Musical Fidelity A3cr Power Amp ?Break-in Period?

those amps need a lot of break in, wait 3 months and I think the sound will transform to being much smoother. I do not believe bass is the strong point on MF stuff in general.

The A3cr does not have the sheer grunt of the 8008BB so a direct comparison would definately show a lack of bass. If your speakers are biampable I would definately recommend adding a second A3cr.

Platsolos,
I own the MF A3CR amp and pre-amp combo. Lots of play is in order to "break-in" the amp. Though longer is better, you'll definetly hear maturity within a month. I started driving Thiel 1.5's with AP silver oval and if that smoothed out, so will your sound. As I upgraded from a Marantz CC65SE CD player to a Sony SCD333SE to a Cary 306 and to the Cary 306/200 now, the A3CR accommodated. I think your CD is probably contributing to the grain?

My speakers are now Merlin VSM-M and all cables are Cardas Golden Cross. The Golden Cross cable will tone down the brightness and grain. Experiment with cables if still not pleased after a month. I realized an incredible improvement with a topline PC too!

The Thiels are rated to go down to 42 and always sounded good to adequate in the low end with A3CR power. Merlin's with BAM go to low/mid 30's. I get some staggeringly low and accurate bass notes into my 10 x 12 listening area now from the Merlin A3CR combo!

This amp is surely not a thunder god, but does almost everything well to excellent considering cost! Though I'm ready to upgrade both MF components to better match the Merlin's incredible abilities, my sound is very smooth and musically satisfying. This amp deserves it's Stereophile class "A" rating.

Hope it works out for you.

What is the best way to break it in? Do the speakers need to be connected to break it in? I can run my tuner to the thing all day if I need to, but if the speakers have to be connected, I will have to keep the volume down.