Looks fabulous. Sounds even better. The best value for money you could buy !!!!

Not sure there are any really! Maybe the heat generated & the room it takes up.(I've got avery understanding wife) which is just as well! Also no remote for volume, though I rate that as a strength.

The musical fidelity a1000 amplifier is something special.Once heard, I doubt many will want any other amp to listen to, even if it is quite large and runs as hot as your water tank.I have set mine out with a cambridge azur 640 h cd/hard drive, and a pair of mission 782 floorstanders. The sound is so revealing, and the bass as tight as a g- sting.

The cabinet is brass coated in shiney piano black, and has only three large,tactile controls.(on/off. volume. source selector.) and has a seperate power supply, both of which are very heavy.they'll never make them like this again so if you can pick up a 'mint' one, then get it. you wont be dissapointed.

Insight, sensitivity, huge drive. Fantastic acoustic. Nothing is finished this classy any more.

Sensitivity! Microphonic. Anyone who has one of these sat on glass move it, the improvement will shock you! Low impedencies can rob it of some of the magic.

Love at first listen. I haven't been able to upgrade because of it. I have even been tempted to go back in time and find some old MF MA50 mono blocks, the fore runner to this excellent amp, just to see if what they say about those is true. Tha A1000 can drive the nuts off Carter USM, Sisters, New Model Army and then beguile you with the duet from Lakme and then you can finish the evening in Cuba with Ry Cooder at the Beuna Vista Club. (and you are there) This is a rare thing, even today, that an amp does so many things so well. If you can find one buy it!

Similar Products Used:

Audiolab 8000a, 8000P & 8000M's Reviewed MF A3 series, A3cr and NuVista integrated (that was good but STILL lacking)

I am very agree with Rich Griffing's review, the 50W power of MF A1000 is so exceptional. It handles my difficult load speaker Dynaudio Contour 1.8 MarkII with easy. The A1000 and my CD player Sony XA7ES was so senitive with polarity of power outlet, swith the direction of my plug and the sound changed, on incorrect polarity connect the sound become more vivid and sharp, my wife enjoy this kind of sound. But I found the A1000 MUST with correct polarity connect otherwise the sound become blure ( in the maunal of A1000 has same Statement). Only chane in the CD Player 's polarity connect has vivid and warmth effect which is acceptable.
MF A1000 has Liquid , Power, Dynamic sound but the Image of sound is a little bigger ( not so focus)than some high-end gears. I especially enjoy the reproduction of Piano and Vocal. I give 4and 1/2 Star

The Musical Fidelity A 1000 is a 50 watt per channel, pure class Aintegrated amplifier sold only through Audio Advisor. This unit is
the big brother to the A2 and A220 which both received favorable reviews
in Fi and Stereophile magazines. The list price for the unit is $2,995,
but Audio Advisor is advertising them at a discounted price of $1,995. I
called for the Demo offered at $1,499, but it was sold out. So they
offered to sell me a new one for $1,699 which I accepted.

I purchased the A 1000 as an upgrade to my Acurus DIA 100 MK11. I did
about a year of research for settling on this unit. I was looking
for an integrated that with a sweet warm tube sound - Something similar
to what I was experiencing with my Melos SHA-1 and Grado RS1 headphone
setup. I wanted an amplifier to provide me with these sound characteristics
on my Apogees without giving up any bass impact. Actually, I was looking
for the sweet tube sound AND more bass, but I did not think you could get
both without going into huge debt. My area retailer recommended the Krell
KAV 300i to me, but I did not believe this would give me what I was looking
for. I had read the reviews of
the Musical Fidelity A2 and A220, and they both seemed to have the
sound characteristics I was looking for. I did some further research
on the Musical Fidelity line and found that all of the Musical Fidelity
amplifiers sound similar, but differ in refinement. The A1000, because
of it's separate power amplifier, was said to have more clarity,
transparency and accuracy then the A2 and A220. I was nearly sold,
but had reservations about whether 50 watts would be adequate for
my Apogee's. The folks at Audio Advisor assured me that 50 watts would
be sufficient if I had a small room and did not turn the amp up full blast.
At that point, I agreed to make the purchase.

First off, this amplifier is stunnning to look at. It is finished in
black, with a shiny lacquered front accented in gold. The controls are
silky smooth to operate, in fact you can operate all of the controls with
only light pressure from one finger. The sound of this amplifier surprised
me deeply. This amplifier sounds powerful!! It had no problem driving
my difficult Apogees. This amplifier simply blows the Acurus away in
three areas. First, bass. This was the biggest surprise. The Acurus is
known for mimicking the Krell line in its ability to provide iron fisted
bass. The Musical Fidelity produced deep, powerful, and musical bass on
my Apogee's. I really did not know my Apogee's could go that low. Very impressive. I can cross a sub-woofer off my wish list. Another area
where the Musical Fidelity excelled was in the sweetness of the mid range
and the treble. Strings and bells sounded sooo! sweet. and this is only
after playing the unit for a week. It appears to be getting better with
more break in time. I bought the unit to obtain this quality and got it.
The last area where this unit excelled was in the decay of individual
instruments. I had read about this quality when reading reviews of such
state of the art amplifiers as the Audio Research VT100, but had never
actually heard this quality. The Musical Fidelity clearly has this
ability in spades. Overall, I believe this might be the last amplifier
I ever purchase. Highly recommended

The Musical Fidelity A 1000 is a 50 watt per channel, pure class Aintegrated amplifier sold only through Audio Advisor. This unit is
the big brother to the A2 and A220 which both received favorable reviews
in Fi and Stereophile magazines. The list price for the unit is $2,995,
but Audio Advisor is advertising them at a discounted price of $1,995. I
called for the Demo offered at $1,499, but it was sold out. So they
offered to sell me a new one for $1,699 which I accepted.

I purchased the A 1000 as an upgrade to my Acurus DIA 100 MK11. I did
about a year of research for settling on this unit. I was looking
for an integrated that with a sweet warm tube sound - Something similar
to what I was experiencing with my Melos SHA-1 and Grado RS1 headphone
setup. I wanted an amplifier to provide me with these sound characteristics
on my Apogees without giving up any bass impact. Actually, I was looking
for the sweet tube sound AND more bass, but I did not think you could get
both without going into huge debt. My area retailer recommended the Krell
KAV 300i to me, but I did not believe this would give me what I was looking
for. I had read the reviews of
the Musical Fidelity A2 and A220, and they both seemed to have the
sound characteristics I was looking for. I did some further research
on the Musical Fidelity line and found that all of the Musical Fidelity
amplifiers sound similar, but differ in refinement. The A1000, because
of it's separate power amplifier, was said to have more clarity,
transparency and accuracy then the A2 and A220. I was nearly sold,
but had reservations about whether 50 watts would be adequate for
my Apogee's. The folks at Audio Advisor assured me that 50 watts would
be sufficient if I had a small room and did not turn the amp up full blast.
At that point, I agreed to make the purchase.

First off, this amplifier is stunnning to look at. It is finished in
black, with a shiny lacquered front accented in gold. The controls are
silky smooth to operate, in fact you can operate all of the controls with
only light pressure from one finger. The sound of this amplifier surprised
me deeply. This amplifier sounds powerful!! It had no problem driving
my difficult Apogees. This amplifier simply blows the Acurus away in
three areas. First, bass. This was the biggest surprise. The Acurus is
known for mimicking the Krell line in its ability to provide iron fisted
bass. The Musical Fidelity produced deep, powerful, and musical bass on
my Apogee's. I really did not know my Apogee's could go that low. Very impressive. I can cross a sub-woofer off my wish list. Another area
where the Musical Fidelity excelled was in the sweetness of the mid range
and the treble. Strings and bells sounded sooo! sweet. and this is only
after playing the unit for a week. It appears to be getting better with
more break in time. I bought the unit to obtain this quality and got it.
The last area where this unit excelled was in the decay of individual
instruments. I had read about this quality when reading reviews of such
state of the art amplifiers as the Audio Research VT100, but had never
actually heard this quality. The Musical Fidelity clearly has this
ability in spades. Overall, I believe this might be the last amplifier
I ever purchase. Highly recommended