Musical Fidelity A2 Class A Integrated Amp

[grungemuppet]

Hi All,

 

I've come across one of these for what seems like a good price.

 

I'm a newbie to the Audiophile world. Any opinions would be most welcome. I'm running a Bluesound node 2 into a Chord Chordette Qute HD DAC as a source into a pair of Axis Voicebox speakers.

 

I also have a Velodyne SPL1200 sub which I keep at a very low level to fill in the deeper bass notes.

 

I've always liked the idea of Class A, do you think this would be a good pairing?

 

Thanks.

[RoHo]

I remember auditioning one of these at Intersound in Balwyn many moons ago.  I liked it because it was smoother sounding than all the low end amps I had been auditioning.  These, when combined with similarly inexpensive bookshelf speakers, all sounded harsh and bright to me.  So if you want something on the "warmer" side of neutral it could be for you.  (This is assuming it is all working properly)

[BrownMagic]

Looking at your speaker specs, I feel it would need a decently powerful amp and I am not sure if the Musical Fidelity will be able to feed the 83db @ 5 Ohm sensitivity that your speaker needs. It would be helpful if you could also share your room dimensions and what volumes you will be listening at. 

 

What Idea of Class A do you like? How would you describe your speaker's tonality and how would you describe your ideal sound? Based on that one might be able to share the way forward. Cheers

[emesbee]

I remember back in 1999 when I was auditioning a Musical Fidelity E11 at a reputable hi-fi shop, the person I was speaking to suggested the A2 as a possible alternative.

 

It was my second audition of the E11 and I liked the way it sounded (compared to a few other amps I'd listened to in the same price range). At the time, I hadn't really considered class A, and had pretty much already decided on the E11, so didn't give the A2 a listen. I've been happy with my purchase of the E11 over the years, but sometimes I am a bit curious as to how the A2 would have sounded.

 

I think you might need to be careful when matching it to your speakers though. Specs in the manual linked below.

 

http://www.musicalfidelity.com/uploads/manuals/English/a2.PDF

 

You might also want to consider the age of the amp. Not necessarily a negative if it has been well looked after, but after 20 or so years it might need some attention. If the price is right though.....

 

[Hifiplus]

How are you connecting the sub?

I would assume you need preouts as well.

Do you have a budget and what is your existing amp?

[thoglette]

On 24/09/2020 at 12:46 PM, BrownMagic said:

 I am not sure if the Musical Fidelity will be able to feed the 83db @ 5 Ohm sensitivity that your speaker needs. It would be helpful if you could also share your room dimensions and what volumes you will be listening at.

Agreed.   Claims to drive 50W into 4ohms : It should be wonderful at neighbour friendly listening levels" but is likely to struggle with "doof-doof" (or Saint-Saëns Symphony #3 ) at party levels.   I run 10W of class A into 91db/w speakers and have a similar restriction.

Edited October 4, 2020 by thoglette