Solid construction, Great sound, Tremendous value. Only 1500 to be manufactured, so will become a CLASSIC as do so many Musical Fidelity products.

Oh that loading drawer. It only puts the CD'S in and takes them out again but I think an F1 car is SLOWER. Surely Musical Fidelity could have made the action smoother. I have used players with Philips transports before but never one so violent.

Last month I purchased the Musical Fidelity A5 Pre/Power combination which I am over the moon with. Sound is smooth and very sweet with bags of detail that I had not heard before.
My dealer gave me the opportunity to take home and try the A5 CD player. I had my doubts that it would not better my Tag McLaren CD20R. At first I felt I was right, the Tag had more bass clout but the top end was not as clear as the A5. After a couple of days of extensive listening, my feelings began to change. By comparison while I had originally felt the Tag had more bass clout, it became clear this was not more bass but more congested bass with less bass information. The A5 had far more detail right across the frequency spectrum. I made the decision. It was Goodbye Tag, Hello Musical Fidelity. My dealer said "Itold You so" (Smug Ah).
The A5 CD player is not a budget piece of kit but non the less it is worth every penny. I suspect the valve (tube) output stage has a lot to do with the sound that comes from this player.

Customer Service

Reasonable web site.

Similar Products Used:

Various Marantz players.
Tag McLaren CD20R

All I've said above

See previous review.

Following up to my review last November. I was very happy with the A5 but intrigued by what the Trichord Clock 4 and Never Connected Power Supply might do to it. I also had the following upgraded: Key capacitors in analogue and digital stages, Bridge rectifier replaced with Shottkey diode bridge, Op-amps in analogue filter stage. It was great before but now it is unbelievable. i'd put it against anything out there. Massive (but not over the top) soundstage, natural rhythms that keep you toe tapping, inky black transparency. This is the best there is!!

Similar Products Used:

Theta, Arcam, Meridian, Cryus, Acoustic Precision

No part of the sound stands out, it just produces beatiful lucid natural music and I find myself engrossed in the music and fogetting abount hi-fi.

It's a rather large case and in my opinion not that pretty.

I borrowed and home trialed the A5 for an extended period and to my ears it blew away all the competition, including a Meridian GO8. I was so impressed I ordered a brand new player. When it arrived, I tried it straight out of the box and was taken aback, as it sounded awful, but being aware that electronic items often need to be 'burn in' I left it on constantly for a couple of weeks. Now after around six weeks it sounds simply wonderful. in fact it is difficult to see how the sound could be improved. A very fine player indeed. It even impressed my wife. Highly recommended.

Integration of musical notes. Details, clarity and intoxicating sound

None....this unit should be really a $5K player. It outperformed my Krell, Shanling T100, Cary, and Rega

This unit is a representation of the evolution of CD players. I have had Rega Jupiter, Shanling CDT100, Cary, Krell, Simaudio and various DACS from Musical Fidelity. This CD player is the best that I have heard. The first day I opened the box, I listened for hours non-stop and that is just right of the box with generic power cord. Since then I upgraded the interconnect from Nordost to Acoustic Zen Matrix REF 2 and that made a world of difference. I also changed out the power cord to Acoustic Zen Tsunami. The sound? Well, the soundstage is phenominal and the details is quite good. What makes this CD player is the integration of musical notes from highs to lows that music seem to just flow in a wall of sound. My Martin Logan Ascent i seem to disappear and my room is transformed into a concert hall. I listened to Michael Buble, Diana Krall and Nora Jones and everyone of them seem to play in front of me in a private concernt. This unit is simply superb. For the $2600 that I paid for it, I consider it a great investment in music. How much would you play to have Diana Krall perform in your house? --- a lot more than the entrance fee of $2600.

Similar Products Used:

KRELL, SIMAUDIO, REGA, NAD, ROTEL, SHANLING, AH TUBE

One of the best sounds you can get from any CD player. Natural, musical, transparent but sweet, never harsh, simply truthful.Build like a tank for lasting all of your life.

All written previously are true but the sound criticism, that is not true unless the unit tested was not broken in, or the associated equipment was not good enough or with bad sinergy.

Hello to everybody. Everything that has been written previosly of Musical Fidelity A5 is true, unless the reviewer who gave it 2 of 5 points, that was wrong. The sound from this player is superb! But is very important to match the cd with very good partners and to respect the long period of burning in (min. 200 hours)(6112 Muvista tubes must get hold and cold several times to reach their 100% performance). Of course the cables are important too. I removed my beloved Van den Hun 102 MKIII with the MIT AVt1, and the change was radical, for good. My actual combination is MF A5 CD with AVI Lab series Integrated Amp, wich I love, and Focal-JMLab 907 Be Signature Speakers. I was about to change the A5 for the Marantz SA-11S1 SACD, but I didn´t. And now I´m glad, because this CD lector simply sounds wonderful. Detail, transparency, soundstage, voices incredibly organic, super-real strings, and all I can say is to recommend listening to this sweet beast, better with other equipment that MF A5 integrated amp, because in my opinion there are better combinations with better sinergy. Trust your ears, your tastes and find a beautiful combination. I´ve done it!!!

Similar Products Used:

Several. But none with my equipment at home, that is the only valid method.

Level of detail, clean and natural sound

None

I've had the A5 cd player for six months now and I have to say it is just what I was looking for! The detail, clarity and natural sound it offers is simply amazing. The sound is rather neutral so all of you bass heads might want to keep this in mind: pair this player with warmish speakers. As I usually prefer detail over warmth , the A5 hits the mark for me. I auditioned the X-ray and X-150 before deciding to buy this player. In truth, the A5 wonby a mile. Highly recommended.

Superior audio quality at a price level that not cause terminal nosebleeds.

What kind of criticism do you want? All right... the universal remote control. It supports the entire A5 range and I am not planning to purchase any more components from this product line - nor do I have the budget.

I am more than impressed with the Musical Fidelity A5 CD player. Bravo to the manufacturer on a product so well done. A few years ago and shortly after I purchased a Musical Fidelity A3 CD player, I had the opportunity to listen to the Nu-Vista CD player and integrated amplifier through a pair of Merlin VSM speakers. I spent a couple of hours relishing these products and would dearly have loved to purchase the Nu-Vista CD player. It was, alas, well out of my price range at the time. But along comes 2005 and I found myself looking to add a CD player to a second audiophile system I was assembling or replacing the A3 on my main system and 'demoting' it to the second system. I was considering the Musical Fidelity A3.5 based on my experience with the A3, but it was not available at the time in Canada. One of the players I auditioned instead of the A3.5 was the A5 and it was not a decision I regret. The A5 was every bit as good as the Nu-Vista - perhaps even more so - and much more affordable. It brought back that magic to my ears and I purchased one without hesitation. From the moment the A5 was installed in my system, it pulled up the audio quality of the system substantially. A superior source component makes all the difference in the world. And that was my opinion of the A5 before it was broken in. Now that I am a few hundred hours of play further on, I can say only one thing: it gets better and better with each passing hour. This is a quality CD player and I can fully agree with the reviews that place it among the best on the market today. I rarely give any product this such a positive review, but the Musical Fidelity A5 is simply one of the best CD players I have ever heard at any price. System: - Musical Fidelity A5 CD player. - Anthem Pre 2L preamplifier. - Bryston 3B-ST amplifier. - ProAc Response D15 speakers. - Linn Sizmik 10.25 subwoofer (for the large room). - Nordost Blue Heaven and Wireworld Equinox interconnects.

Similar Products Used:

Several high-end CD players, including some SACD players. I was undecided at the time on whether to invest in a SACD / DVD-A universal player or remain with CD. The limited number of releases on the market in the SACD and DVD-A formats convinced me, for the time being, to stay with the CD format. Perhaps the Blu-ray format will establish itself as a widely-supported audiophile media. Unfortunately, SACD and DVD-A are not well supported by most labels - a shame. In the meantime, the A5 is about as good as it gets, without spending substantially more for a CD player.

As above - so real!!

Slow readout and the tray clanks when opening.

The price paid is in UK PoundsI can't agree with the last reviewer. There are no 'sharp edges', just pure, natural sound. Maybe it's his other equipment or cables. After the excellent Theta gear I auditioned many CD players - Cyrus 8x, Naim,Arcam FMJ33 and Meridian G08. I nearly went for the Meridian but as soon as I heard the MF evrything came together. Detail (without the digi. sound), soundstaging, shimmering trebles, believable bass and mid range to die for and I use a SS amplifier. This is one super player which I would love to give 6 stars.

soundstage, imaging, detail

hard as nails sound. drawer has clunky action, disc has to register before any functions can be used

Felt i had to write this review, as almost all other MF reviews are utterly fantastic. I am a fan of MF, and have owned MF Hi-Fi over the years, and presently own the Kw 500 integrated, and Nu-Vista 3D The new A5 however is not for me. I bought it thinking it to be a good match, but found it to be lean, dry and hard as nails. This is not to say it sounds harsh, for it is very smooth. It does have fantastic attributes - soundstage is superb, enabling many layers to be seen. Detail and transparency are second to none, but it's all leading edge, and fast starts and stops, there's no time for the notes to swell and form properly - no poetry in it. It’s not a relaxing listening experience, when it’s time to go to bed, you go, rather than wanting to keep on listening. Could it be the Mu-Vista valve, because the Nu-Vista is great?

Similar Products Used:

Nu-Vista, Sugden, and many more along the way

The best CD money can buy at this (and x4 times) the price. Add tubes sweetness and weight. Add the most realistic presentation ever heared, add sweet high freqs, add BOLD and WEIGHTY percussion and drums like in the studio and real-like voices in your home. Distortion even with medium quality AC vanished from high-freqs. GRATS MUSICAL FIDELITY.

Cannot switch to other device/player . Its a killer product that will replace almost any older (2-5 years old) CD player you own.

I strongly believe that with A5 the CD playback reached a top - nothing that someone can expect from machines under 10K. This excellent CD player offers unbelievable sound reproduction, so close to the originals that I sometimes thought I was in the studio with the band, hearing the RIGHT amount of WEIGHT of instruments like the instruments are there inside my room. Comparing to X-ray + X-10 combo I will say a sad thing: A5 is miles away, by far a different and more realistic player than the X-combo. Also higher freqs. are sweeter, mids are bolder and sweeter than most of cd players of the price range, bass is A class and it can play from opera to heavy metal without ANY problem - voices are from heaven,life-like, electric guitars are speedy, ballzy... simply PERFECTION.

Similar Products Used:

X-Ray, etc.