Price Paid:  $3000.00 from Stereo Unlimited - S

Summary:
Make no mistake about it. This is one of the most remarkable pieces of audio equipment ever made and it comes from people who specialize in tuners; High quality analogue audiophile tuners whose FM sound rivals that of good CD sound.The tuner sound of this receiver has no contemporary rival and is top notch. Tuning is old fashioned and analogue with the remote being able to use presets. The unit has a striking yet austere mildly retro appearance with wood side panels and 3 available faceplate colors; black, silver and gold. It has 2 large analogue meters in front as well huge heatsinks on each side that keep this baby running running cool but add to its weight bringing in at around 40 lbs.

At 100 wpc the amplifier section provides a clean neutral sound that is warm and tube like throwing a wide and deep soundstage. Initially Magnum collaborated with Sim Audio for the amplifier section but now for the last few years have struck out on there own and kept up the tradition of a real uncolored straightforward sound. There are no bells and whistles on this unit like bass or treble controls, loudness switches or even phono inputs despite what their website says is an available option. I use a Clearaudio Performance turntable with a Dynavector 20 XL cartridge and Dynavectors excellent P-75 phono preamp and it sounds beautiful. Magnum Dynalab's President told me they tried to put a phono section in the unit but was unable to get rid of the ground loop hum. It is hard to imagine that receivers costing way less than that have been able to do it successfully with good results ie the Outlaw Audio RR2150 receiver a unit that despite the hype much of it justified can't hold a candle up to the MD203.
If you plan to buy separates save your money and buy this unit. You will need to spend 5 -7500k to get sound this good.

Strengths:
Top notch battleship build
Warm tube like sound
Superb FM analogue tuner
No frills
Great manufacture support

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Outlaw Audio RR2150
NAD 7600
Luxman R-117