Marriage made in Heaven? Musical Fidelity A2 + Focal Chorus 826v

[davey2512]

Hi Folks. I've just bought some Focal Chorus 826v floorstanders and they sound brilliant with my MF A2. The only problem...I can't help asking myself if they wouldn't sound even better with a new amp...

The Focals have a lot of bass driver to push and, as good as it is, the A2's only got 25 wpc. I've ripped the CDs to FLACs stored on my Synology NAS and listen exclusively through a Squeezebox Touch. I have very eclectic music tastes from opera to indie to orchestral to jazz and listen in a small dedicated listening room (25m2)

Budget for a new amp (if necessary) would be about 600-700 pounds so things like the Rega Brio R, Arcam A18, Audiolab 800 or Micromega 1A would come into consideration. Try as I might, I can't settle and really enjoy the system until this question has been answered. HELP! :help:

 

[CnoEvil]

Hi Davey and welcome to the forum.

Here are my thoughts, which you can take or leave.

The A2 is a musical sounding amp which is rich in Class A, and is more powerful than its specs would suggest....doubling it's output into 4 Ohms.

I also think that Focal match particularly well with Valves/Class A, as it (imo) helps offset the slightly forward/clean presentation of these speakers.

The problem I think you will have is, unless you get an amp with a similar presentation, you will miss the magic. FWIW. I would hold onto this lovely amp until you are prepared to spend on a good Valve amp, a Sugden A21 / Masterclass or MF AMS

 

[plastic penguin]

Not familiar with MF amps, but with Arcam Focals are sublime.

 

[iceman16]

Im using the same brand as yours( MF- Focal) and they sound really amazing

 

[Neuphonix]

I have Focal Diablos with MF AMS amp (used to be AMS35i but changing soon to AMS35p with Primo pre-amp)

They are a great match IMO, the amp is silky & warm which fits well to my ears with the detail of the Diablos.

I wouldn't be changing unless you have more than 700 in your budget. Unless you can find a good second hand deal on a KW500 perhaps?

 

[DIB]

Not familiar with MF amps, but with Arcam Focals are sublime.

I would concur with that, my A28/Focal Chorus 806v makes for a most agreeable combination.

Not looking to change but I was interested to see how they compared with other brands. Tried a few speakers last weekend around the £1k mark (Kef/Rega/MA) and only the KEF R300's could compare.

.

 

[CnoEvil]

I wouldn't be changing unless you have more than 700 in your budget. Unless you can find a good second hand deal on a KW500 perhaps?

@Davey

I would go further than this and say you would be looking at nearly double that.....so relax, and enjoy your lovely system.

 

[davey2512]

To everyone above - a big thank you for taking the trouble to give me the benefit of your experience. It would seem that a fair distillation of all the feedback is that I would have to spend a lorra, lorra money to get any significant improvement on the performance of my A2. So I think the mission has been accomplished and I can really sit back and enjoy the music without worrying about the system.

Thanks again for getting the devil off my back :twisted:

 

[CnoEvil]

Thanks again for getting the devil off my back :twisted:

Getting him off your back is winning the battle; keeping him off, is winning the war!!