Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

Lee Newman said:
Question - I assume/all appearances in reviews lead me to believe (I should really read the specs on both). the phono stage on this is gonna outperform the Pluto. My daughter runs the onkyo TX-8020 would the Pluto be better than that’s phono stage?
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I’d guess yes the NAD is better but would find the other hard to judge. The only way to know for sure though is to AB test for both.
 
I just wanted to give props to Musical Fidelity real quick, I know they don't seem to be on the short list right out the gate, but I gotta say, when it comes to Integrated amps, if you take the time to really look how they're broken down and how they fit into each price point, it's impressive.

While that isn't everything, and I was sold on keeping the M2si long term with no qualms, I did get a chance to demo the M5si in house. A friend of mine is building a small-ish Home Theatre room and he invited me over to check out the master plan, it's still in the construction phase, but he had been picking up and or upgrading some of his components. One of the things he wanted to do was to add "true" 2-channel stereo to the room without having a completely separate system............we're in discussions on if vinyl should be an option, lol.

So, as luck would have it, he purchased an M5si to accomplish that through it's HT Bypass. He was nice enough to lend it to me for a week and I saw, well, heard, the differences between the M2 and M5. You can tell they both come from the same lineage, It might be the extra power, the architecture, but the M5 just upped the game enough for me to take notice............in the mids and low end especially, super clean, fast and smooth.

Now, I'm still of the mind of "is it worth the extra scratch?" so dishing out $2200 for the M5 wasn't sitting well, again, because I really have/had no complaints with the M2. Another week went by and an Open Box M5 popped up at $1600, better, then I reached out to get a trade value on the M2 (Bought at HiFi Heaven new, the OB was also at HFH) and I got a really good trade in value. That and free shipping, no tax and the deal was done.

What I'm really hoping to convey is that, as I started with, the Musical Fidelity gear is rock solid, while I wouldn't consider it neutral, the sound is fantastic across the board. What changes is the WPC and feature set. I was also looking at the M6si, but after a lot of research it boiled down to a little more power and balanced outputs, the sound, from all the comments and reviews I read, was too close to call between the two, so with no need for balanced outputs, the M5 became the sweet spot.

It seems like MF has buddied up their M line with each one accommodating the specific buyer needs. The M2 & M3, the M5 & M6, then the M8 beast, lol. There's something for everyone, each upping it's already rock solid sound signature with some additional "bells and whistles"and feature set.

Loved the LX-LPS when I had it and love the LX-HPA I currently own, glad I was able to listen to the M2 and land on the M5, end game seems a lock at this point and I'd just like to give a hearty thumbs up to Musical Fidelity if anyone is in the market ;)

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AnthonyI said:
I just wanted to give props to Musical Fidelity real quick, I know they don't seem to be on the short list right out the gate, but I gotta say, when it comes to Integrated amps, if you take the time to really look how they're broken down and how they fit into each price point, it's impressive.

While that isn't everything, and I was sold on keeping the M2si long term with no qualms, I did get a chance to demo the M5si in house. A friend of mine is building a small-ish Home Theatre room and he invited me over to check out the master plan, it's still in the construction phase, but he had been picking up and or upgrading some of his components. One of the things he wanted to do was to add "true" 2-channel stereo to the room without having a completely separate system............we're in discussions on if vinyl should be an option, lol.

So, as luck would have it, he purchased an M5si to accomplish that through it's HT Bypass. He was nice enough to lend it to me for a week and I saw, well, heard, the differences between the M2 and M5. You can tell they both come from the same lineage, It might be the extra power, the architecture, but the M5 just upped the game enough for me to take notice............in the mids and low end especially, super clean, fast and smooth.

Now, I'm still of the mind of "is it worth the extra scratch?" so dishing out $2200 for the M5 wasn't sitting well, again, because I really have/had no complaints with the M2. Another week went by and an Open Box M5 popped up at $1600, better, then I reached out to get a trade value on the M2 (Bought at HiFi Heaven new, the OB was also at HFH) and I got a really good trade in value. That and free shipping, no tax and the deal was done.

What I'm really hoping to convey is that, as I started with, the Musical Fidelity gear is rock solid, while I wouldn't consider it neutral, the sound is fantastic across the board. What changes is the WPC and feature set. I was also looking at the M6si, but after a lot of research it boiled down to a little more power and balanced outputs, the sound, from all the comments and reviews I read, was too close to call between the two, so with no need for balanced outputs, the M5 became the sweet spot.

It seems like MF has buddied up their M line with each one accommodating the specific buyer needs. The M2 & M3, the M5 & M6, then the M8 beast, lol. There's something for everyone, each upping it's already rock solid sound signature with some additional "bells and whistles"and feature set.

Loved the LX-LPS when I had it and love the LX-HPA I currently own, glad I was able to listen to the M2 and land on the M5, end game seems a lock at this point and I'd just like to give a hearty thumbs up to Musical Fidelity if anyone is in the market ;)

View attachment 168694
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All looking sharp there!

Big fan of the sound of the two MX line pieces I have over here. Both solid bits of kit. Would love to hear the nu vista phono at some point.

What’s the clear plastic boxed thing on the bottom shelf for?
 
AnthonyI said:
I just wanted to give props to Musical Fidelity real quick, I know they don't seem to be on the short list right out the gate, but I gotta say, when it comes to Integrated amps, if you take the time to really look how they're broken down and how they fit into each price point, it's impressive.

While that isn't everything, and I was sold on keeping the M2si long term with no qualms, I did get a chance to demo the M5si in house. A friend of mine is building a small-ish Home Theatre room and he invited me over to check out the master plan, it's still in the construction phase, but he had been picking up and or upgrading some of his components. One of the things he wanted to do was to add "true" 2-channel stereo to the room without having a completely separate system............we're in discussions on if vinyl should be an option, lol.

So, as luck would have it, he purchased an M5si to accomplish that through it's HT Bypass. He was nice enough to lend it to me for a week and I saw, well, heard, the differences between the M2 and M5. You can tell they both come from the same lineage, It might be the extra power, the architecture, but the M5 just upped the game enough for me to take notice............in the mids and low end especially, super clean, fast and smooth.

Now, I'm still of the mind of "is it worth the extra scratch?" so dishing out $2200 for the M5 wasn't sitting well, again, because I really have/had no complaints with the M2. Another week went by and an Open Box M5 popped up at $1600, better, then I reached out to get a trade value on the M2 (Bought at HiFi Heaven new, the OB was also at HFH) and I got a really good trade in value. That and free shipping, no tax and the deal was done.

What I'm really hoping to convey is that, as I started with, the Musical Fidelity gear is rock solid, while I wouldn't consider it neutral, the sound is fantastic across the board. What changes is the WPC and feature set. I was also looking at the M6si, but after a lot of research it boiled down to a little more power and balanced outputs, the sound, from all the comments and reviews I read, was too close to call between the two, so with no need for balanced outputs, the M5 became the sweet spot.

It seems like MF has buddied up their M line with each one accommodating the specific buyer needs. The M2 & M3, the M5 & M6, then the M8 beast, lol. There's something for everyone, each upping it's already rock solid sound signature with some additional "bells and whistles"and feature set.

Loved the LX-LPS when I had it and love the LX-HPA I currently own, glad I was able to listen to the M2 and land on the M5, end game seems a lock at this point and I'd just like to give a hearty thumbs up to Musical Fidelity if anyone is in the market ;)

View attachment 168694
Click to expand...
I do want to say that the one your rec’d and we talked about was in my shortlist. There was an open box peach tree I missed out on that was in consideration as well.

The nad really won out because of the different ways I saw to upgrade it in the future and because I like it’s aesthetics.

I’m really excited!!! Can’t wait till it gets in.
 
AnthonyI said:
I just wanted to give props to Musical Fidelity real quick, I know they don't seem to be on the short list right out the gate, but I gotta say, when it comes to Integrated amps, if you take the time to really look how they're broken down and how they fit into each price point, it's impressive.

While that isn't everything, and I was sold on keeping the M2si long term with no qualms, I did get a chance to demo the M5si in house. A friend of mine is building a small-ish Home Theatre room and he invited me over to check out the master plan, it's still in the construction phase, but he had been picking up and or upgrading some of his components. One of the things he wanted to do was to add "true" 2-channel stereo to the room without having a completely separate system............we're in discussions on if vinyl should be an option, lol.

So, as luck would have it, he purchased an M5si to accomplish that through it's HT Bypass. He was nice enough to lend it to me for a week and I saw, well, heard, the differences between the M2 and M5. You can tell they both come from the same lineage, It might be the extra power, the architecture, but the M5 just upped the game enough for me to take notice............in the mids and low end especially, super clean, fast and smooth.

Now, I'm still of the mind of "is it worth the extra scratch?" so dishing out $2200 for the M5 wasn't sitting well, again, because I really have/had no complaints with the M2. Another week went by and an Open Box M5 popped up at $1600, better, then I reached out to get a trade value on the M2 (Bought at HiFi Heaven new, the OB was also at HFH) and I got a really good trade in value. That and free shipping, no tax and the deal was done.

What I'm really hoping to convey is that, as I started with, the Musical Fidelity gear is rock solid, while I wouldn't consider it neutral, the sound is fantastic across the board. What changes is the WPC and feature set. I was also looking at the M6si, but after a lot of research it boiled down to a little more power and balanced outputs, the sound, from all the comments and reviews I read, was too close to call between the two, so with no need for balanced outputs, the M5 became the sweet spot.

It seems like MF has buddied up their M line with each one accommodating the specific buyer needs. The M2 & M3, the M5 & M6, then the M8 beast, lol. There's something for everyone, each upping it's already rock solid sound signature with some additional "bells and whistles"and feature set.

Loved the LX-LPS when I had it and love the LX-HPA I currently own, glad I was able to listen to the M2 and land on the M5, end game seems a lock at this point and I'd just like to give a hearty thumbs up to Musical Fidelity if anyone is in the market ;)

View attachment 168694
Click to expand...

I loved my M6x Vinyl... very underated (IMO) phono stage. I would love to hear some of their Integrated amps.. congrats and enjoy!!
 
Joe Mac said:
All looking sharp there!

Big fan of the sound of the two MX line pieces I have over here. Both solid bits of kit. Would love to hear the nu vista phono at some point.

What’s the clear plastic boxed thing on the bottom shelf for?
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Oh, that's my fully moded original Crystal Xbox (Internal HDD & chip, toss a game in, copy it to the HDD, play it from there...among other things), had nowhere else to put it at the moment, I have too many, lol. I still have my retail original, this crystal one and the LE Halo Green one that came out........being head of the review dept. of an Xbox fan site back in the day had it's rewards ;)

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Damn, I gotta dust, lol
 
Lee Newman said:
I do want to say that the one your rec’d and we talked about was in my shortlist. There was an open box peach tree I missed out on that was in consideration as well.

The nad really won out because of the different ways I saw to upgrade it in the future and because I like it’s aesthetics.

I’m really excited!!! Can’t wait till it gets in.
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I'm glad you made A move ;)

I'm sure you'll enjoy it and I completely get the aesthetics being a reasonable part of the decision making ;)
 
Joe Mac said:
All looking sharp there!

Big fan of the sound of the two MX line pieces I have over here. Both solid bits of kit. Would love to hear the nu vista phono at some point.

What’s the clear plastic boxed thing on the bottom shelf for?
Click to expand...
I've heard the Nu Vista is a beast, not only physically, but also in the sound dept...................as well as the cost dept, lol

I would love to hear one some day.
 
AnthonyI said:
I've heard the Nu Vista is a beast, not only physically, but also in the sound dept...................as well as the cost dept, lol

I would love to hear one some day.
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Yeah it’s a big piece, wider, deeper and heavier than most normal pieces. It is very expensive no doubt but at €3,500ish it’s kinda not out of the reach of some of us either. There are few phonos knocking about on this forum that are around that or more. Kinda why the new nu vista pre amp being dual chasis and costing €22,000 shocked me so much lol!
 
Joe Mac said:
Yeah it’s a big piece, wider, deeper and heavier than most normal pieces. It is very expensive no doubt but at €3,500ish it’s kinda not out of the reach of some of us either. There are few phonos knocking about on this forum that are around that or more. Kinda why the new nu vista pre amp being dual chasis and costing €22,000 shocked me so much lol!
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Well ya, cost is relative. I broke my own budget with the 1210G, I've always wanted to stay under $2500 per component once I consolidated down to the one system. It's just that "Line", I think there's validity to the doubling your expense to actually have a step up and that puts me way beyond what I'm comfortable spending. Of course circumstances always come around making things more possible, but as a general rule, that's my wheelhouse now a days. I could see maybe in a few years wanting to try a new set of speakers MAYBE, but now, with the M5, I truly want for nothing and everything sound amazing.

That said, even if the M5 hadn't of worked out, I really have been enjoying spending money on vinyl wants rather than chasing a sound and gear, it's been nice just enjoying the system and I'm glad the amp swap was more of a "logical" move, not something new, different, if that makes sense.
 
AnthonyI said:
Well ya, cost is relative. I broke my own budget with the 1210G, I've always wanted to stay under $2500 per component once I consolidated down to the one system. It's just that "Line", I think there's validity to the doubling your expense to actually have a step up and that puts me way beyond what I'm comfortable spending. Of course circumstances always come around making things more possible, but as a general rule, that's my wheelhouse now a days. I could see maybe in a few years wanting to try a new set of speakers MAYBE, but now, with the M5, I truly want for nothing and everything sound amazing.

That said, even if the M5 hadn't of worked out, I really have been enjoying spending money on vinyl wants rather than chasing a sound and gear, it's been nice just enjoying the system and I'm glad the amp swap was more of a "logical" move, not something new, different, if that makes sense.
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Yeah I get that and I have similar lines in my head. It’s why I’ll likely never buy the Nu Vista. The PL is the only thing I’ve broken it for and that’s because I wanted one of theirs since before I even joined either forum and got involved with the whole tube fever we had going on for a while. It’s never leaving.
 
Does anyone have experience with Margules Audio? I’m looking at buying their Arch-3 hybrid integrated and looking for unbiased feedback. Speakers are Revel F208. I have 2 JL Audio subs if needed but I’d like to just run straight 2.0 if I can.
 
I’m a fan of AR tables. Maybe not as nice as a Thorens, but very solid. Vinyl Nirvana is great to work with and can also walk you through AR and/or Thorens tables.

AR tend to be less expensive. I also love some of the George Merrill mods for AR. Paired with a Rega RB-301 and a Hana EL, my AR “The Turntable” with new springs and belt from Dave at VN and a Merrill poly sub chassis is the quietest, most calm table I own. It doesn’t have the bass depth of my VPI or the “fun factor” of my Rega, but good golly it’s like a favorite pair of jeans. Comfy for anything.
 
Jonny77 said:
Looking to update my Teac TN 300 turntable any thinking of spending between $1,000 and $1,500. Any advice on what to buy? Was split between a vintage from Vinyl Nirvana or buying new. Any help much appreciated!
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There's a huge gap between what you have and what you can get at the price-range you've set. I was going to say you'd be hard-pressed to get in the door at Vinyl Nirvana with $1,500, but then took a look and I see he has two Thorens 160B MKII's on offer for $1,500. I don't know anyone who questions the quality of Dave's work, though it still might be worth your while to contact him and explain what you're after to see what he thinks about whether/how what he's offering could meet your needs. If vintage done right rings your bell, that's definitely worth a serious look.
 
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