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Musical Fidelity A308 Int: is it worth a service call?

I had a chance recently to buy an integrated MF A308, it's in a very decent shape and it sounds nice. The only minor issue is a slight speaker noise that seems to be caused by the preamp section. I can hear it from a very close distance (12-15 inches) with no inputs connected, it's more apparent in one channel than the other, it varies slightly up and down with the volume knob rotation almost disappearing at 1 o'clock position. And if the HT pass-through input is selected the noise goes away. It doesn't bother me as it is but I'm wondering if it may be an indication that I may be missing on the sound quality the unit might be capable of. The unit is 14-15 years of age, my guess.
So I'm asking for some advise here:
Is it worth finding/paying somebody to restore/fix it? Or just leave it as is? What are the chances that the sound may improve significantly? Other upgrades "while the hood is open" that may justify it? And in terms of costs, what should I be looking for (I am in San Francisco Bay Area)?
Thanks!
blin116
arsh
367 posts
 
Hard to know exactly what is wrong. But I had one of these back in the day. I really liked it. Excellent sound quality and plenty of power. If it were me, I would see about getting it serviced. Try contacting Audio Plus Services, the new MuFi distributor in North America. Good luck!
vegasears
1,173 posts
 
I had a Musical Fidelity DAC 21cr i think.  The right channel went out.  I called the authorized repair facility for North America, in Montreal, Canada.  The person I talked to did speak english very well and I don't speak french.  What little communications we had convinced me to drop it in the trash. Shipping and receiving to the great white north can be a challenge plus the technician was a jerk.   
scorpio1951
189 posts
 
  I've never owned a MF unit, but you need to factor in its value, whether that is on the market or to you, versus the cost of repair. I have generally been disappointed with the quality of work done by factory authorized repair facilities. Some of these repair places charge $160.00 just to put a unit on the bench, and up goes the price. I am speaking about McIntosh units. I've had much better sending a Mac unit from California to the factory in New York. Even taking into shipping costs and time delays, the repaired unit always back from the factory looking and sounding like new. 
blin116 OP
6 posts
 
Thanks for the feedback!
As I mentioned the unit sounds quite nice and I am happy with it, so  there is no immediate need for repair.  I was just wondering if I may be missing on the upside of what it's capable of. I have very little experience in the field so it's difficult to judge. Maybe I'll find somebody local who can take a look.
Cheers!

alextychkin
87 posts
 
I used to own a lot of MF equipment. In fact, my  current CD player is the 308 series.Its 14 years old and  built like a tank. It was shipped on several occasions (the last time from the Midwest to the Pacific), serviced only once about 7 years ago. Still runs fine!  The 308's are definitely worth to hold on to.
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