sthomas048

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I found the B200 amplifier going for £149, so i snapped it up. Previously i had only read reviews of the early Musical Fidelity amps, mainly the A100. I was keen on getting a valve amp. But the description of the sound of these MF amps sounded like what i was looking for and similar to the valve sound. So i have had the B200 amp for about a month now and im very pleased with it. From the beginning it has been thoroughly enjoyable to listen through. I have a Rega Apollo cd player and AVI Neutron 5 speakers. Its purely luck on my part that the B200 works so well with this kit !

To describe the sound - id say warm, but not overly so. Detailed with great rich texture on vocals. Not bright sounding in the slightest. There may be a hint of colour to the sound, but it doesnt taint the original recording being played - if the recording is a good one then its good and if bad its bad. Natural not at all digital sounding. It loves all sorts of music from simple accoustic ballads to dance to rock to classical.

I cant think of anything bad to say about the B200. It runs hot, as other reviewers have mentioned. The worse thing you could do is partner this amp with a cd player or speakers that lean towards being soft or dull sounding. Give it a dynamic cd player with a lively character and some speakers that are neutral and off you go !

I would recommend this amp to anyone. If you can find one just give it a go. For the price i paid its a true bargain. I have listened to amps from Naim and Rega that cost upto (and over) four times as much and the B200 easily beats them. A classic amplifier.

gnuth

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.75 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Second hand shop

Summary:
This is a review for A100, 50w+50w RMS Class A sibling. Absolutely amazing sonic, warm, airy mid/high range. Sufficient bass. I remember HiFi Choice back in 80s' describing this model possessing comparable sound quality to at least ten times more expensive Krell, Hiraga etc. The reviewers wondered how it can be explained for an amp 10 times cheaper than the very best to sing just as good. Personally I feel the mid/high range especially is absoltely amazing. It simply sounds divine. Comparing with my previous amps Pioneer A400, Sherwood AX-7030, this was obvious. The bass is also much tighter than these amps. While I had an impression the bass of A400 struggles to catch up with other tunes, MF has no problem. Perhaps much bigger power supply? Some say this runs hot, and needs very good care. I agree. At least the electrolytic caps need to be upgraded to 105degrees...I had no problem since then..

Strengths:
Amazing mid/high range. Warm and valve-like English sound.

Weaknesses:
Apart from being hot, can't complain. It's all about sound anyway.

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer A400, Sherwood AX-7030

Price Paid:  $280.00 from 1992

Summary:
This is a beauty! It runs hot, it is dated in shape and aesthetics, although I love it. And I am currently using it to drive my Linn LP12/Lingo/Aro/Troika set up with MF MC-5 speakers. And it has no problems at all what so ever. The LP12 could possibly be limited by this amp, but it is very very difficult to replace the same warn natural sound for less than a couple of grand now. Has power, control and a really nice grip on vocals that captivates. Soundstaging is also very good. For lovers of a big open sound and especially Vinyl lovers as this has a great phono stage, this is a bargain.

Strengths:
Sound. Runs hot so keeps your takeaways warm for you.

Weaknesses:
Runs hot and needs space.

Similar Products Used:
Musical Fidelity A1, just as good but not the same bottom end welly.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This little amp is really great. When I tried to find a good amp for my system, I listend to three different amps. Rotel RA-971 MK2 Cambridge P70 Musical Fidelity B200 I listend it with Monster Cable cables and with A.E. loudspeakers. It first i thougt that the rotel was really cool, it was fast, good control, and some nice imaging, but not very deep though. Then the guy of the audiostore said, i think this cable sucks, so let's put on another one. He used QED cable. Man, that was cool. Really Monster Cable sucks. After an hour the MF B200 was getting warm, and crushed all other amp, with its great sound. It is a 2x50Watt-8ohm amp. I have a pretty passive sub at home (2x10inch). Man the MF is just playing with it, a great control I never suspectet from this little amp. It even sounded better that a ReVoX B-250S i used fore some that, and the revox is 3 times more expensive

Strengths:
Good control, Nice sound, Great Imaging.

Weaknesses:
Needs time to warm up, could have problems with difficult speakers.

Similar Products Used:
Rotel RA 970 MKII Cambridge P70 Onkyo Integra A-809 Revox B-250S

Price Paid:  $200.00 from big deal (Leeds)

Summary:
the mf replaced my much loved cyrus 2 after it died a death. and i've lived with for some 6 months. i was imediately impessed by this attractive litle amp which is housed in the same casing as the classic a1 from the same firm (obviously!) although the b200 benefits from gold plated terminals and the slightly more freindly addtion of proper binding posts, for speaker cable attatchment. although to be fair these are an awkward bugger to get at so banana plugs really are the way to go. the amp takes quite some time to warm up being a class A design, so your best bet if you own one of these is to plug it in and leave it on. PERMANANTLY! even then you need to play a full album before it starts to really sing. the sound after this warm up period is exceptional which is not suprising given the company's heritage and having been a great fan of my cyrus set-up i must honestly say that the MF runs an extremely close second to cyrus2 psx combo. however put on the same cyrus2 minus psx and the mf runs rings around it in terms of dynamics and sheer sonic grip of the music you put through it. the sound may not be to everyones liking as it can be a tad clinical when it comes to source matching and software but i personally have always found this a benefit and something to strive for, which is why i have recently purchased a naim nait3. to summerise, if your looking for an affordable taste of "high end" amplification you could do far worse than this cracking little amp. a bit thin on the ground but well worth the hunt!

Strengths:
cultured and refined with plenty of grip and real dynamics that put most to shame.

Weaknesses:
the only grumble really is that it needs space as it runs hot!

Similar Products Used:
naim nait3 cyrus 2 with psx