solidly built and very attractive, provides great detail and transparency

I haven't noticed any

Upraded to the A3 from the Yamaha CDC775. The A3 excels in every aspect of musical reproduction. There is a lush air provided around vocals, and upper frequencies are much more extended without being harsh or tinny. Bottom end is weighted perfectly, and is robust and full at the same time. The rough edges around all the instruments and voices that were present with the Yammie have been removed, and the detail is even more detailed. The A3 also added a fair amount of transparency to the experience.

Similar Products Used:

Technics, Yamaha CDC775, auditioned v. Arcam 72, Musical Hall 25.

Detail, Build Quality, Looks

The remote looks a bit cheap :(

I remember listening to the A3CD a couple of years ago and it definatly stood out back then, but sadly couldnt afford it. For the past 2 years ive been building up my system bit by bit, considering getting a full AV & 5.1 setup more important that splashing out on an exspensive CD player. So I made do with a Marantz CD4000 which for £100 was the best of its price range, as there was no way I could dish out £900 on the A3CD. Well almost 2 years have passed and I walked into my local Sevenoaks Hi-Fi store only to find the A3CD along with the X-Ray had long been discontinued by Musical Fidelity. But imagine my delight when the guy in the store told me he had somebody bringing in a 1yr old A3CD on part-ex and I could have his A3CD for a snip at £450 which was roughly £400 LESS than I was expecting to have to spend! Well it arrived last night in totally perfect condition and what can I say about this player?? It impresses me more now that ive had a good listen on it, than it did back then. The detail is amazing, I can hear every note of every song, the mid end is punchy and it really takes advantage of my b&w 603's, filling the room with great presence.

Very musical... doesn't call attention to itself, except when you realize what you've been missing.

Nothing at this price point (or several hundred more).

Ervin is way off. I've owned several Sony ES products (including CD players) and with the exception of the very highest-end SACD machines, they in no way compare to the A3. This is the only CD player I've used that gives me a sound I can live with when not listening to vinyl... accurate, dynamic, clean, detailed, smooth. Impossible? I thought so until I heard it myself.

Similar Products Used:

Sony ES NAD Marantz

Good remote.

No power off on remote.

The MF sounds clear, crisp and articulate. Like removing a sonic veil from the music. Compared to the nippon invasion crap like a sony cdp-xa555, its a no brainer. The market is full of asian dumped consumer electronics for those that can't afford or hear better. Paired with my new MF DAC, this system is hypnotising. Beats all at this price break up to an exceeding those at twice its price.

Similar Products Used:

Arcam, TAlk, Exposure

Overall coherent sound: closer to live music than reproduced sound Fantastic bass and detail - even at low levels

None

I just picked the A3.2 cd up yesterday afternoon and its been breaking in for just over 24 hours. Late this evening I began to listen to my best detailed cds and I was shocked at how much more information there is in the bass over the Sony SACD 333. The overall low level detail retrieval is much better than with the Sony. As I played everything from the soundtrack from O Brother Where Art Thou to Miles Davis to Peruvian flute music to Diana Krull to the soundtrack to Artificial Intelligence one thing became very clear: there was a coherence to the sound that I had not heard before in my system. The soundstage was better defined and the space front to back was also better defined. All of the different instruments and the voices also seemed to be part of a whole and not separate sounds all playing at the same time. With the Artificial Intelligence recording I felt that mountains were being moved by the enormous lower bass. All this after only one day! System: Anthem Pre amp 2L special edition, Bedini 25/25 Class A amp. Everything is run through a a Perfectionist Audio Component IDOS and a PS Audio Ultimate Outlet. Speakers are Spendor BC1s. Speaker cable is Audioquest Crystal with a Viper interconnect between the cd and the pre amp. Audioquest Quartz connects the pre amp to the amp. The pre amp is on a Bright Star sand filled base. I have not put the 3.2 cd on its Bright Star sand filled base yet. All components on a Target stand

Similar Products Used:

Rotel 855, Cal Audio Delta + Sigma, Sony SACD 333

clarity and detailed sound

bright and dry. a little too hard a sound

i actually borrowed this player from a friend of mine at his insistence as he wanted to hear his player partnered with my system which consisted of chord pre and power and cabasse speakers with nordost cables and at the end of the day he wished he didn't. the player confirmed my opinion as i had asked him not to buy the player then. compared to my present sony cdp-xa7es, the musical fidelity sounded thin in the midrange and dry in the highs making it unsuitable for long term listening. detailing is good but i found the sound too bright and dry for my liking. i would advise anyone looking for a player in this price range to go for the sony cdp-xa555es and to avoid the over-rated arcam players as well which sounded rather artificial.

Similar Products Used:

sony cdp-xa7es, nad silverline cd player

Very musical. Attractive styling. Gorgeous sound.

I've had a channel drop on me to be fixed by twisting the interconnect of the offending channel. Hasn't happened since. Can't power unit on/off by remote.

What a huge step up from my Toshiba SD-5700 DVD player. The A3 CD I bought is a demo unit I got at a discount for $1400 CDN. I am very happy with the sound quality and overall performance of the player. The new A3.2 CD has a new DAC but is considerably more expensive. You can always upgrade to the well reviewed MF A24 DAC once they stop flying off the store shelves. This CD player is built like a tank.

Similar Products Used:

Demoed Arcam Diva 72 and Rotel RCD-1070 which are both good products.

Good reproduction.

This player delivers a detailed sound that is tonally accurate. I find it works well with quad 99 / 909 amps and quad 989 speakers. However, partnered with MF amps I found the tone to be too high and harsh.

Gets out of the way

Has a slight warm sound in the upper-mids and treble

I purchased the A-3cd from Audio Advisor -I think I got one of the last units they had. I know that Audio Advisor no longer carries Musical Fidelity and that Upscale Audio is now a dealer. Audio Advisor had to do a repair on the remote sensor inside the display - they did so quickly - within one week. I am very pleased with there service. I know MF is releasing the A-3.2 cd player this month and has already released the A3-24 DAC. The AC-3.2 is said to incorporate the upsampling of the Nu Vista cd player. I am extremely happy with the A3-cd. My dealer here in town told me that source components are probably the most important part of a system. I initially did not believe him and used a consumer grade cd player via the digital co-ax connection. I could immediately tell the difference when I first hooked up the A3-cd. It''s hard to decribe, but the music just sounds "right." I can now hear the plucks on an acoustic guitar or the breaths taken in between saxaphone notes. At times, I feel as though the performer is right there in front of me. The A-3 has an extremely detailed sound. I know some reviewers talked about the A3-cd player as sounding sterile. In my system at least, it definitely was not - the A3-cd player just seems to get out of the way. The mids are a bit warm but sound satisfying in my system. The bass is incredibly punchy and fills the room. I have listened to the A3-cd player with a wide variety of different music. Especially on Gaia from James Taylor''s HourGlass - the A3-cd excelled - near the end of the song there is a strong bass note that is unbelievable. In addition, the A3-cd provides conveys classical music extremely well - I listened to Berstein''s interpretation of Copland''s Appalachian Road. Because each component is system dependent here is what I am currently using: NAD T760 Musical Fidelity A-3cd player PSB 4T Speakers DH Labs BL-1 interconnects (I am in the process of switching to Harmonic Tech Truth Links) -Definitely audition this cd player - you may be able to get a good deal on it since MF is releasing the A3.2 cd player to it. - In terms of value, the A3-cd player is close to the Arcam FMJ-cd 23 - although as not musically refined, the A-3 is a good buy at around $1000.

Similar Products Used:

Consumer grade - philips cd player

very open, airy and having a sense of crystalline quality.

none

"Contentment is not getting what we want, But being satisfied with what we have." And lastly " A thing of beauty is a joy forever" by John Keats. That''s all I have to say.