What I like most is the simplicity of the design. 1 knob for input selection, 1 knob for volume control and 1 knob for tape recording. That's it. It is a small amp and the specs are not that spectacular. Don't let this mislead you. It performs really well: enough power to fill the room, crystal clear and crisp sound and nice tight lows. This amp is able to create a wall of sound.

The design is plastique and looks cheap. With this amp it is all about the inside that counts.

What I like most is the simplicity of the design. 1 knob for input selection, 1 knob for volume control and 1 knob for tape recording. That's it. It is a small amp and the specs are not that spectacular. However it performs really well: enough power to fill the room, crystal clear and crisp sound and nice tight lows. This amp is able to create a wall of sound.

The design is plastique and looks cheap. With this amp it is all about the inside that counts.

Hi, I am fifty years old Italian audiofile. I bought MF b1 28 years ago and it has flew admirably a pair of Wharfadale Pavarotti until two monthes ago. Rarely I've heard something sounds better and never at that price.Precise and contained bass, medium high transparent and natural, credible voices. Optimal reconstruction of the sound scene. In the last few monthes I thought to must buy a new integrated 'cause I heard something didn't work anymore, but it was not my b1, unfortunately it was my Wharfadale monitors. I went to a hi-fi shop bringing my ampli with me, I' ve heard it sound with a couple of Scasonic and with a pair of red 5000 Russell K. those I buyed, it sounds awesome again, even better, as if it was new!

Hello,
I have had a numerous amount of equipment (Marantz, Sansui, Rotel etc..)
Well i coukld get this amp for 100 euro including shipping costs.
I unplugged my belo0ved sansui from the B&W speakers DM-220i hooked up this MF-B1.
.................................................................................................................................
Never looked back. It is clean and has an enormus soundstage compared to the sansui.
It also is much more analitical than my rotel with sounds to warm for me.
It is only 30 watt or so BUTT my speakers are very sensetive and i can really make my windows shake. Next Amplifier i will buy will certainly be an Musical fidelity product. I AM HOOKED!!

The Music i listin is very diverse but you can say that it is 90% Heavy Metal.
Truly this is the BOMB!

Have had the Musical Fidelity B1 for 24 years now and what an amazing piece of equipment its been partnered with My Rega Planar 3 which is even older with originally a pair of Tannoy e11 Speakers, But had to change them to a pair of Kef Coda 7's. The fact that this amp is still going after all these years and hasn't missed a beat is a testament to British HiFi at its best and still sounds as good as the day I bought it if not better. You Just need to listen to it to appreciate it.

The mf B1 is juste amazing. I'm 19 years old and I got this amp form my uncle. I put it with a pair of Castle Durham 900 (20 years old :P ) and it sounds great. I'm not an audiophile, I think I'm too young to be an audiophile.

i am from india. saw the many reviews of the mf b1 and so bought one from ebay.co.uk and had it shipped. i tried it with a few speakers - pinnacle quantums, b&w lm1 and sonus faber concertino. it sounded dead. an electronics repair guy took a look inside and told me that it has not been used for a while and so it would improve upon use. so i had it hooked up to the sonus fabers and persevered. after a month or so of listening atleast a couple of hours daily, it suddenly woke up. warmth, liquid midrange, musical bass, detail i have never heard before - you can even hear the emotion/spirit in the voice of the singer. this is not a musical equipment - but a musical instrument!

and if it is like this with the sonus fabers which are hard to drive speakers, i would think it would work even better with speakers easier to drive. it sells for like 80 pounds on ebay uk and so it is great vfm. but it is kind of fragile with plastic sides. so if you have it shipped make sure the seller packs it really well.

Saw one of these for a very reasonable price of £100+P&P, so grabbed it for comparison with a NAD 3120 that had been upgraded by Fidele Audio.

The build quality is quite good but uses a fair bit of plastic in the construction, which loses the B1 one star.

The NAD is a nice warm sounding amp but switching to the B1 made me realise just how much detail I was missing. There is better control of bass and instrument separation is amazing, the NAD has a more powerful bass but far less control and sounds muddy in comparison.

Considering the NAD with upgrade comes to over double the cost of the B1 I would have expected it to be better in most respects. The B1 simply excels in every department of the sound and even has a half decent MC/MM pre for your turntable.

Harder to find than NAD 3020 but if you see one grab it, it may just pleasantly suprise you!

Incredible soundstage, and instrument seperation, Fantastic phono stage, Minamlist timeless looks, Quality british manufacture

the input selector can spin on it's own and not change source, but an easy fix, i used supergle on mine and it's been fine for the last 7yrs!
The on off switch light can flicker from time to time.

I bought my B1 15yrs ago through the small ads and it's still going strong, infact i'm looking to buy another for a second system. Don't be put off by 35watts, thru my celestion ditton 442s it's never been passed midnight on the volume dial and the windows shake!! It is not quiet in my book!! Unless your living room is the size of a swimming pool and have no neighbours you won't find the volume lacking. I have listened to many other newer systems and far more expensive kit and nothing has made me want to part with this amp. You can get them on ebay for less than £100 and they will blow away modern £500-£600 pound amps. It made me buy the eqivalent MF CD1 then T1, I paid a lot less than people pay for a "high street all in one flashing light system" and it blows people away when i turn it up.

Customer Service

Never Needed

Similar Products Used:

Various Marantz, Denon, sony, Arcam, etc upto £500GBP Nothing compares

Vocal and Bass prfectly in front of Soundstage. Solid and firm.

No remote control or I would be using it to this day

This review is almost 20 years retrospective

This B1 amp is still working away in my daughters house powering some pensionable Tannoy Mercury speakers. The only reason I replaced it was it had no remote control. Since then i've had an Arcam 8R, an NAD, an Marantz 7200 and now a Musical Fidelity X-80. I loved my Arcam, the Marantz was too polite. My B1 is aggressive and naughty, but really plays. The B1 though was as good as all of these. Bass was further forwards in the soundstage as were vocals. My old Tannoys were really big standmounts. Maybe a bit slow, but really musical and the bass was unbeatable. Recently I saw a review really attacking Musical Fidelity. That review is only sour grapes. MF are probably the most consistent of all manufacturers and I have only had good experirences with their products> The B1 holds its own to this day. Well done MF

Similar Products Used:

Arcam, marantz, nad, other MF