Hi guys! Why are all new'ish MF gear so cheap? Im thinking KW550 and the Mono's 550kw. ???
You can find many views on that subject in this other thread: https://www.audio-forums.com/as-rediect/showthread.php?t=19325
MF gear Hi HSAM Once again the same conversation. I stand by my original comments but at that time I did not out Nando as being the husband of Musical Fidelities Sales Director. You want to know why ZG is full of cheap MF gear it is because he has direct access to this kit(before any other dealer, mostly but not always). When I worked in the trade it was a mystery to me how his shop always had this stuff for sale(we did MF). And it was a customer of mine who filled in the details. Now I have nothing against MF or Nando or his very nice wife but I can't help but feel that all this does/is doing is reducing the value of a good brand(that is sometimes brilliant). I wish that Mf would stop choping and changing their stuff but as the kit is mostly made in the far east now I believe that they order a certain quantity and when it is finished they introduce new kit. The normal model of manufacture is a bit different to this as production may be more continuous until sales start to run out or a new development is made. This is part of the problem with out sourcing your manufacturing rather than doing it in house(which is dearer). MF will say that they can offer better products at cheaper prices because they do this. I would however say that it is since about this time that things seem to have started going wrong. I could list the failures but I wont. The owner of MF has a very low tolerance for kit that does not sell. So anything that does not preform (sales) he drops hence the loads of cheap kit, here and elsewhere. Because the kit is made in the far east MF can take a hit a bit easier than other companies. However all this has done nothing to help MF who have in my opinion lost their way. TRI-VISTA was the last time their focus was good since then it has gone to pot, With them running back and forth to find their feet again. I own some MF kit (mostly DACS), so I offer this I hope in a constructive way. When in the trade I did have conversatioins with Nandos wife and I did tell her about our concern but it fell on deaf ears(not hers but Mr Michaelson's). I dispair at the constant stream of okay kit but not great kit and since they became obsessed with the distortion rates and power their products have lost their musicality and among many they, MF have become a bit of a joke. This is very sad. I wish they would come up with new kit that brings them back to a more grounded position and stop alienating their customers by taking the value out of owning their brand. Something they must stop doing and soon. My opinion on MF's sound is just my opinion and if you like what they do since TRI-Vista then thats good but the market is not quite so positive hence the amount of kit that has not sold and is now cheap. I think that this all is heading towards a crash and I hope MF can halt this as I would miss them if they were not around. Come on MF wise up and get back on the tracks. You were great once lets have that again and soon. Regards D Louth 77
I agree with the above comments. This is exactly why I'd personally never buy MF again. I don't think you can blame Nando for the low prices of MF kit here, as long as he obtains the kit legitimately. I should add that I've met Nando a couple of times and bought (non-MF) stuff from him, so my opinion of Nando may be biased. I.e. he seems OK to me. MF's marketing also sucks, with IMO wildly exaggerated claims regarding the performance of the new products, often at the expense of their own older and current products.
The thought of paying full whack for something thats going to be slashed a few months down the line or worse sometimes heavily discounted by a few random sellers (particularly when the manufacturer is the architect of all this) is enough to put me off. I don't play roulette like this (not that I'm buying anything at the mo!), this must be hard on the dealers too. I think all MF kit these days looks bland too, the oval X series got me in to hifi. The brand just feels devalued IMHO.
Nando Hi Dev I am not having ago at Nando( personally ). I don't know him but I do know his wife. I don't think I have ever suggested that he is doing anything wrong. His relationship with MF is closer than any other dealers so it would be a poor show on her part(his wife) if he did not get told about deals (maybe before others ? I am not saying he is but I am asking the question). This was something that used to bother me when I was in the trade and found out about Av scape's close relationship. My issue awhile ago with Nando was that he was having a go at me and I didn't feel he was being honest himself(but thats an old thread I don't want to start again and a different topic to this one). I just feel that MF and Nando's constant brilliant deals on ZG and other dealers web sites and in store, is making the brand look very poor and it has lost that pride of ownership factor. I am not knocking the sound at all, As I have said I own some MF kit and liked the sound up until TRI-Vista but I am not so keen on it now. Nando is in business and he is getting and passing on good deals to people who want to buy MF kit. I might do the same thing myself but the constant list of kit being offered(and stuff that was very dear not long ago) puts many people of MF and would anger customers who have recently bought these models for thousands more. This has prompted Hsam to ask again about this as he did before in a similar thread a few months ago. I don't want to see MF go. The UK has lost to many hi-fi brands over the years and there are very few owned by British people so I wish them the best, but it has to be said in the last few years MF have not only shot themselves in the foot but they have thrown themselves into a Mine field of their own creation. I am sure many Dealers have given similar feed back as I did (when inthe trade) but we it would seem were constantly ignored. I'll give an example the 250 s one box system (very good by the way). Original price to be £3000, then it went to £4000 and then £5000. There was no way this unit was going to sell well at this price. It failed to and ended up being sold at £1800 to £2500 by various dealers. When in the Trade I sold 4 of these in and around £2000 ish. If MF had listened to us and others I am sure this unit would have done well at about £3000 to £3500. Yes MF and the Dealers may have had to work on a smaller margin but it would not have been another flop on MF'S books. They have had to many recently. All of this plus the bad marketing and other factors has led to a back lash. I remember when a new MF product would get the phones ringing but not now(made redundant in Sept,so talking about before that). Just before I became unemployed the new A series kit came out and we did not get one phone call. We only got one phone call abouth the Super Chargers and any one we told about it laughed or treated it with almost total dis-interest(something to do with MF's marketing perhaps. Actual amp was quite good but it did affect the sound of any amp used with it;when used as a Super Charger). Musical Fidelity was once a brand to excite and be proud of and I want them to be like that again. But they do need to hurry up. The clock is ticking. Very sad D Louth 77
I like my X series kit (24k, A2, cans2) Can't say much of what followed has tempted me to upgrade, but admit to limited experience of listening to the newer stuff. On styling alone, I think the x3 series should have stuck to the ovals. Can't beat a blue led though
i also agree with all these views on this thread, good and upsetting ones who have bought m.f. gear only to find out that either they have been discontinued and then offered at cut down prices, there has been a dramatic drop in sales this year, my wife and others there want to hold on to their jobs " she has being there for 23 years" the only way that mf could do this to survive was to get rid of stock cheap, they are going to survive thnks as i have seen what they are bringing out next year, i use the kw550 amp since day one and i can assure you although i did get it at trade i payed more for it then i can get them for now, not many left thre now but at that price i think they are a gift, "personal". nando
Hi Nando I too wish the best for MF in the future. Happy Christmas to you and Indra. IBR this is not viral marketing, I don't know Nando and if you look at some threads you will see that we have had our differences. I am not in the pay of MF or any one else(except the dole). I don't want to see MF go down, as loosing your job is one of the worst things that can happen to you, especially at this time. There is very little jobs out there(despite what our Government says. Do you believe them ?). But do we really want to see another British company vanish. Heck we have so little left of what was once British in audio. I hope that Mr MIchaelson gets the ship back in order. Come on don't let what started on your kitchen table end. I know you can get your muse back. Regards D Louth 77
D Iouth - I wasn't referring to you, I was mooting a cynical view that the original post, in light of the same post 6m ago, struck me as primarily serving to raise awareness of cheap MF products.
quote hi steven, thanks for wishing us merry xmas will pass it on to indra, from both of us we wish you & family the same in return.
i did advise him as to what the people need from mf (beguiners affordable) a couple of years ago, also indra who sujested that not only the superchargers where overpriced but the way they were marketed was not correct in as to the potential of the true potential of what they can sonically achieve, no avail, but for the next year i think avail will at last be done, as for the tri-vista series i persoanally loath them and the sound, but there were other manufacturers making incredible priced integrated amps ! the kw 550 is a super amp if he did made the price affordable then he would have been stuck with so many that now they are going cheap and the profit margin for us is so low, but pass on the bargain i do as like you want them to continue going on, nando.
Sigh .... what a sad feel there is to this thread. I too have watched with dismay as the once great MF brand holed itself below the waterline and gradually sinks toward oblivion. I have a 'vintage' A370 MF amp - what a great product it is! Sadly, they don't make 'em like that any more.
Past MF glories Hi guys Yes this is a bit negative. Look MF just have to get their mojo back and cut out the customer alienating hyperbole. I firmly believe that they can do it and I want to see it happen. they have got it wrong in the past, anyone remember the B1 amp. What a pile of dung (compared to the A1 and A 100). The Cronos and Da-vinci didn't do that well either though I must say I would love to have heard either amp set ups and I loved the Mayan Art Deco looks of these products. May be MF should go back to valves( a classic Michaelson and Austin type thing, just better and modern). Whatever they do I wish them all the best. MF was at the fore front of digital (THE DIGILOG) was brilliant and the X Dac and they with Luxman put valves in CD players first(In the UK, maybe the world), remember the Frog top loader in the A1 case. Regards D Louth 77
