bonesetter2004

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.67 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1400.00 from eBay

Summary:
This is an update to the review below, as i thought clarification was needed as to exactly what the upgrade consisted of. The main part of the upgrade was a Ticord research clock 4, with their 'never connected' dedicated power supply. Details of this and many reviews can be found on the net. The DAC was NOT changed, as DAC's were said not to effect sound quality all that much. Power supplies to the op-amps were uprated, and most of the capacitors were changed - SOME of which were changed for Black Gates. Apparantly these work better in some areas and not others. The work was done by CPT Acousics of Ludlow, UK. I can say for sure that the sound quality is better than vinyl. Again, many reviews exist about exactly how clock upgrades improve sound. I would say to anyone to go for this type of upgrade, as it massively improves your existing player, for not much money. What you end up with is a player easily worth double its original value.

Strengths:
True value for money upgrade

Weaknesses:
will stop you wanting to upgrade!

bonesetter2004

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.25 of 5, 8.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1400.00 from eBay

Summary:
This is the best player I have heard – BUT not in standard form! I had the player modified with an extra two external power supplies which supply most of the internals, black gate capacitors and the DAC got changed to Burr Brown. The result? I don’t see how a cd player can get any better… the presentation now reaches well into the room, separation of individual sounds and instruments is immense. And what a fat, warm, seductive sound! Badly recorded discs which might give that occasional raw edge, simply don’t any more, it makes pearls out of them. The forwardness does not fatigue, it is still relaxing to listen to, quite addictive in fact. If you’ve listened to an unmodified one, then I suppose imagine that sound on steroids, but organic ones that make the sound soft and round – get your face between them and stay there for a while sort of sound. It cost 800 GBP to modify. But I am going no-where else after this.

Strengths:
3D holographic sound projection. Warm, fat sound with detail. Hugely enjoyable and addictive

Weaknesses:
in standard form the bass

Similar Products Used:
other MF stuff, Primare D30.2 (nice!), Sugden (brash in my system), MF A5 CD (hard as nails), Marantz

cksare

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $3000.00 from Preowned

Summary:
The solution all my audio problems. This is the best CD player I have ever heard. I have to keep looking at it to remind me thats its a CD Im hearing. Seperation and detail are exquisitely performed by this well built machine. For the first time in a long time I'm not looking for whats around the corner. My CD collection has a whole new leease on life

Strengths:
Everything

Weaknesses:
NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Price Paid:  $1700.00 from Privately

Summary:
I foud that I could not listen to my Krell KAV300 CD player any longer. It was harsh, strident, aggressive and digital, but worst of all extremely fatigueing on the ears. A very very analytical sound.The Krell had replaced a Sony ES555 SACD player.The Sony was weak and thin when replaying 'normal' CD's, but acceptable when playing SACD's, but only just. Prior to this came an Arcam, which was only just OK to my ears, only just. After reading reviews on the Musical Fidelity Nu Vista, a player that had always impressed with it's physical presence and stature, I took the plunge and purchased a mint example for just over half the original selling price. The Nu Vista was immediately superior to all the players that I had previously had. Whilst the Krell possessed greater detail and more bass slam, the Nu Vista was more analogue sounding, more natural, more refined, more focussed with greater clarity, displaying a greater natural timbre to the sound of each instrument , greater space between performers, but above all a greater musicality that makes listening a pleasure. The Nu Vista enabled one to listen for hours and then hours again, without fatigue. The soundstage given is fantastically wide, with impressive depth and height. As Ken Kessler said of the Nu Vista in Hi Fi News September 2001, "which for my money makes it the best value high end CD player ever'. Michael Fremer of Stereophile went on to say that the Nu Vista was one of a handful of the most listenable CD players that he had ever heard, mentioning 3 others that he regarded within the same category, which spanned a price range of $8-20,000, all of which were significantly more expensive than the Nu Vista. Michael Fremer was true to his word in that he purchased the review sample. I recently attended the Hi Fi News AV show at Heathrow and expected to come out dejected and dissapointed with my modest system. Much to my surprise I came out very happy with my system as I heard no CD player there that I thought was significantly better than my Nu Vista. Sure, the odd one or two were slightly better in one or two areas , but that could of course have been down to the partnering equipment that was far superior and much more expensive than mine. To come out of the show however and feel that my Nu Vista delivered 95% of the sound that was available there was gratifying especially given the (astronomical) cost, as I have said, of the equipment on offer. Another aspect of the Nu Vista that is immensely impressive is it's build quality. People rant about the build quality of Krell equipment and being the recent owner of a Krell component can vouch that it is well built kit. It was however in no way any where near the equal of the Nu Vista, which is of true battleship build quality, and quite remarkable for it's fairly modest price (compared to Wadia, Mark Levinson and Krell etc. etc.that is!). I am in agreement however with other reviewers in that the Nu Vista does indeed give of it's best when partnered with a high quality mains lead. I would go further to say that good quality interconnects are also a must (I use Nordost SPM's throughout)as is a vibration platform or feet. Everyone seems hung up on the remote. Whilst I too would like a 5lb aluminium block as a remote, it wouldn't contain any more features or facilities and would add to the cost. Whilst the supplied remote is not pretty, it is functional although I wish that the range of it was greater. As with many others, I am glad that MF concentrated their efforts and resources on the player itself rather than the remote, although of course a better quality one would look nicer! I have read of at least one other reviewer who has noticed the metalic 'clink' sound whenever a CD starts to play, or between tracks if the 'next' or 'previous' track buttons are used. I do not know what causes this, but fortunately it does not detract from the quality of the music produced. All in all the Nu Vista is an extremely impressive player that produces a very smooth, sweet, focussed and relaxed high end sound.It will indeed refresh some of your CD's and enable them to sound far better than you would have thought. The Nu Vista is probably as close to an analogue sound as you can get, or indeed expect, from a digital player. You will not be dissapointed if you buy one, and it is at times hard to understand why people would pay many thousands more for only a very slight percentage increase in sound quality.

Strengths:
Very very musical. Sweet, detailed and smooth sound. Tight bass. Massive sound stage, fantastic build quality, will last forever if looked after. Very non fatigueing sound.

Weaknesses:
Whilst I do not consider the remote a weakness, it is an area for improvement. I would also like to be able to turn the display off when there is no disc playing.

Similar Products Used:
Nad, Arcam, Sony, Krell. Current set up Aloia Pre and power with inductive power supplies, Mirage OM7 speakers, Nordost SPM's, and every tweak going.

Price Paid:  $2000.00 from Dynamics (herts)

Summary:
I have just added the Nu-viesta 3d to my system. First of all it naturalness comes across. it is almost like hearing vinyl. The harness has gone and a lovelly organic sound is now present. It dose lack a bit of dynamics and a good power cord makes a big difference here, and will alos help to tighten up the sound. I use the master couplier to good effect. It copes well with ant style of music thrown and in, making you cd collection completly transformed. I fibd that I no longer suffer from tiredness when listening for long periods and just enjoy the music without thinking about the sound. The system it is used on is a Gamut D200, Advantage pre1,harmonic tech truth link interconnects, ps audio plus sreaker cable and Silverline SR17 speakers

Strengths:
Great imaging, organic sound, good detail. Excellent dynamics and bass with a good power cord

Weaknesses:
Poor remote, needs good mains cable to get the best out of it (well worth the effort)

Similar Products Used:
Townsend modified cd player, Rotel 991, Wadia