Return of the X series

Hi MF fans,

I've just seen the latest newsletter from MF and yes they are bringing out a new range of X series amps.

I just thought that WM and other music lovers will want to hear this news (although there were rumours for a while).

 

Arh Dev, they realsied what a joke the 308 stuff was, and thought Ok the 'x' stuff sold, lets go back to what works (BTW I don't mind the 'x' series its ok really). here's hoping there have more success with this lot than the previous

 

I take it it'll all be styled in the same way as the new Xcans V3?

Any idea of what products they've got lined up?

 

Another month another MF range. Sheesh.

-- Ian

 

I'm hoping they are going to get it right as well Tone but the point you guys seem to be missing is that although it may not be your cup of wotsits, there may be others who like the "smooth", "relaxing" or "laid back" (or whatever words you choose) MF sound. On HFC forum there is someone who auditioned a TriVista DAC against a DAC64 and preferred the MF unit. Good luck to him, that's his choice. Why the constant digs?

Anyway enough if this nonsense, back to the topic and MO's post.

Yes it does seems like they are going to be styled similar to the Xcans V3. Needless to say, I preferred the styling of the older units .

Here's their announcement:- (sorry about the formatting, the original's in pdf)

DEAR FELLOW MUSIC LOVER,
We hope you've had a great summer and early
autumn. We really enjoyed the fantastic weather,
but you know what? It's great to be back at work.
Disturbing, isn't it?
As usual, Antony and the R&D department have
not been idle over the holidays, and they have
some really great things planned for the coming
year.
NEW 'KILLER' X-80 AND X-150
INTEGRATED AMPS COMING SOON
If you're thinking of buying an amplifier of about
£500 but less than £900, STOP! Don't do it. Be a
little patient, because we have a new range of
killer amps coming
out early next year.
In February 2004, the
new X-Series will be
launched, starting
with the X-80 and
X-150 integrated
amplifiers. Each is
in a beautiful,
beefed-up X-Series
style extrusion,
slightly bigger than
the Cyrus package.
Funky, chunky, in a
word, manly! The
front panels will be
beautifully finished,
brushed metal with
metal knobs.
The X-80 at £599 represents fantastic value-formoney.
It has 40 watts per channel, delivers loads
of peak current and has a very low output
impedance. Its simple, low feedback circuit gives
excellent performance by any standards.
Importantly, the X-80 uses a conventional,
motorised, analog volume control. This has
enormous advantages in noise ratio (directly
related to dynamic range) when compared to the
digital type used by other amplifiers of a similar
class. Ours is a genuine, high-end solution (the
digital type used by our competitors is more
appropriate to Japanese micro rack systems). The
build quality of the X-80 is everything you have
come to expect from Musical Fidelity and its
X-Series.
The X-80 can be fully upgraded to become an
X-150 at the price difference between the two plus
£50. So if you're strapped for cash, you could start
with the X-80 and in six months or so, for the
price difference and £50, take the step up to the
X-150. Not bad. I think I might go for one myself.
The X-150 is really a big amp in a small package.
It has 70 watts per channel, but has at least twice
the output current capacity of the X-80, mainly
because it has double the number of output transistors.
The mains transformer is huge and the circuit
sophistication and PCB layout are up there with
the best available.
The technical
specifications are
superb: dynamic
range, noise ratio,
peak power and
loudspeaker driving
ability are all
excellent. The
circuitry is extremely
refined but simple,
with low feedback.
As a result, the
technical performance
is excellent: the
low distortion, wide
bandwidth and very
low noise produce a
high-end sense of
ease and space. The visuals of the X-150 are quite
a step up from the X-80, but then it does cost
more and we think that our customers
deserve something special.
The X-80 and X-150 will be released in February
2004 at £599 and £799 respectively. The X-80 can
be fully upgraded to the X-150. If you're thinking
of buying an amplifier soon, please be patient.
Your ears will be pleased that you waited. A
matching X-Series CD player and tuner will be
launched in March 2004.
WHAT'S UNDER THERE? THE NEW X-SERIES X-80 AND X-150. THESE NEW KILLER
INTEGRATED AMPS WILL MAKE THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE IN FEBRUARY 2004. PLEASE BE
PATIENT. IT WILL BE WORTH THE WAIT.

 

The MF Elektra range with Mordaunt-Short speakers was quite a nice combination for musicality and non-snoozability, so not all their stuff is the stuff of Hifi-Snooze And Classical Record Rehash

 

Cheers for that Dev. I think next step for me will either be, new speakers/add a sub, or power amp. But then a transport upgrade would be nice too.........

I use the same amp as you (XA2), and the 200s seem the obvious route to take. Hopefully this new range will see a flood of "out of date" older X kit going cheap This wont be for a while though

What benefits did you find from adding the 200s? Just MOre power? I'm hoping it will help things at lower volumes too. The speakers don't help, but I find I need to have things up quite high before it's at its best. As I said though, I think this is the speakers as much as anything.

 

Slightly MOre power but much tighter bass control. The XA/2s on their own struggle to drive the big Tannoys, but with XA/200s the bass seems MOre effortless(?). I seriously thought about selling the XA/200s but changed my mind due to a lack of interest , lack of money for potential replacement and MOst important of all, the biggest improvement I heard was witrh slabs under the Tannoys with the same hardware. BUT, SWMBO doesn't want them in the house, garage is fine but not in the house So I don't see the point in upgrading really especially considering the fact that I've heard MOre expensive setups with very small improvements (at least to my ears) compared to putting slabs under the speakers. Does this make sense?

 

X-ponent fans.
I use a X-A200r integrated and was considering upgrading this with a pair of X-A50s monoblocks - any thoughts....the other components of my system are:-
Project RPM6 and ortofon MC15
TEAC VDRS25
B&W 602 s3
The X-A50s seems to be the cheapest way to upgrade - but what about a X-A100 power amp?
Donut

 

Hi Donut,

AFAIK, the XA/200R is basically XA/2 with RC. To me thats means it's very good amp indeed . The XA50s have lower power ratings than your XA/200R, I'm not sure about the current rating though. You could biamp with XA50s driving the tweeters and the XA/200s driving the bass. I think you'll get more of the same characteristics that you're enjoying now. I think the benefits are greater with difficult or current hungary speakers.

Here's a review of the XA50:-

http://www.hifichoice.co.uk/archive/perl/527_printreview.htm

By XA100, I assume you mean XAS100, which is a 100WPC power amp. Without listening to them against XA50s I don't know which would be better. Can you audition these amps before buying?

 

As a buyer I hope so If I was to sell obviously things would be different

I think my MOney would probably be better spent on speakers (or sub) first. Well, my MOney would prob be better off existing first

Cheers

MO

 

groan, mo;re MF pornography in the mags then. No doubt rave reviews all round.

Actually spec wise, MF is very good, really well engineered, electronically as well as build.

They certainly know how to hard sell the stuff. At least I give them some respect for not charging an arm and a leg. They are keenly priced. Long may they continue to be.

Those 200 monoblocs, the big ones, are the same as the power amp section of the a1001, only cooler running.