The A5 has 250 wpc and is capable of reproducing proper dynamic range into all but the most inefficient loudspeakers. It has fabulous technical performance and a delicate neutral sound which belies its great muscle power potential. The A5 sounds rather like a super quality tube amplifier but with guts and proper dynamic range.
Summary: fantastic Amp, with loads of power but at the same time it has a very very refined sound, neutral and in one word "realistic". Very good design, very futuristic look and great easy of use. it has a superb and deep sound with all music you like, with a contolled bass, real drums sound, warm and deep, beautiful vocals and great piano and organ reproductions. Miles Davis trumpet on vinyl sounded astonishing in my equipment. Pink Floyd music reproduction is rich, very very detailed, warm, exactly the way you'd expect to listen to "space-rock".
A must to have for any audiophiles out there, and a great amp with superb features other brands offer at much higher prices....
Sure one of the best integrated amps ever made.
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Summary: This is one great amp, it has a very pure sound. With great inner resolution en macro and micro dynamics.
Bass response is great, not the most punchy type, but instead very realistic and musical.
Sound is very organic, superbly neutral and transparant.
Maybe the only thing that you can fault this amp in is that the highs can sound a little thin at some times, but this never makes the amp sound unrealistic.
Musical moods come through perfectely, be it classical, be it hardrock and so on.
It neither sounds bright nor warm in my opinion, it just is very loyal to the recording.
And it will drive about all speakers you will ever come across without even breaking a sweat! It will pour through a bass response you may have never experienced with your own speakers.
Strengths: Very musical, neutral and transparant.
Weaknesses: Maybe sometimes a little thin in the highs, but this doesn't make it sound unrealistic.
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Summary: Has lived up to all the positive reviews for sonics and has preformed without fault. The short comings it does have is common to most products at this level. By this I am referring to the effects of power supply and internally and externally generated vibrations. What I mean by this is I found by having a dedicated circuit to my stereo, along with a PS Soloist and PPP connected with PS Premiere power cable my system floored me with the obvious sonic improvements. 2nd, the top of the A5 will easily vibrate. The Bright Star Little Rock on top, supported by the BS air Mass with Symposium Svelte Shelf and Stillpoints, minimizes the external vibs along with those vibs internally generated. This had as a profound effect as the power supply. All I can say is "WOW". I use the latest Audioquest IC's (Colorado) and love them with no desire to look further. A previous poster mentioned AQ,s with a negative, I feel his problem was elsewhere for sure. I know I gave more general info than specific examples as my time is limited and I hardly ever post anywhere. But I have finally found sonic bliss. Rest of system is Sony 555ES, Cambridge 640,(MF V3 phono,power supply,tube output) VA Beethoven Speakers with AQ 8 DBS cables
Strengths: Definitely the thinking audiophile company, MF products are fairly priced and top notch in service and dependability
Weaknesses: could have better speaker connecters
Similar Products Used: Rotel, Adcom 555II,MF Tri-Vista 300
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Summary: Finding the right hifi components and that includes cables is a journey into the unknown. If I go back 15 years the dream system (budget restricted) was Mission speakers with Audilolab cd and int.amp. Then in '99 I heard a friends setup with Musical Fidelity A3 cd and int. amp and Proac Speakers and following some research into cost, new that the future for me was Musical Fidelity.
Some seven years later, it took convincing my wife, by borrowing my brothers Arcam System , that music can sound so much better than my tiresome Harman Kardom Receiver. So after some listening sessions, and an increase in initial budget I acquired a second hand A5 CD and Int. Amp.
First Impressions were ugh! why does it sound so poor compared to the demos, of course the reason was obvious, IC's.
So next step having obtained the units, convincing the wife that I needed new IC's. You probaly know how hard that is (its a piece of wire) and a year later I am running the system with Inakustik 1202 RF cable from Germany with WBT Nextgen Cu connectors, 1202 LS cables with WBT 0645's, 1202 Bi wire bridges with Inakustik goldplated spades, and Monitor Audio S8 speakers. Cables cost me an orderly sum of €800 ($1200 US).
Like some other reviewers I have found what I have always been looking for in my sound, and I no longer find myself surfing hifi web sites, except writing this review.
It would be really interesting to know what IC's people are using out there are nobody provides this info. Wrong IC's crap sound.
Strengths: Bags of power, dynamics, making me want to listen to well recorded CD's until I fall asleep. It delivers a transparent and full soundstage, with precision, speed and tight bass. It can sometimes appear bright with heavy bass, but I think that is often down to the cd recordings.
Weaknesses: Making you want to throw your poorly recorded/produced CD's in the trash can.
Similar Products Used: Audiolab 8000
Roksan Caspian
Musical Fidelity A3.5
Ok so I like the English sound. Unfortunately it's often produced in Asia. I think my A5 is still prodcued in the UK.
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