NEW Musical Fidelity DAC

Are you all talking about the A324? It lists for $1195 and is reviewed by Sam Tellig in the April issue of Stereophile.

It's interesting this is being brought up, after reading the review of the A324 the other day, I was going to start a thread on here asking questions about MF.

As already stated, each product gets a rave review and either class A or B rating, which is fine if true.

It would be great if class A products would come down to these prices.

What particularly struck me in the review is that the guy from MF, I forget his name, jumps on a plane and hand delivers the product. I just envision Sam having a hard time cutting it down with this going on.

Interesting remarks and rebuttals written above; at my level, I may be least appropriate to add to this discussion.

I wouldn't say for sure that "You can't buy a good review at Stereophile". I have no first hand facts either. But I have talked with a few people much farther up the latter than I that can be more convincing that it this is possible; I am not one to jump on the conspiracy bandwagon though.

If there didn’t seem anything peculiar to all the MF reviews and the most recent in particular, there wouldn't be a number of people chiming in. True, none of us knows for sure, but the behavior draws attention to itself.

As for him jumping on a plane and hand delivering the product, Upscaleaudio stated, “If you were the owner of a small company you would not make sure everything lined up?". If he was so desirous to have "all things line up", then why didn't spend some time trying the unit out first? Also, what does "owning a small company" have to do with this being more important over any other company? (I am not being ultra critical here, just my observations on the comments.)

I really thought the comments by Upscale about people’s thoughts of a company at "start up" or "young" versus when they are full scale were very insightful!

I also liked the fact of Upscale pointing out that there are many brands advertising and not getting reviews. (Although this leads us back to why is MF so blessed to have as many reviews in such a short time period?)

And as alluded to, we have our favorites, if I have a favorite brand, I am more curious to try theirs latest out.

Upscale, your closing statement left me a little puzzled, about pulling the lid and comparing products and you specifically mentioned MF and ML. I am not sure what you meant by it.

I have only seen pictures of both products with their hoods off. From what I have seen, the MF is far more simplistic, and I don't mean that in that one is better than the other. From what I can see and gather, ML has more to it than the MF. (Again, I am not implying anything about sonics here.)

I have recently talked with two companies that do modifications and I asked a question about an ML amp and each had nothing but high praise for what is in them and how they are constructed and designed.

I think we are blessed by those who can afford to advertise, as this helps continue this hobby. I also hope magazines like Stereophile, TAS and others can continue.

I will attempt to keep my composure on this reply. As Upscale mentions the 383, which I own, I am bound to get a little defensive. This is my second 383, why two you may ask? Because spending time on places like this and reading many messages, whether accurate or inaccurate, I was convinced to sell the first and try other things, even though I was greatly enjoying the 383.

If I had unlimited funds, I may look into other products, but the 383 works wonderfully for me and I readily admit that some of what I like about the 383 is its functions and ergonomics. The 383 has some wonderful user features that do not add to the sonics but no doubt ad to the price.

But as long as we are talking of reviews, Stereophile couldn’t sing it’s praises high enough nor could Marc Mickelson of Sound Stage.

Every time a user on a forum wants to express how wonderful a particular integrated is, it’s always the 383 they want to claim it is better than, not another brand but the 383. That said, I am not at all claiming it is the best there is out there. In fact I have talked to a person that prefers the Mac MA6900, that’s great, to each our own. (I also note that Upscale only singled it out as he recently came into possession of one.)

Lastly, your analogy of weight to claim the MF is superior, if we used that across the board, NOBODY would use 95% of MF gear!!!! …as they don’t weigh diddly in comparison. Also, you are very wrong in what you said, in claiming, “In fact the power supply by itself was about the same weight as the Levinson.” The power supply weighs 30 lbs, the unit 65 lbs. The 383 weighs 65 lbs. SO, the power supply that you claim to weigh the same, weighs less than half! Total loss of credibility!

Disclaimer: I have nothing against MF gear, in fact, I bet the Nu-vista M3 sounds wonderful and wouldn’t mind the limited CD player, except for the silver and gold.

Sorry for the rant.