musical fidelity sound?

I suppose we could question the meaning of dry; Stereophile has three definitions.

dry 1) Describing the texture of reproduced sound: very fine-grained, chalky. 2) Describing an acoustical space: deficient in reverberation or having a very short reverberation time. 3) Describing bass quality: lean, overdamped

I could agree with number 2. The pieces I used were a bit one-dimensional. I am not convinced though that you can put all the MF products into "one box" sound wise. It seems their stuff from a few years ago is reported to be warmer than their current stuff, which is more neutral.

I have used MF equipment for about 5 years now. I would describe the MF sound as refined. I am currently using the MF CD PRE 24 (preamp/cd player) with a Prima Luna Prologue 5 power amp. Previously, I had used the same MF CD PRE 24 with both a MF A300 power amp and a MF A3 integrated amp.

If by musical, you mean warm and favoring the bass end of the equation, then MF equipment is not warm. It is also not dry sounding or analytical or favoring the treble end of the equation. It is pretty close to neutral, very clean sounding, and engaging.

Regards, Rich

Ask Stereopile, they're full of it.

I started with an a3.2 integrated, now I have an a308. I am quite pleased with it.

Boa2,
I am not challenging your opinions on MF gear, but I am wondering what gear you have in mind for hearing music, not hi-fi?

Boa2,
I am not challenging your opinions on MF gear, but I am wondering what gear you have in mind for hearing music, not hi-fi?

Not at all. I think we all have different points of reference, and mine applies to my ears only. Many people like Musical Fidelity gear, which is great. The more options, the better.

Some of the lines that I find to be more musical (some tube, some SS):
McIntosh, VAC, Audio Aero, Art Audio, Pass XA series, Conrad Johnson, George Wright, Audion, Blue Circle, Manley, Naim, Parasound, and others...

Again, just one person's opinion.