Musical Fidelity A1

[What Hi-Fi?]

Musical Fidelity resurrects the iconic A1 amplifier design of the 1980s and it is still a charmer.

Musical Fidelity A1 : Read more

 

[npxavar]

If the Cambridge Audio CXA81 offers better sound, while also including a high-quality DAC, then the A1 has gone from budget to overpriced.

For reference, the inflation-adjusted price of the original according to an online BoE calculator is £557.15.

 

[G13]

Musical Fidelity resurrects the iconic A1 amplifier design of the 1980s and it is still a charmer.

Musical Fidelity A1 : Read more

I also feel it's overpriced. They should sell it for around a thousand euros. Then they would sell a lot i think.

 

[Hifiman]

I think the review is right in saying that this amplifier is only really for people who yearned for one back in the 80s. Having lived through that hifi period, I fear that the problem for Musical Fidelity is the A1 was not a hugely desirable amplifier back then and, even if some felt it was, it was so affordable at the time that they probably would have owned it. I agree with others here that the ‘nostalgia premium’ being placed on newer products like these (I’m looking at you too Nait 50) is too high and at odds with the incredible value for money the same companies sought to provide when these products were originally released.

 

[yorsioi]

I also feel it's overpriced. They should sell it for around a thousand euros. Then they would sell a lot i think. coreball

I agree that the price of Musical Fidelity is quite expensive. But, the value it brings is well worth it.

 

[Mr. C Nation]

They picked the wrong amp to relaunch. The B1 please M.F. I had one [and a backup I never needed] for 25 years before no digital inputs became a deal breaker. The B1, at 'only' 25W was quite capable of driving a pr of large Rogers L7's.

Sorry to repeat ad naus but 'The Gramaphone' mag, back in the mid 80's, reviewed the B1 and concluded it was 'unneccessarily good'. And that mag's content was 75% reviews of music releases and only 25% hardware, so they were picky about what they reviewed.

It's absurd to reintroduce any electronc component that runs so hot. In the 40 years since the original there are now many other ways to amplify input signals to sound good.

I know all these companies need to make a living but the cost of a TV sound bar is better spent, in my opinion, towards a good stereo amp with digital connections and a quality par of speakers. Leaving out digital connections is either a ploy to get people to buy outboard stuff or just an aberration.

It seems there's a rash of 'revivals' in the audio electronics world, led by the fad for 12" vinyl and turntables. In the 40 years since the launch of the CD, digital audio has not gone backwards to the extent that a needle scraping round a jiggly groove in a plastic disc has become superior at transcribing signals to analogue sound.

I had a Rega Planar, the default mid-tange t/table, back in the 1990's. I also had bought CD copies of all my 12" albums. When I came to move in'99 the t/table was still in its box. Nobody used t/tables back then - CD's had been the source for 15 years. I pitched the t/table into the bin.