Pilinius 9200 or Musical Fidelity A5 ?


$500 dollar difference...50 less watts per channel...opinions please!
kiss999
I was interested in a Plinius 9200 myself. Bought a Hegel instead (200 wpc). Some people say SS can't come close to tubes. The Hegel changed my mind in that regard. Fwiw - my opinion about a possible 3rd option.
Don't have experience with either, but remember that 50 Watts isn't going to be a huge difference here. Since a doubling of power gives only a 3dB increase in volume (dBs are a logarithmic scale).
I have heard some Hegel components and was impressed with their lack of SS shrillness ,stridence etc, and the smooth fullbalanced drequency extension they posessed. I could recommend them. I had a hard time getting my MF integrated to sound right so I would say no to that one unless you have heard it and really love it. Plinius is a more enjoyable hard hitting amp straight out of the box which I thought would be great I came very close to buying one but the seller was a a Brick and Motor snooty *ssH*ole who insulted me.
I've owned two Plinius amps, including the 8200MKII integrated. I think they make a nice product.... so that's the route I'd go. I did own a Musical Fidelity NuVista integrated for a short time... found it to be high on bling factor, but the sound quality fell short of expectations, so I quickly sold it.
Never owned a Plinius product but I have tried a couple Musical Fidelity pieces. The MF integrated amp I owned was nothing special at all. Sold it pretty quick.
You could purchase either one at a used price and sell it if it doesn't work for you. Audiogon will love you for it.