great value
appealing build and appearance
reliability
magnificent sound

umm . . .

I guess the fact that Musical Fidelity keeps introducing ever more exotic and expensive gear, and makes one think one should have more, and more, and endlessly more . . .

also, cheap power cords.

I'm four years down the road with this integrated amplifier. It pairs with a Musical Fidelity a3.2 CD player. They sounded lovely from the start, and remain lovely -- endless detail, a wide and deep soundstage, every detail audible, everything natural and nothing distorted. It doesn't hurt that they have in harness some Vandersteen 2ce signatures, of course.

I have hundreds of classical CDs, and I find myself thoroughly involved in each performance. My daugher, with her vast collection of indie (and almost altogether non-classical) music, loves these, too, and enjoys introducing me to her world.

Warning: a bad recording, even one you enjoyed on a lesser system, will sound very bad on this one. Oh, how I miss the Emerson Shostakovich quartet set. It came up acceptably on NAD equipment and lesser speakers, but not sounds harsh and unfocused. Even at that, the playing is so inspired that one can forgive and enjoy.

On the other hand, a good recording will come up splendidly. Experience, for example, Paul Lewis with his Beethoven piano sonatas, or Osmo Vanska and his Sibelius symhonies, or anything the Florestan Trio has done, or Arcadi Volodos playing Liszt, or the Arcanto Quartet with Bartok, or Fagiolini with some Monteverdi madrigals, or . . . well, there is no end to the great joy of it. Oh, and, by the way, the Emerson playing Beethoven or Haydn sounds just fine . . .

I use Kimber Kable interconnects and Audioquest cables. Nothing exotic, but it works nicely.

Customer Service

none needed

Similar Products Used:

NAD and Nakamichi gear

Detailed crystal clear treble, expansive and neutral midrange, clean,fast,deep,tight bass.

Height and weight of the pre-amp makes rock solid support essential, pre-amp weighs in at approx 26lbs.

I have been using the Musical Fidelity A3.2CR for the better part of 2 years and i am delighted with the performance from this pre-amp, though i had previously used pre-amps from Musical Fidelity as well as Naim Audio, i was astonished at the total superiority of the 3.2cr the treble is much more detailed and natural, midrange is purer and extremely clean and the bass performane is clean, deep, and has inceredable speed.
For a pre-amp costing £1000 it has no peers at the price and can take on models from other manufacturers costing a awful lot more, the remote control works well and the changing of inputs is very smooth. I have read on Audio Review the positive comments about the A3.2, and thiugh i have not heard that particular model i can only say that the 3.2 cr is a better product. i believe this pre-amp can be purchased at a even lower price as it is now a discontinued model, and i would reccomend it as a good second hand purchase, especially if it has warranty remaining.
I got a five year warrenty with mine on purchase and i would be surprised if i ever had to use it. Build quality of this pre-amp is very good and it also looks very stylish,if you are using bright ancillaries i would not make a automatic reccomendation for this product as it is extremely detailed and could lead to a presentation that is over clinical

The System
Roksan Xerxes Turntable
Roksan Artemiz Tonearm
Cartridge man music maker mk3 cartridge
Roksan XPS3 speed control
Roksan Atessa DS5 power supply
Graham Slee Era Gold Phono Stage
Musical Fidelity X-Ray V3 CD player
Musical Fidelity X10 Output Buffer
Musical Fidelity A3.2 CR Pre-amp
Tandberg TPA 3016A Power amp
Linn Isobarik DMS Loudspeakers
Latt IC 200 Interconnects
Electrofludics Monolith 20/20 Speaker Cables
All equiptment is supported on Mana tables

Customer Service

In the time i have owned this equipment i have had no need to return it to the dealler or the manufacturer. Having a 5 year warranty instills confidence in the product.

Similar Products Used:

Naim 92 HI-CAP
Audio Research SP9