Musical Fidelity A3CD Player CD Players
Musical Fidelity A3CD Player CD Players
[Feb 24, 2002]
raydio
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Natural, engaging sound, with "analog" characteristics. Above average sound stage.
Weakness:
Silver facia may not suit your taste. I originally set out to improve the sound of my system by replacing the speakers (currently Klipsch RF3''s). However, after some advice from the knowledgeable (and approachable)people at a local Hi-Fi dealer, I was convinced that the problem lay with my source, a Toshiba SD2108 DVD player. In addition to the Musical Fidelity unit, I auditioned (at home) CD players from Sony, Nakamichi, and Linn. I decided on the MF A3CD within minutes of hooking it up to my system. Apart from the Linn Genki, which was also an excellent unit, the others lacked the detail and musicality of the A3CD. I spent the whole day trying out different CD''s from my collection. I''d describe the sound as quite "analog" in nature, as well as natural and revealing. After 10 hours of (nearly) continuous listening I felt no fatigue. I do have two minor criticisms. Firstly, it would have been nice to have a choice of facia color. The rest of my system is black. Secondly, when I first hooked up the A3CD, I only got sound from one channel. After twisting and jiggling the link cable into one of the analog RCA connectors, I had no further problems. Despite the relatively high price, the improvement in sound quality is more than ample compensation.This is simply a wonderful CD player that for $2,000 Australian Dollars, has transformed my system. Similar Products Used: Linn Genki, Nakamichi MB10 (not in same league), various Sony models. |
[Oct 08, 2001]
Madcat Mech
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
analog sound
Weakness:
none at this time Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 3D CD Player number 21 out of 500 in the world.I am in my 92 hour of burn-in, Man did the reviews not even come close! Similar Products Used: alwasy used sony players |
[Apr 02, 2001]
pete dorian
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
neutral and revealng.good quality.
Weakness:
has no volume control on remote,couch potatoes! very happy with this player.glad i bought it. Similar Products Used: marantz63se with musical fidelity x can[sam tellig's suggestion] |
[Jan 16, 2001]
Abel Baptista
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
extremely open "TRUE-TO-LIFE" sound, depth + width of soundstage, musicality, terrific design
Weakness:
high price paid due to low local currency - portuguese Marantz cd63mkii-ki signature - purchased dec 1998 Similar Products Used: marantz cd 63mkii-ki signature |
[Apr 03, 2001]
Jules Alexandrou
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Sound, Looks and Function
Weakness:
None that come to mind Beautiful, natural sound. Excellent bass and clear detailled top end . I am used to the sound of vinyl and found this CD player to have that satisfying, full sound that I like. The looks are great, clean lines and unfussy. The remote has all the features one could want. Perhaps it is a shame that the amps (A300) remote functions are not integrated into this one. Thoroughly recommended and a huge improvement over my old CD player (Rotel 965BX). Similar Products Used: Rotel, cyrus |
[Jun 28, 2001]
David Read
Audiophile
Strength:
Beautiful tone,Crystal clear,Highly detailed and transparent. Excellent build quality. Out of this world Bang for the Buck factor.
Weakness:
Zero. Five days ago I went to a High End shop where they were proudly demonstrating a $20,000 cd player. Ten minutes into the demonstration it began skipping uncontrollably. What's more, the sound was no better than you will get from this outstanding unit from Musical Fidelity. I say that without reservation. This is a fantastic unit. Very clean, highly detailed, smooth, never harsh. I fail to understand why anyone would call it "clinical", or say it has "no soul". It simply conveys the music from the disc to your ears. If what your hearing has no soul, then it's your choice in music, not the equipment. Go buy that rediculous 20k player.I, for one, have better uses for my money. Highly Recommended. Associated equipment; Anthem Pre 1L,McIntosh 2120,Vandersteen 2ce Signature, Pro-ject6.1 with Blue Point, Kimber Silver Streak throughout. Similar Products Used: Nad,Denon. |
[Dec 16, 2001]
Frank
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Detailed Sound, Imaging
Weakness:
None What else can i say about this player that has not already been said. For $1000.00 this player is a steal! Pristine, detailed, smooth and very musical. Play around with cables, this player will shine with good cables. My System: M/F A300 Int. Amp. M/F A3CD Player. Marantz ST-46 Tuner. B&W CDM1NT Speakers. Creek OBH-11 Headphone Amp. Grado SR125 Headphones. Sony SVD7700 DVD/CD Player. Transparent MusicLink Plus I/C Transparent MusicWave Bi-Wire Speaker Cables. Similar Products Used: marantz, Adcom, Sony. |
[Oct 24, 2001]
paul patience
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
everything is absolutely clear
Weakness:
Build quality is extremely poor. I own the M3 integrated and when I first got my first one of them it stopped working after 2 hrs. I was treated terribly by MF BUT I did buy the Nuvista CD. Why well it blew away all cd I heard at the time Linn, Naim,Samuel Johnston etc, I returned the first one as the biuld quality was on a par with a $50 machine and have now received my new one which still does not have perfectly fitting panels. If MF really wants to go head to head with Krell et al then they need better engineering and a customer service dept'. Similar Products Used: Linn |
[Nov 09, 2001]
Dan Argento
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Build quality, sound, value, looks.
Weakness:
None I wasn't even ready to buy a new cd player. I set out to find a new amp (see Musical Fidelity A300 review) and used this cd player as the front end for the audition. To sum up, I couldn't leave the store without it. Astounding detail and sound. Clean, elegant looks and solid build. I was going to wait and see what transpires with the DVD-A/SACS war but after hearing this player I had to have it. I have over 300cd's in my collection and until one of the above formats wins and/or more software is available (at a reasonable price), I can feel good knowing that the A3 is doing my current collection justice. Similar Products Used: Arcam 72, Sony(mega-changer), Rotel, Rega |
[Nov 06, 2001]
Willem
Audiophile
Strength:
Up-front Musical Warm Suave Luscious almost Analog character. Presence, Soundstage, Definition, wood is almost tangible, brass/copper really shines, like if there was a veil lifted, voices (noteably female) almost embrace you.
Weakness:
Remote, weak as ever. Please MF, finish the job, build a matching Nu-Vista remote. Overall finish seems a bit sloppier than with M3. My unit's display is visibly tilted, and just unacceptable on a $4500 hand-built machine. I must admit that I never pr-order anything, especially when I haven't heard teh product yet. My dealer, however, guaranteed full refund if I would not be happy. Slowly but surely reviews of pre-releases and demo-machines started to trickle in, and my curiosity grew accordingly. Similar Products Used: Bow Technologies ZZ Eight, Bow Technologies Wizard, Musical Fidelity A3, Sony XB770 SACD-Player; Sony 555ES SACD Player |