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How good is the Musical Fidelity A5?

I've read + heard great things about this unit on a limitted basis but Audiogoner's seem to have little interest in tihs player for some reason. I have seen only one comparison of this unit on this site and that was against the Cary 303 / 300 (yes I did read the TAS article which compared it to the Lector). Has anyone done extensive listening on this unit?
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maineiac
649 posts
 
I have this CDP and really like that it is not sterile at all. It throws a great soundstage and all around is a very nice sounding player. I couldn't audition the Audio Aero Prima or Lector players that I was also considering but the A5 put an end to the search.
reb1208
518 posts
 
I now have the A5 and IMO this is an extremely good machine. Once it is on for a few hours sterile is the last word that descibes the sound. There is almost nothing to complain about. For reference, I owned many machines in the past several years and each had much to complain about. Here are a few: Cary 303/300 Simm Equinox Marantz SA-11 Naim CD5/Flatcap Esoteric DV-50 ARC CD3MK2 Wadia 860X. The A5 delivers a well balanced sound, deep far back soundstage, excellent dynamics, very good extension and definition into the highs/lows, very good imaging, fast and quite transport.......hard to go wrong with this one.
jeffrey123
9 posts
 
Has anyone (besides Stereophile) compared the A5 to the Trivista? I loved the Trivista in a short demo in my system and am considering the A5.
michaelrutherford
6 posts
 
What DAC, if any, would you recommend as an upgrade for the Musical Fidelity A5 cdp? Would a mhdt Paradisea+ offer an improvement? Any other suggestions?
Thanks
dejanm
72 posts
 
First of all, my opinion about A5 CDP is that it is good player but not the best in that price range. I consider Naim CD 5x, Copland CDA 823, Lyngdorf CD-1 and some others as better choice for similar amount of money.

For my taste A5 doesn't have enough substance in its reproduction. It is very neutral, fairly analytical, but somehow lacks to deliver emotional tension ...

Concerning the question about external DAC for A5 ... I am not quite sure that this is a very good idea. You are paying for a maschine that has quite complex output stage that you than do not want to use. If you are not convinced with the sound of A5 than maybe the better idea would be to go after MF DM 25 combo. It is more expencive and it is better (whether this difference really pays-of in terms of price difference - I really do not know)... but the alternative would be to go for another CDP. As I already mentioned, there are some better maschines on the market for similar amount of money ...
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