NEW Musical Fidelity DAC

<< They have a lot of good reviewers. In general, I think they're an excellent magazine. They also walk an interesting tight rope in their commentary, which is sure to draw commentary from the bleachers, and a few of their practices amplify the commentary. -Kirk >>

Right on Kirk. And I hope Sean did not get the wrong idea from my comments. Personal influence happens every day, from the guy that gets off on a traffic ticket to whatever. So we do agree on some things.

I think most reviewers are having fun with the hobby, doing the best they can. And they SOMETIMES will be influenced by liking or dis-liking someone, or special treatment.
My point is no magazine is immune to that. Impossible. Unless you hire robots.

I will say that advertising dollars have little to do with it. Reviewers are so removed from that. One of my best friends sells ad space for one of the biggest computer mags in the world, and gets hung out to dry for ad space orders when a product gets a bad review, but tells the manufacturer he has no control over content.

John Marks from Stereophile made a nasty personal comment about me, which is amazing since we've never met and I don't know him from Adam. And he was presuming a bit about me because he did not like my "woody" ad in Stereophile (this was a thread on Audio Asylum). I could care less, but it was suggested that I should be offended by some customers of mine that took offense.

I think there are bigger things to think about.

I will attempt to keep my composure on this reply. As Upscale mentions the 383, which I own, I am bound to get a little defensive. This is my second 383, why two you may ask? Because spending time on places like this and reading many messages, whether accurate or inaccurate, I was convinced to sell the first and try other things, even though I was greatly enjoying the 383.

If I had unlimited funds, I may look into other products, but the 383 works wonderfully for me and I readily admit that some of what I like about the 383 is its functions and ergonomics. The 383 has some wonderful user features that do not add to the sonics but no doubt ad to the price.

But as long as we are talking of reviews, Stereophile couldn’t sing it’s praises high enough nor could Marc Mickelson of Sound Stage.

Every time a user on a forum wants to express how wonderful a particular integrated is, it’s always the 383 they want to claim it is better than, not another brand but the 383. That said, I am not at all claiming it is the best there is out there. In fact I have talked to a person that prefers the Mac MA6900, that’s great, to each our own. (I also note that Upscale only singled it out as he recently came into possession of one.)

Lastly, your analogy of weight to claim the MF is superior, if we used that across the board, NOBODY would use 95% of MF gear!!!! …as they don’t weigh diddly in comparison. Also, you are very wrong in what you said, in claiming, “In fact the power supply by itself was about the same weight as the Levinson.” The power supply weighs 30 lbs, the unit 65 lbs. The 383 weighs 65 lbs. SO, the power supply that you claim to weigh the same, weighs less than half! Total loss of credibility!

Disclaimer: I have nothing against MF gear, in fact, I bet the Nu-vista M3 sounds wonderful and wouldn’t mind the limited CD player, except for the silver and gold.

Sorry for the rant.

I did not mean to offend...I was using your 383 as an example of something that is nicely built and well respected, so used it as a comparison. It's a fine amp, and I happened to just take it in on trade towards the Nu-Vista. People change all the time as you pointed out. Thanks for the correction on weight. Levinson makes great stuff.

This was in answer to a post that said the build of MF gear is "nothing special" The fit and finish is as good as I have seen in 25 years in this biz. So good you have to at least see internal pictures if you have not.

And the weight (which is one of a few ways that you judge cost to build) is exceptional.

$4995 for 95lbs w/outboard power supply (Nu-Vista) vs $6500 for 65lb single chassis (Levinson 383). Not meant as a knock, just a comparison to another fine product in answer to a statement.

Hence Musical Fidelity setting up dealers. So you can go there and see for yourself. When I looked at the Audio Advisor ads I never got a sense of how they look in person, esp with the lid off. Now you can.

As to

"Lastly, your analogy of weight to claim the MF is superior, if we used that across the board, NOBODY would use 95% of MF gear!!!! …as they don’t weigh diddly in comparison."

Not true on any of their amps or preamps...compare them to most products made in USA or Western Europe. I know you can come up with an exception. But I mean most.

The new M250 monoblocs are 250w per channel and weight over 26lbs each for $1200 a pair. Made in England. If we think hard enough SOMEONE makes something like it. Maybe. Rotel made the MB100 for $1000 a pair, in China (not that there is anything wrong with that), and weighed less, with 100w channel.

Most folks that look closely see it. Look at what most British brands sell for once they get over here. Add 30% or more to the retail compared to what they sell for in the UK. Same thing for US products imported over there. Expensive. You cover transportation, import duty, wharehousing, at least two steps of distribution, advertising, and warranty. Being an importer myself I know the drill.

The Musical Fidelity A300 integrated (over 35lbs) sells in the UK for somewhere between $2100 and $2300 US dollars
(I have not checked exchange rates against the British Pound lately). Here it is $1695. IT'S LESS!

That is a skinny margin for them, but buyers can dig life.

Listened to the new A3 24 DAC from MF yesterday. Compared it to the Bel Canto DAC1 and the new Jolida CDP. We were using the Sony 777 as a transport, B&W802 and SF amplification. A few things I noticed:
1. Huge bass
2. Detailed highs and controlled bass
3. Bigger soundstage than the Bel Canto

I still have a thing for the Bel Canto. I found myself tapping my toes when the Bel Canto was connected more that with the A324. This is strictly personal preference because all the other guys preferred the MF A3 24 DAC. Also, it wasn't broken in yet, so I only got a vague idea.
Hope this helps.

After much research, talking to audiophiles and reading this thread, my better half and I took the plunge and auditioned the Musical Fidelity A3-24 DAC at San Francisco Stereo. The A3 DAC we auditioned was placed in a Musical Fidelity ensemble comprising of the A3 CD player, A3CR preamp with an A300 amplifier driving a nice pair of BW 802 loudspeakers. All interconnects and cables used were Tara Labs. According to the salesperson the A3-24 we auditioned wasn’t fully broken in yet but the unit commanded an inspiring performance with every CD we had brought to feed it. In fact, we caught ourselves giving each other that “knowing look” during playback of tracks with those well known musical passages. After an hour of listening to our familiar CD tracks we compared notes to confirm that we had both heard musical detail and harmonics at a level we were not accustomed to. Additionally, the A3-24 DAC is a handsome, well constructed and finished unit that received more than a passing two thumbs up in the all important WAF rating. One noteworthy point is that the button for switching between 96kHz and 192kHz upsampling is located in the back of the unit. This isn’t a problem for me as my audio rack allows for easy access to this button. Others with limited access to the back their components should take note. We were duly impressed so I purchased a new unit and we had it home and up and running within an hour or so

Our current system is an Anthem CD-1 player serving as the transport. The Musical Fidelity A3-24 DAC feeds a Sonic Frontiers Line 3 preamp. Loudspeakers are the passive cross-over version of Innersounds' Eros amplified by Wolcott P-220 monoblocks. All interconnects are Nordost Red Dawn and speaker cables are Kimber Bi-Focal XLs.

Straight out of the box, the A3-24 exhibited a prodigious amount of base and high end detail coupled with a notable level of midrange suck out. We left the unit to play for the remainder of the afternoon and eight hours later returned to our listening room to find that the sound had significantly improved. The midrange had returned and the sound across the musical spectrum, while still a bit bottom heavy, was generally well balanced. With wine in hand, we both settled in for a two hour audition. This DAC renders an extremely detailed soundstage. Imaging was excellent with notably more air and 3D sound stage separation and layering between vocals and musical instruments. This really fleshed out and accented harmonic detail across the audio soundstage and rendered an excitingly enjoyable listening experience. On the down side, there was a trace of digital edge in the upper registers along with a notable loss of sweetness and liquidity compared to the Anthem CD-1 with its’ tube output stage. However, we both felt that the significant clarity in detail and soundstage outweighed the tradeoff of sweetness. Besides, after only eight hours the best was sure to come. We ended the evening by declaring victory and toasting the Musical Fidelity A3-24 DAC. We decided to let the unit play all night and revisit the DAC in the afternoon for a second audition.

24 hours later and after an hour of listening I can, without any reservation, say that the Musical Fidelity A3-24 DAC is just a great piece of audio gear. Holy cow! Midrange warmth and balance, soundstage presentation and overall detail are just superb! For the money, I can’t think of any upgrade I have done that has had such a dramatic impact on my system as this DAC. I don’t know if this DAC belongs in Stereophiles’ Class A component listing or if it got there by a disingenuous review. I do disagree with Sam Tellig as he said he found the Musical Fidelity A3-24 DAC to sound better with Sony transports using the 96kHz up-sampling. The Anthem CD-1 uses a Sony transport and to date the 192 kHz up-sampling sounds much better to me. I do know that through the years I have found Sam Tellig to be pretty close on target. I also know that this DAC has elevated CD playback to new heights in my system. It is just outstanding! If you are looking to upgrade your digital front end for CD play back, I think the Musical Fidelity A3-24 is a serious contender, worthy of your consideration and time to audition.

Regards;
-Jerie