews for sonics and has preformed without fault. The short comings it does have is common to most products at this level. By this I am referring to the effects of power supply and internally and externally generated vibrations. What I mean by this is I found by having a dedicated circuit to my stereo, along with a PS Soloist and PPP connected with PS Premiere power cable my system floored me with the obvious sonic improvements. 2nd, the top of the A5 will easily vibrate. The Bright Star Little Rock on top, supported by the BS air Mass with Symposium Svelte Shelf and Stillpoints, minimizes the external vibs along with those vibs internally generated. This had as a profound effect as the power supply. All I can say is "WOW". I use the latest Audioquest IC's (Colorado) and love them with no desire to look further. A previous poster mentioned AQ,s with a negative, I feel his problem was elsewhere for sure. I know I gave more general info than specific examples as my time is limited and I hardly ever post anywhere. But I have finally found sonic bliss. Rest of system is Sony 555ES, Cambridge 640,(MF V3 phono,power supply,tube output) VA Beethoven Speakers with AQ 8 DBS cables

Similar Products Used:

Rotel, Adcom 555II,MF Tri-Vista 300

Bags of power, dynamics, making me want to listen to well recorded CD's until I fall asleep. It delivers a transparent and full soundstage, with precision, speed and tight bass. It can sometimes appear bright with heavy bass, but I think that is often down to the cd recordings.

Making you want to throw your poorly recorded/produced CD's in the trash can.

Finding the right hifi components and that includes cables is a journey into the unknown. If I go back 15 years the dream system (budget restricted) was Mission speakers with Audilolab cd and int.amp. Then in '99 I heard a friends setup with Musical Fidelity A3 cd and int. amp and Proac Speakers and following some research into cost, new that the future for me was Musical Fidelity.

Some seven years later, it took convincing my wife, by borrowing my brothers Arcam System , that music can sound so much better than my tiresome Harman Kardom Receiver. So after some listening sessions, and an increase in initial budget I acquired a second hand A5 CD and Int. Amp.

First Impressions were ugh! why does it sound so poor compared to the demos, of course the reason was obvious, IC's.

So next step having obtained the units, convincing the wife that I needed new IC's. You probaly know how hard that is (its a piece of wire) and a year later I am running the system with Inakustik 1202 RF cable from Germany with WBT Nextgen Cu connectors, 1202 LS cables with WBT 0645's, 1202 Bi wire bridges with Inakustik goldplated spades, and Monitor Audio S8 speakers. Cables cost me an orderly sum of €800 ($1200 US).

Like some other reviewers I have found what I have always been looking for in my sound, and I no longer find myself surfing hifi web sites, except writing this review.

It would be really interesting to know what IC's people are using out there are nobody provides this info. Wrong IC's crap sound.

Similar Products Used:

Audiolab 8000
Roksan Caspian
Musical Fidelity A3.5
Ok so I like the English sound. Unfortunately it's often produced in Asia. I think my A5 is still prodcued in the UK.

Transprency Transparency

No headphone socket necessitating the pruchase of a headphone amp. Cannot be turned off from the remote

If you are looking for transparency this is the amplifier for you. I'm driving Dynaudio Contour 3.4s with the amplifier barely out of first gear. Certainly it can be run loud but at comfortable listenig levels its response to soft passages is outstandingly good. While it lacks some of the frills - no headphone socket that its competitor here, Arcam's A32 has - it delivers more grunt which is reflected in the comments above. With a delivery on the bright side, choice of ICs is important e.g. I found some Audioquest ICs resulted in an over-bright sound. It has a no fuss remote that doesn't need a licence to drive.

Similar Products Used:

Perreaux 200i, Arcam A32

Good sturdy build, high quality sound.

Wish amp could be turned on by remote and mute would stay on at turn on until
volume level increased. Also would be nice if remote lit up at night.

I also strongly disagree with Twister's comments. This is a well constructed amp with plenty of power which should last for years. It replaced my Classe Cap151 (also a good amp). I found it gives a little more life to the music than the Classe
when matched with my PBN Montana SPII speakers. The A5 is a smooth amp,
but with a nice lively presentation sometimes missing in other British products.
Matches well with MF's A5 CD player. You can't go wrong with this amp.

I would just like to write an update to my previous review. Since my last review my amp has performed flawlessly. The amp is well broken in. It stays on night and day and I use it for watching tv, listening to music, when I'm on the computer, or when I play xbox 360. The amp sounds as smooth and clear as day one and there has never been a problem with anything. I have brought my amp to my dealer because I wanted to hear how the amp performed on a pair of B&W 803s'. Perfect! They properly powered the speakers and gave them perfect weight to the mid and bass. I compared the MF to a more expensive McIntosh 200w integrated amp, and there was not much difference. The MF was a little brighter and not as neutral. As far as drive capability, both amps performed equally. The McIntosh was a bit better sounding, but a 5% percent difference if that, and at double the cost. So, all in all the amp still works as it did from day one and there has been no dissapointments.
On to my next point. It's one of my pet peeves to see people write reviews without providing any real fact, knowlegde, or hands on experience with a product. The reviewer below has not provided any feedback on the product, but rather bashes MF with no supported facts or merit. The A5 is not flimsy, nor is it a marketing skeam to introduce new products. MF will not leave a person with a feeling of betrayal if a new product comes out. If a person is satisfied with a product, then why would they rush out to go and buy another amp? The main reason I praise this product is because I am finally satisfied with my purchase and I don't feel the need to ever upgrade. I thank MF, because for the longest time I thought I had a sickness where I was never satisfied with my stereo and had to keep spending money. I would have so many debts, but it wouldnt' matter how much I owed because all I had on my mind was my stereo. I no longer feel that way, and now I can move on with my life and focus on other expenditures.

Second, the amps the reviewer mentioned below...ie Bryston, Krell, Arcam, are twice the price. They aren't even in the same league. MF makes quality products both in terms of build construction and sound. They don't charge on a "how much can I get for this" philosophy. So go on, waste your money, in the mean time I'll have a great sounding system and still be able to afford a car and a house, but until then leave websites like these for people who are interested in learning about products first hand from other people. The review below gets a zero in my books for being helpful and thanks for ruining the products' overall rating.

Marketing, Looks, Initial Sound impression

Living with it kept me with the upgrade bug...something not completely satisfying in the sound.
Reliability/Quality Control

As a former Musical Fidelity fan, I am increasingly dissappointed in this piece of equipment. Although service from the dealer, and Signal Path have been first rate, the A5s I have owned have been more problem than pleasure. (yes, number 1 was replaced due to a problem that almost blew my speakers, and now the second one is getting ready to ship for repair...crosstalk between sources and now no sound).

I enjoy the sound of the A5, although I find that it is rythmically challenged as compared to the drive and pace provided by the likes of a SimAudio I-5. The bass is slightly tighter on the A5, but also de-emphasized (can't say which is neutral, but I find the I-5 more involving).

I have owned a Tri-Vista 300 Integrated which I loved but was too huge, the A5, and the SimAudio I-5, and found that the Musical Fidelity kept me engaged in the upgrade treadmill...but I relax into listening to music with the SimAudio I-5, and try to keep the A5 simply running.

Customer Service

Top notch

Similar Products Used:

Tri-Vista 300 Integrated
Tri-Vista DAC
SimAudio Moon I-5
Arcam A85

sound quality
build quality
power
looks
wow factor

none

Great sounding, I finally got what I was looking for. My intent was to own an amp that could finally do my Paradigm Studio 100 v. 2's some justice-both quality and power wise. I upgraded from a NAD T752 receiver with an Anthem MCA 20 to power the main speakers. That combo was great, however I was still unsatisfied with the sound I was getting when listening to 2 channel audio. It was missing subtle sounds and the highs just weren't convincing enough. So the big move was to sacrifice my entire surround setup and sell it in an effort to afford this bad boy of an amp. Needless to say I have never been happier in alll the time I've owned audio equipment. Build quality is magnificent. The amp is solid as a rock and it looks good sitting on my shelf. Soundwise, it woke up my speakers beautifully. Now I can play music at low volumes and still get the quality in the bass and treble without having to crank it up, this amp has a crazy power supply. At first I was worried that this amp at 250 watts was not gonna cut it since my old Anthem amp was 225W and didn't seem to do my speakers much justice. This amp seems at least twice as powerful over the old one. Soundstaging is great. It now sounds deeper, wider, and fills in everything in between the speakers . In my mind I don't ever see myself upgrading again...I think I've finally lost the urge to upgrade because in my mind, I've finally made the right decision on an amp and there's nothing missing in the sound I'm hearing...I coudn't wish for anything different. It has nice highs, smooth mids and the bass is layered and deep. Oh, the only thing I can complain about is if you own a crappy source....it will reveal it's limitations in a heart beat. I couldn't settle for my old Cambridge Audio CD Player so I went out and purchased a Naim CD5i. Wow, what a difference. The Naim is one of the best players out there, and with the combination of everything together...I'm happy now...I guess I'll have to find myself a new hobby.

Similar Products Used:

NAD, Anthem, Bryston 4b, Naim

Sound staging, power, performance

The volume knob is a little spongy

Absolutely astonishingly brilliant! I have always liked Musical Fidelity from my elektra E100, however after 10 years of usage it had begun to sound muddled and strained. The A5 sounds wonderful, from very low volumes late at night, to thumping the noise out it holds presence and sound staging beautifully, definately worth every little penny, it has completely revitalised my whole system.