How good is phono stage in Musical Fidelity A300?

Compared to the CI-Audio, the top end is more detailed and not as bright with the built in phono-section and the bass is tighter and more controlled. Don't misread me, the CI-Audio is a great sounding phono-stage and if I needed an external phono section, it's the one I would run.

I've been thinking of a MC myself - mostly the Audio-Technica OC9ML-II which has an output of .4mv and should drive the A300 without a problem. The main reasons I've stayed away from the much-praised Denon's is that their output is so low and they track so heavy. The AT only tracks at around 1.5g - I'm just nervous about tracking anything over 2g.

The CI Audio preamp gets nice reviews at its price point and Dusty beleives it is better than the Monolithics of before.
That is a nice statement about the MF A300 if it holds its own with that unit in your setup.

As far as the low output cartridges you mentioned, on a basic level I think that either a .25mv or a .40mv can probably be driven just fine by the MC phono setting (60db/100 ohms)in the MF A300.
Using a basic preamp calculator (from the KAB USA website) for those output values, the suggested gain would be 62 db for the Denon 103r, or 58 db for the AT. The MF A300 MC setting is right in the middle @ 60 db.
I realize there are other factors in cartridge/preamp matching but the 60 db MC setting should handle either of those.

I am about 5 db shy of the suggested 42 db for my 2.5mv cartridge as the MM setting is 37 db on the MF A300.
Not ideal, but not bad I guess.

Yes, I would agree that the MF A300 allows detail to shine through, at least with the Dynavector I am breaking in.
The bass is filling out nicely also after about 25 hours of break in.

I guess I was wondering about things like noise floor, soundstage, air, etc.
No doubt one can do better than the MF A300 phono stage-I was just curious as to at what price point one has to go new/used to do so.
I sounds like the sub $500 units would not make a notable difference in your opinion.

Slate 1

Just noticed your system in your signature.
Nice. Nice TT setup also.

I actually found the noise floor to be lower using the built in phono-amp as well. The CI-Audio was quiet enough though and the difference wasn't huge. I often wondered if this was due to the added cabling necessary to run an external phono-amp.

I've used that calculator on KAB before too - it's great to have resources like that available. You're right - when playing around with buying MC's I've always found the low-output ones to calculate out better with the A300 than the high-output MC's. i.e. better to use a .25mv and the MC stage than a 2.5mv and the MM stage.

I would agree that you'd have to spend more than $500 to better the A300's built-in sound to a degree that it would be worth the expense. The one exception would be if you required more control over loading and gain.

Thanks for the compliment on the system - it's been a long running project finding equipment I really feel satisfied with and I'm on a fairly tight budget. I'm finally at a point though where I've stopped thinking about upgrading anything other than playing around with different cartridges - which is half the fun of vinyl!

Slate 1 -

Thanks for the info on the MF A300 and your experience comparing it to different external preamps.
I think I may sit tight for now.

I don't think that the Dynavector is really too fussy as far as the loading and gain, but I might just try another cartridge to compare for fun.
As it breaks in it gets a little better sounding each day.
This is a really nice sounding pickup.

Yes, the journey is the fun in this crazy hobby!