Musical Fidelity Nu Vista CD Player - Any Good?

Selby

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Has anyone come across this beast of a Player and actually heard it? Is it anygood and is the build reflective of quality and worksmanship regarding its price tag? Im currently using the A5 CD Player by MF, sounds good but just wondering if the Nu-Vista CD Player would bring out even more detail? Anyone care to comment?
 

Electro

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I would save some money and buy one of these second hand .

http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/cd-dvd-blu-ray/62-cd-reviews/189-musical-fidelity-a1-cd.html

It's probably the best MF Cd player they ever made, imo of course. *smile*

One for sale here . ( No Affiliation )

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/musical-fidelity-a1-cd-pro-cd-player-/302143675782?hash=item46592a9d86:g:-AAAAOSwImRYMaBz

It's not the best looking machine but they are built from the very best parts, the Cd Pro transport mechanism alone costs $500 new .

https://www.encosystems.net/product-category/modules/
 
Selby said:
Has anyone come across this beast of a Player and actually heard it? Is it anygood and is the build reflective of quality and worksmanship regarding its price tag? Im currently using the A5 CD Player by MF, sounds good but just wondering if the Nu-Vista CD Player would bring out even more detail? Anyone care to comment?

If you are honestly thinking of spending that sort of money on a CD player you'd best go hear it for yourself rather than taking somebody elses' opinion of it . :)

All I know is it's built like a tank and has a 5 year warranty, which should tell you something. It's good for something with valves in.

Is it worth the money? I will leave that up to you to answer. Personally I can think of better things to do with that much cash.
 
Electro said:
I would save some money and buy one of these second hand .

http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/cd-dvd-blu-ray/62-cd-reviews/189-musical-fidelity-a1-cd.html

It's probably the best MF Cd player they ever made, imo of course. *smile*

One for sale here . ( No Affiliation )

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/musical-fidelity-a1-cd-pro-cd-player-/302143675782?hash=item46592a9d86:g:-AAAAOSwImRYMaBz

It's not the best looking machine but they are built from the very best parts, the Cd Pro transport mechanism alone costs $500 new .

https://www.encosystems.net/product-category/modules/

;-) What makes you think he would 'save some money'? He'd save a great deal of money. ;-)
 

Infiniteloop

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With pieces of kit like this, for me, how it sounds is not the only reason for owning it. It's an aesthetically beautiful device which undoubtedly sounds great. It's big and impressive and has its own visual 'presence'. It's probably a joy to use.

If you feel the price warrants all that, - why not go ahead? Not everything in life has to be driven by the cheapest possible option.
 
Infiniteloop said:
With pieces of kit like this, for me, how it sounds is not the only reason for owning it. It's an aesthetically beautiful device which undoubtedly sounds great. It's big and impressive and has its own visual 'presence'. It's probably a joy to use.

If you feel the price warrants all that, - why not go ahead? Not everything in life has to be driven by the cheapest possible option.

I'd agree if I were that rich. It certainly has a 'presence' though not everyone may think its beautiful. All right if you have the rest of the kit to match it I suppose but there are others in that sort of price range that I would rather have personally (no accounting for taste eh?) ;-)
 

Infiniteloop

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Al ears said:
Infiniteloop said:
With pieces of kit like this, for me, how it sounds is not the only reason for owning it. It's an aesthetically beautiful device which undoubtedly sounds great. It's big and impressive and has its own visual 'presence'. It's probably a joy to use.

If you feel the price warrants all that, - why not go ahead? Not everything in life has to be driven by the cheapest possible option.

I'd agree if I were that rich. It certainly has a 'presence' though not everyone may think its beautiful. All right if you have the rest of the kit to match it I suppose but there are others in that sort of price range that I would rather have personally (no accounting for taste eh?) ;-)

We all have our own aesthetic preferences and I don't necessarily agree that items of kit have to match. I like to appreciate each bit of kit I have on its own merits.
 
Infiniteloop said:
Al ears said:
Infiniteloop said:
With pieces of kit like this, for me, how it sounds is not the only reason for owning it. It's an aesthetically beautiful device which undoubtedly sounds great. It's big and impressive and has its own visual 'presence'. It's probably a joy to use.

If you feel the price warrants all that, - why not go ahead? Not everything in life has to be driven by the cheapest possible option.

I'd agree if I were that rich. It certainly has a 'presence' though not everyone may think its beautiful. All right if you have the rest of the kit to match it I suppose but there are others in that sort of price range that I would rather have personally (no accounting for taste eh?) ;-)

We all have our own aesthetic preferences and I don't necessarily agree that items of kit have to match. I like to appreciate each bit of kit I have on its own merits.

Me to, which is probably why i wouldn't by one of these.
 

NSA_watch_my_toilet

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Generally, you don't buy those kind of gear for the sound quality, because soud quality is already present on decent entry prices cd players. You buy this kind of gear to show something, and it's exactly what this gear is meant for. Giant dimensions, with shiny metals everywhere and lots of air in the inside.

I had a discussion last summer with a person that was involved in the developement of this kind of gear, and he said "it's sad, the DAC sounded great, and then, they insisted to have a tube in the layout. That just made everything worse." This should be a serious clue, from the engineer point of view, a DAC should not need a tube to work perfectly (and just look to the best DAC's out there in the profesionnal range for having a clue).

Although, I doubt anybody will hear the differences between the extraction capacity of a recent made DAC chip from another recent made DAC chip. So the initial question "just wondering if the Nu-Vista CD Player would bring out even more detail?", is pointless. But, to be absoluetly true, the expectation bias will be MASSIVE.
 

Infiniteloop

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What I really don't understand about many comments on these forums is why some people think it's okay to rubbish expensive equipment that they haven't heard with comments like: 'all digital sounds the same', or 'adding tubes to a circuit ruins the sound because some engineer friend told me it happened on another not remotely similar device'.

Is it because these people feel the need to remove any idea that owning these items of equipment would bring joy and contentment?

You certainly don't get posters on car enthusiast sites saying you'd be better off with a Trabant because it's cheap and gets you there just as efficiently. Nobody ever criticises a BMW because it has shiny paintwork or a cabin that's too big and is just full of air anyway.

I'm sorry, but cheap entry level players simply do not sound the same as expensive kit. Expectation bias is a myth. And before we get the usual posters going on about double-blind testing, I do not believe that you can hear the differences between kit in that way. Differences in SQ become apparent over days of listening to many different recordings in different genre. Quick sound-bite listening isn't sufficient.

Isn't it a bit like taking a blind-folded passenger for a ride in a Trabant and then a BMW and asking them which is which?

Like I said before, not everything should be driven by price.

This is a hobby like any other. Why can't we enjoy the exotic examples of kit that get developed for what they are?

Isn't to not do so a little mean-spirited and peevish?
 

Macspur

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Infiniteloop said:
What I really don't understand about many comments on these forums is why some people think it's okay to rubbish expensive equipment that they haven't heard with comments like: 'all digital sounds the same', or 'adding tubes to a circuit ruins the sound because some engineer friend told me it happened on another not remotely similar device'.

Is it because these people feel the need to remove any idea that owning these items of equipment would bring joy and contentment?

You certainly don't get posters on car enthusiast sites saying you'd be better off with a Trabant because it's cheap and gets you there just as efficiently. Nobody ever criticises a BMW because it has shiny paintwork or a cabin that's too big and is just full of air anyway.

I'm sorry, but cheap entry level players simply do not sound the same as expensive kit. Expectation bias is a myth. And before we get the usual posters going on about double-blind testing, I do not believe that you can hear the differences between kit in that way. Differences in SQ become apparent over days of listening to many different recordings in different genre. Quick sound-bite listening isn't sufficient.

Isn't it a bit like taking a blind-folded passenger for a ride in a Trabant and then a BMW and asking them which is which?

Like I said before, not everything should be driven by price.

This is a hobby like any other. Why can't we enjoy the exotic examples of kit that get developed for what they are?

Isn't to not do so a little mean-spirited and peevish?

Well said that man!

If the guy's got the dosh, it's his money, let him spend it... it will definitely be better than the usual tosh mentioned on here.

Mac

www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net
 
Macspur said:
Infiniteloop said:
What I really don't understand about many comments on these forums is why some people think it's okay to rubbish expensive equipment that they haven't heard with comments like: 'all digital sounds the same', or 'adding tubes to a circuit ruins the sound because some engineer friend told me it happened on another not remotely similar device'.

Is it because these people feel the need to remove any idea that owning these items of equipment would bring joy and contentment?

You certainly don't get posters on car enthusiast sites saying you'd be better off with a Trabant because it's cheap and gets you there just as efficiently. Nobody ever criticises a BMW because it has shiny paintwork or a cabin that's too big and is just full of air anyway.

I'm sorry, but cheap entry level players simply do not sound the same as expensive kit. Expectation bias is a myth. And before we get the usual posters going on about double-blind testing, I do not believe that you can hear the differences between kit in that way. Differences in SQ become apparent over days of listening to many different recordings in different genre. Quick sound-bite listening isn't sufficient.

Isn't it a bit like taking a blind-folded passenger for a ride in a Trabant and then a BMW and asking them which is which?

Like I said before, not everything should be driven by price.

This is a hobby like any other. Why can't we enjoy the exotic examples of kit that get developed for what they are?

Isn't to not do so a little mean-spirited and peevish?

Well said that man!

If the guy's got the dosh, it's his money, let him spend it... it will definitely be better than the usual tosh mentioned on here.

Mac

www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net

Quite agree if he has the money who are we to tell him how to spend it.

But, and here's the thing, if he comes on here asking questions he's going to get some home truths, just something you have to expect (particularly when he adds 'anyone care to comment' )

Let's face it, if this post could only be answered by people that had actually heard it, it would be a very short thread.
 

Macspur

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Al ears said:
Macspur said:
Infiniteloop said:
What I really don't understand about many comments on these forums is why some people think it's okay to rubbish expensive equipment that they haven't heard with comments like: 'all digital sounds the same', or 'adding tubes to a circuit ruins the sound because some engineer friend told me it happened on another not remotely similar device'.

Is it because these people feel the need to remove any idea that owning these items of equipment would bring joy and contentment?

You certainly don't get posters on car enthusiast sites saying you'd be better off with a Trabant because it's cheap and gets you there just as efficiently. Nobody ever criticises a BMW because it has shiny paintwork or a cabin that's too big and is just full of air anyway.

I'm sorry, but cheap entry level players simply do not sound the same as expensive kit. Expectation bias is a myth. And before we get the usual posters going on about double-blind testing, I do not believe that you can hear the differences between kit in that way. Differences in SQ become apparent over days of listening to many different recordings in different genre. Quick sound-bite listening isn't sufficient.

Isn't it a bit like taking a blind-folded passenger for a ride in a Trabant and then a BMW and asking them which is which?

Like I said before, not everything should be driven by price.

This is a hobby like any other. Why can't we enjoy the exotic examples of kit that get developed for what they are?

Isn't to not do so a little mean-spirited and peevish?

Well said that man!

If the guy's got the dosh, it's his money, let him spend it... it will definitely be better than the usual tosh mentioned on here.

Mac

www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net

Quite agree if he has the money who are we to tell him how to spend it.

But, and here's the thing, if he comes on here asking questions he's going to get some home truths, just something you have to expect (particularly when he adds 'anyone care to comment' )

Let's face it, if this post could only be answered by people that had actually heard it, it would be a very short thread.

True

Mac

www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net
 

NSA_watch_my_toilet

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Infiniteloop said:
What I really don't understand about many comments on these forums is why some people think it's okay to rubbish expensive equipment that they haven't heard with comments like: 'all digital sounds the same', or 'adding tubes to a circuit ruins the sound because some engineer friend told me it happened on another not remotely similar device'.

Is it because these people feel the need to remove any idea that owning these items of equipment would bring joy and contentment?

You certainly don't get posters on car enthusiast sites saying you'd be better off with a Trabant because it's cheap and gets you there just as efficiently. Nobody ever criticises a BMW because it has shiny paintwork or a cabin that's too big and is just full of air anyway.

I'm sorry, but cheap entry level players simply do not sound the same as expensive kit. Expectation bias is a myth. And before we get the usual posters going on about double-blind testing, I do not believe that you can hear the differences between kit in that way. Differences in SQ become apparent over days of listening to many different recordings in different genre. Quick sound-bite listening isn't sufficient.

Isn't it a bit like taking a blind-folded passenger for a ride in a Trabant and then a BMW and asking them which is which?

Like I said before, not everything should be driven by price.

This is a hobby like any other. Why can't we enjoy the exotic examples of kit that get developed for what they are?

Isn't to not do so a little mean-spirited and peevish?

I believe that those guys just want to insert a little bit of perspective into, sometimes, very partisan discussions with no technical point of view or experiences.

Just imagine if somebody would have commented "yeah, you will have so much details" and other stuff like that. The whole forum would have looked rather stupid. Some have, already, commented giant things like :

thoseguys said:
Expectation bias is a myth.
Dear God, a proven scientific fact is now becoming a myth (refer to audiology revues for knowing what it's about)

thoseguys said:
Differences in SQ become apparent over days
No Sir. Again false. Those persons don't know about the importance of mood into the perception. Other general perception bias will occur in such long amount of times. Again, unknowingness about simple basical audiology points.

thoseguys said:
you'd be better off with a Trabant because it's cheap and gets you there just as efficiently. Nobody ever criticises a BMW because it has shiny paintwork or a cabin that's too big and is just full of air anyway.

Those peoples don't enven understand the difference between a hifi system and A CAR. And those persons are criticizing openly the point of views of experienced reviewers in putting a bad layer around their action with those kind of sentences, and I quote :

thoseguys said:
why some people think it's okay to rubbish expensive equipment ( ... )

Is it because these people feel the need to remove any idea that owning these items of equipment would bring joy and contentment?

I strongly belive that those other peoples, that commented in a more critic way, are not rubbishing anything. They don't want to rob the joy of the peoples, they want to put things into perspective. You can be happy with a big, shiny, well made cd player ; having quality goods that aren't made by slaves is a wonderful thing. Those specific persons already commented that a beautiful amp and cd player, that you can see and touch as "superb", is a wonderful thing to add to some already great hifi experience. But I can only invite the other persons to don't speak ill about those persons.

If the other persons could explain to the forum, what a tube in a signal path of a DAC could bring in quality to the signal, we would be please to hear from them.
 

Selby

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So a bit of a "Mixed Bag" then when it comes to asking for anyones opinions. Shame that no-one on the forum has come forward to say they own such a unit or indeed have demo'd the unit and to come back with a sensible reply. I must admit its a lovely looking unit albeit very expensive and yet just wondering if its any good?
 

Selby

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So a bit of a "Mixed Bag" then when it comes to asking for anyones opinions. Shame that no-one on the forum has come forward to say they own such a unit or indeed have demo'd the unit and to come back with a sensible reply. I must admit its a lovely looking unit albeit very expensive and yet just wondering if its any good?
 

insider9

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Selby said:
So a bit of a "Mixed Bag" then when it comes to asking for anyones opinions. Shame that no-one on the forum has come forward to say they own such a unit or indeed have demo'd the unit and to come back with a sensible reply. I must admit its a lovely looking unit albeit very expensive and yet just wondering if its any good?

The first response by Al Ears was very sensible.

Al ears said:
If you are honestly thinking of spending that sort of money on a CD player you'd best go hear it for yourself rather than taking somebody elses' opinion of it . :)

I know you would've preferred an owner's view which is understandable. I find the best feedback comes from ex owners as opposed to current owners. A lot of current owners will not admit to some shortcomings of their equipment or will simply be unaware of such shortcomings. I believe a lot of people are simply scared to audition more expensive gear than that they already own. Hence their very high opinion of their own kit. Not that there's something wrong with that approach.

The comfortable situation you find yourself in is a) it's a model that's still on sale (demos are possible) b) you can afford it. I'd suggest take advantage of it, take your cd player along and compare the two. I'm sure everyone would love to hear your findings.
 
insider9 said:
Selby said:
So a bit of a "Mixed Bag" then when it comes to asking for anyones opinions. Shame that no-one on the forum has come forward to say they own such a unit or indeed have demo'd the unit and to come back with a sensible reply. I must admit its a lovely looking unit albeit very expensive and yet just wondering if its any good?

The first response by Al Ears was very sensible.

Al ears said:
If you are honestly thinking of spending that sort of money on a CD player you'd best go hear it for yourself rather than taking somebody elses' opinion of it . :)

I know you would've preferred an owner's view which is understandable. I find the best feedback comes from ex owners as opposed to current owners. A lot of current owners will not admit to some shortcomings of their equipment or will simply be unaware of such shortcomings. I believe a lot of people are simply scared to audition more expensive gear than that they already own. Hence their very high opinion of their own kit. Not that there's something wrong with that approach.

The comfortable situation you find yourself in is a) it's a model that's still on sale (demos are possible) b) you can afford it. I'd suggest take advantage of it, take your cd player along and compare the two. I'm sure everyone would love to hear your findings.

Quite so, it's no good me saying it's brilliant go buy it tomorrow because in someone else's system it may sound dire. The OP has to go audition for himself. No point coming on here and saying 'oh look I can afford this beauty, anyone else got one' when you know there's next to zero chance of that.
 

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