Musical Fidelity M8xi


I’ve come across one of these, new, at a great deal. Did a demo listen tonight. Was pretty impressed. Super current. Bass slams. More transparent than I was expecting. Tons of current so basically it’s effortless in driving any speaker.  I’d be replacing my Hegel 390(which I love). Anyone who owns one of these have any feedback you’d like to share?

rjduncan

I’m curious to see your impressions when you get it home. I just traded in my M6si for a Hegel H400 and have really enjoyed the upgrade. I’m sure the M8xi is on another level but I was interested to hear that you thought the top end was warmer than the Hegel, I found the exact opposite when I switched although they aren’t exactly the same models as yours.

Great feedback Jester. Thank you. Yes I will report back. So hard to tell when it’s not your system. I’ve no idea but I will over the next few days when I have the M8 with my components and my speakers. 

I really wanted to try a Nu-Vista 600.2 but it’s out of my budget at the moment and also so large and heavy it wouldn’t fit in my cabinet. I’m very pleased with my H400 and although i loved my M6si, it was a little bright in the treble for my speakers (Focal Kanta 2) and the H400 is a little more forgiving in addition to having much better depth of soundstage. I’m curious what you think of the M8xi compared to your H390.

@rjduncan 

There ya go!!!  Auditioning and comparing the units in your own audio system, in your own room is definitely the way to go.  Yes, I had an H390 prior to switching to the H590, and in each case, I used XLR.  To my ears, all down through the years, XLR  has always sounded better than RCA.  By the way, I found the H390 to be just slightly warmer than the H590, but the H590, and the H600 that I've heard several times at my local dealers showroom, to my ears, seen to have just the right amount of a more natural degree of  warmth, the kind of which, I personally prefer.  I did get a chance to hear the MF M8xi not too long ago at an audio show, and it sounded great, too.  Have fun.  Happy listening.    

I have done a little research on this.  The Musical Fidelity runs hotter and has a higher current rating.  Hegel uses a higher damping factor to drive less sensitive speakers.