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Musical Fidelity M6-500i vs Kw - 500

Hello guys
I was browsing around the web today and stumbled across
the latest Super Integrated from Musical Fidelity .
This is a 500wpc into 8ohm beast similar in power to the limited edition Kw -500 , Some changes are evident between these models , The older Kw -500 has an external power supply and MM phono stage and single ended inputs only
along with 6112 milspec valves in the pre -amp section.
The Kw -500 was made in England.
The M6 - 500i has line level inputs only with 1 set of balanced inputs no valves appear to be in this unit making it solid state , The power supply of the M6-500 is onboard . The m6 -500i is made in Taiwan.
Has anyone else compared these two units ? Seems they each have advantages depending on your system setup.
I wonder if the new M6-500i would be much better ?
steam3642
steam3642 OP
124 posts
 
Hi Stanwal
Thanks for the input , i believe the Kw - 500 has a mm phonostage only , i have a Rega P3 with Ortofon M2 Black mm cartridge . I may look for a Trivista Dac used at a later
time , have always liked it for sound and looks . I have a Marantz SA11-S1 sacd player at this time so the Trivista Dac would be more for a collectors piece :)). 5703 valves on the Trivista are a bit scarce but you can find them on the web if you look long and hard.
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
surprisedThat is what I was told also, the MC is not even mentioned in the manual. But it is actually there, I only found out about it through an old review. It would be worth looking for as it might be set to MC if there is one there, it is quite small and I didn't notice it at first. Or they could have taken it off, I like MF but they treat info like it was a state secret sometimes.
steam3642 OP
124 posts
 
Thanks Stanwal
Thats great info on the mc part of the phonostage section
I don't think i will need a mc at this stage and i have a external phono stage spare that has mc to plug into the
Kw -500 Aux input but will ask my dealer about internal mc , this is a dream amplifier for me
i would help out on weekends at the dealers shop so had quit a bit of experience listening to it when they had a demo there.
Due to my financial position i have never really had the means to go out and just purchase a brand new component of this class . Musical Fidelity have always had great reviews infact a cant think of a bad product based on there sound quality .
steam3642 OP
124 posts
 
Hi Stanwal
I found a review of the Kw -500 in TAS magazine feb/march 2005
where they mention it having both mm/mc phonostage , my unit should arrive in the next couple of days , i will look forward to reading reviews of the M6500i as they become available , as far as i know the M6500i is not a limited edition unit of only 500 pcs . As i mentioned earlier it is not easy to get a
Kw-500 here in Australia , i live in a rural location and
hi-end retailers are on the mainland in Melbourne , i'm in Tasmania the southern island state of Australia.
nvp
317 posts
 

Congratulation on the new KW-500 amp Stem3642!

I believe you did the right thing choosing the KW-500 over the M6500i. IMO buying new MF products is a rip-off. On the other hand, 2nd hand MF units are probably the best bargains in hi-fi.

What speakers are you using with this monster?
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