My Dealers making my life hard.. Anyone tried the Musical Fidelity M1 PWR

[JMac]

Okay, so following more conversations with my dealer, he's looking to clear out a couple of M1 PWR amps and offered them to me for £500 for the pair. My intention would be to run these as dual monos and given their original purchase price, this seems to be an offer worth thinking about. I've read a few reviews online about them being a bit bright which does worry me with my Tannoy DC6 metal tweater. Alternatively he's offered me an ex-demo M3i for the same price.

I had been looking at a new Cyrus X Power for £750 (or a use for £250 - see other thread) as I think that it may work better and could always add another at a later date if I wanted to go dual mono but interested in others thoughts.

 

[Overdose]

Seems like a reasonable price for a pair of hifi power amps, but a Behringer A500 would give you more power and be completely transparent to boot, so neither warm nor bright and at less than £200, rather a better deal.

Not the prettiest thing to look at, but then I'm, more interested in how my kit sounds rather than looks.

 

[JMac]

I've not heard the Behringer and dont really have any opportunity to test it. Are there any online reviews?

 

[Overdose]

I've not heard the Behringer and dont really have any opportunity to test it. Are there any online reviews?

Here's one.

This is also interesting.

 

[tomlinscote]

Can you not take the musical fidelity kit home and try them for yourself with your kit, or failing that bring your speakers to the shop and try them with the MF kit there. I do not know those particular power amps but having owned 3 different MF amps, upgrading each time, I would not say their sound is bright, whereas Cyrus kit seems to have a reputation for being bright.

By the way the other 2 MF amps I used to have went to freinds' homes where they area still giving stirling service, so no worries for reliability, in my experience of course.

 

[JMac]

They're reluctant to home demo so it would be a case of taking my speakers to the store but then that eliminates the benefit of home test in the room they'll be used.

Which MF amps have you had? I've read they have a tendancy to be laid back which is why I think they may work with the Tannoys. I prefer a fast, tight and dynamic sound but I'm concerned the Cyrus would be OTT.

 

[tomlinscote]

Can we ask who the dealer is? I have never had a problem home demoing stuff but that was mainly Audio T where they get you to 'pay' on your credit card and get charged if you don't come back or you break the kit. The MFs were an X-1 (50W pc oval fronted); the sequel to that, an X-100, and finally an A 3.5. I have used these with Acoustic Energy AE209, Dynaudio Audience 62 and 82 and the stand mounters from the next range up (something 140 I think?) Monitor Audio silver RS6 and Quad 11 and 23 loudspeakers. I thought the sound was well rounded.

I still have the A3.5 but it is not compatible with my preamp so I am using a Roksan Kandy power amp at the moment.

Cheers.

 

[matt49]

I have both a Cyrus X Power (currently in storage) and an MF M1 PWR. They're both very capable amps. I haven't tried them side by side, but I wouldn't expect them to sound very different. The MF is Class D, so it consumes less electricity, if that's an issue for you.

Please note: £500 is now the recommended price for the M1 PWR. It was initially priced at £700, which was a bit silly, and it's been reduced to £500 almost everywhere (in the UK) for at least a year. So your dealer isn't doing you any special favours ...

The Behringer would be fine (I've recommended it myself in the past). Unfortunately it looks like it was designed by a teenage boy. It's also quite a bit bigger than the MF.

cheers

Matt

 

[tomlinscote]

I think he can a pair for £500 so can operate them in bridged mode, which seems fairly good to me??

 

[James7]

Please note: £500 is now the recommended price for the M1 PWR. It was initially priced at £700, which was a bit silly, and it's been reduced to £500 almost everywhere (in the UK) for at least a year. So your dealer isn't doing you any special favours ...

I think the OP is being offered a pair of M1 PWRs for £500, not just one, so yes, a bargain. I was about to link him through to your M1 comparison with the Naim NAP100 - might as well do that any way.

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/your-system/house-full-sound?page=2

 

[Al ears]

Matt49, I think the OP said he is being offered a pair of M1 powers so surely that is a good offer (half price).

As to them being 'bright' I would say that would depend on what you use as a pre amp rather than being a function of the power amps.

D**n James7 beat me to it!

 

[JMac]

It is indeed for a pair and I'll dig the name of the dealer out later as I'm at work at the moment. I think its just because he doesnt really know my face and I'm new to the area have relocated but he does offer so good deals on clearance stock.

Sounds like it might be worth taking a punt with them and seeing if i like them or not. If I dont like them I'd probably be able to sell them on and near enough break even. At the minute I'm planning on either using a Audiolab M-DAC for pre amp duties or maybe an M1 SDAC since my source will be 100% PC based. Open to suggestions on others though.

 

[matt49]

Yes, my bad!

£500 for a pair is a very good deal.

*ok*

Matt

 

[AK]

JMac,

I am not sure if your thread is still active but I have the M1 PWR in Monobloc config. Works very well, but the only comparison I can give is they are noticably better sounding than one M1 PWR in stereo mode. Better sound stage and noticable space around instruments and vocals. For the price it is hard to beat.

From where I am, the selling price is approximately 740 (pounds) for two M1 PWR.

 

[Dommer]

The MF M1 PWR is a class-D amp, meaning it's a digital amp hence the harsher/brighter sound.

Might be okay for some, I know many that will not touch a digital amp with a long stick.

 

[TrevC]

The MF M1 PWR is a class-D amp, meaning it's a digital amp hence the harsher/brighter sound.

Might be okay for some, I know many that will not touch a digital amp with a long stick.

The response curve is almost ruler flat, so can't really sound bright, and has very low distortion figures, so can't sound harsh.

 

[SteveR750]

The MF M1 PWR is a class-D amp, meaning it's a digital amp hence the harsher/brighter sound.

Might be okay for some, I know many that will not touch a digital amp with a long stick.

The response curve is almost ruler flat, so can't really sound bright, and has very low distortion figures, so can't sound harsh.

Indeed, the NAD C390D is as soft as andrex. And about as interesting too, but that's another story.

 

[Deliriumbassist]

The MF M1 PWR is a class-D amp, meaning it's a digital amp hence the harsher/brighter sound.

Might be okay for some, I know many that will not touch a digital amp with a long stick.

Class D does not mean digital. 'D' is simply the next in line after A, AB, B, C. Some Class D amps may have their signal processing done digitally, but this does not make the amplifier digital.

Let's take a Class D amp with a digital PWM modulator. Add some jitter to the PWM modulator output. This jitter will be reproduced by the power stage as noise. Add jitter to the switching output, and the power stage will show this as noise. This wouldn't happen to a digital signal, but will happen to analogue signals.

Class D does not automatically mean bright and trebly. Interestingly, bass players have embraced Class D over Class A and A/B offerings.

 

[JMac]

Yes, I still have them. In the end I managed to pick up 2x M1 PWR and an SDAC for £900 all in. Generally very happy with them, especially for the price, but I do notice that the treble is a bit shrill. But that could be due to the Tannoy DC6 SE's that I've hooked them up to and its metal tweeter. I'm currently toying with the idea of either introducing a different DAC and/or preamp or maybe some speakers with a non-metalic tweeter. I was recommended to try the Pro-ject RS Pre as it uses valves.

The system as a whole is very sensitive to the quality of recording too. Playing files from Tidal or other high quality source and I love it. The imaging and soundstage are great, I actually turned my head last night whilst listening to something new because I though the sound was something else in the room. However, it doesnt do so well on lower quality recordings but then perhaps thats to be expected.

 

[Deliriumbassist]

The Q Acoustic Concept 20s could be a shout, if you want to keep around the same price bracket as the DC6SEs. I've partnered them with older Cyrus kit before and found it an excellent match, so it may well be a similar story with the MF amps.

 

[JMac]

I'm currently considering the PMC Twenty 22's. But it would be six month or so before I could change and I'm also toying with the idea of buying a set of Event Opals (or other similar actives) to see how they compare as a system replacement as a whole.

 

[Deliriumbassist]

If you decide against active and stay down the passive route, the Vienna Acoustics Haydn Grand would be an excellent consideration as well.