I owned the MD-208 and feel that class A rating is overly generous. It's a great piece, especially for a receiver, but I have heard class B integrateds whose sonics I prefer (e.g. LFD Mistral). All the class A separates I've heard are FAR better than the MD-208. If you limit yourself to the world of receivers than I'm sure it's tops. I would not hesitate to build a system around one if FM was a serious music consideration.
Integrated amps and stereophile ratings confusion?
I've been looking to upgrade my tube integrated amp to a receiver as i listen more radio than cd's, and also need more power. Magnum Dynalab 208 is the perfect candidate. I even found Stereophile issue where this amp was reviewed. Upon further research i also found out that the Magnum Dynalab receiver, which is based an older, cheaper Simaudio integreated gets Class A, while the MUCH improved I-5 gets class B? I would like to hear from both Sim-audio I-5 owners and MD208. Thanks!