The best CDP in the World? (again!!!)

Guys,

As an MF owner I can speak with (some) experience. Basically, you guys are right.
My amp is an MF and I am very happy with it. I chose over half a dozen other amps and I still think it still produces good, lifelike reproduction. But it isn't the best in the world.

It's a shame that MF does this marketing stunt everytime. It does them no favours, and is bad their reputation as well as for their customers. It is worse even that the mags fall for all that crap and help them in defying our intelligence. Doesn't help MF that much, and it does the mags no favours either.

MF can bragg about their new cds, amps, etc all they like. I listen, compare and buy what i think is good value and matches the sound I am looking for. But it is only natural that people that keep reading these claims get fed up and turn them into the joke they are so veemently and misguidedly trying to become.

My advice - if you think it will sound good, have a listen and disregard all the hype and marketing bull. In my case, it only helps to know they exist, and to know that given their chain of upgrades, buying new is a bad idea.

As for putting their amps, dacs, cd players head to head, I am all up for it and you can use my amp in the test too!

:beer:
jack

 

Hey Jack

Dont sweat it - in the grand scheme of things MF is still quality kit - just because there are zealots on this forum that dont like the MF sound, it doesnt make it a bad product.

Hell, I guess they need to sell a lot to fund their marketing machine.

Be contet in the fact you have some quality kit.

 

to be honest if bedford sevenoaks hadnt been a naim dealer when i first got into hi fi then i'd probably have ended up with an mf a3 / cd3.
as it was the nait5 / cd5 was more my sort of thing but it could easily have gone to the mf.
it just goes to show how your frame of reference influences what you like as much if not more than the inherent sound of a component.
cheers

julian

 

You can sure and safe in the knowledge that your truely would never surcome to the temptation of m/f in this exisitance (or any of my 57 others) Wm

 

Hi guys,

Just to re-iterate, I wasn't criticising MF products (I own their amps) just their hype. They have produced some very good amps and others not so good (IMO). My point is that their comments will only harm the resale values of the existing kit and piss off their existing customers, who in my view deserve better consideration. So now their customers who forked out thousands on the best CDP in the world six months ago (eg a NuVista) which is now beaten by even their "budget or mid-range" product like the X Ray v3.

Julian, A3 wasn't their best range IMO

 

Merlin,

Here is your chance... delta-sigma bitstream and tubes with big blue light in one package.

Your search is over!

 

Nah! MF was abbreviated to describe it's owner IMO.

 

Merlins Father

 

at the end of the day, Mr Michaelson is in business to make as much money as possible. In this respect, he has been very successful and his business model of releasing new limited edition products evey 6 months with the 'best ever' sound guarantees him exposure with the mags and boosts sales.

Its not so good for the customer however, as residual values for the previous 'wonder kit' go through the floor every time a new best ever product is realeased. I suspect this is last on the list of Mr Michaelsons concerns though.

 

It shouldnt be - look at Naim - good residuals, good loyalty. once a naimee always a naimee (well almosy always (disclaimer)).

 

You are right.

But until recently, how often did Naim update its products? Only after very many years production. That's one of the reasons they built up brand loyalty IMO (of course the upgrade path was a huge factor too).

It would be interesting to find out how much repeat custom and brand loyalty MF has. I would wager it was lower than average. Personally, I think the huge profile MF has with the mags pulling in less confident buyers who select products solely on the basis of reviews is the main reason for their sales.

 

Anyone heard one?

 

Hi all, i've got and MF Tri-vista 21 DAC and the MF A308 Pre & Power combination.

I've little experience of amps, but I like the sound that the MF stuff produces. To my ears they are comparable to the earlier Naim stuff and even some of the newer MF stuff (IMO).

HOWEVER, would I buy another MF item? I doubt it. I knew about the policy of MF of releasing a new product every x months (I think they claim around 3 years or so, but this doesn't seem to be the case over the last couple of years). However, being the "proud" owner of some fairly expensive kit, I was more than a little surprised at the 2nd hand "worth" of them.

I placed speculative add on this site around 5 weeks ago and I don't think I got a single piece of interest. That could be owing to the lack of regard for MF sound or the fact that people can wait a few months and get a "best ever" product for the price of Pioneer DVD player (no offence to Pioneer).

As many of you have said (Dev most notably and vehemently ) this does nothing for the customer loyalty, placing MF in the same market as the budget Sony's, Marantz's and Pioneer's of the world (again no offence meant to owners of the above kit). In my humble opinion, if I were to start again (or could sell the stuff to upgrade to another manufacturer) I would carefully pay attention to speed at which they bring out a new product and the claims that they make when do.

After all, a company's job is to improve their products. But that should not be at the expense of existing products. I feel that other manufacturers simply state the improvements they make and allow the prospective buyers to make informed decisions. It appears to me that MF always claim that the "new" product is SIGNIFICANTLY better than the old product, thus negating the older one. I feel that a new product SHOULD be better than the old ones, but if it is significantly better, how is this possible? Why didn't they make the absolute best they could and then tweak it? (as I feel others do)

I could go on for the next day, but i'm sure you'd lose the point and get bored out of your skulls.

So to conclude, MF - some very good products, but overpriced considering the claims and the high frequency of "updates".

Sorry for the rant

Clint

 

If the new products are soo much better than the old ones it would be an interesting excersize to compare some older MF products (eg A1000) against some of latest and greatest.

I suspect that the results would be quite surprising.

 

World's best ...



Well I would, wouldn't I.

 

Moother Fu***'s resale value is actually very good, owing to the high esteem its perceived to have.

No doubt the marketing, exposure, reviews and solid build/reliability help this, but I can't believe people in the streets don't ever get to see through the wild marketing claims that surround us every day, and keep buying and believing the hype.
Every time its the best ever, the poshest beauty produce, and people believe it. And it never really is much better. This is why mf are so reviled here I think, every time the best ever. Every 3-6 months. nope its not 3 years, it really is about 3 months.

As it happens, for the specs and build I think they are quite good value, but sonics are truly dire in the scheme of things, yes its obvjectively ok in isolation, but just compare it to anything else and I certainly got shut of them rapid.

Yes I agree they are truly now a Japanese hifi company.

 

What does that mean?
Accuphase, Luxman, 47 Labs et al are far superior to the cheap (yet somehow expensive) tat usually recommended on this forum.

 

The A1000 would p*ss all over any modern MF amp IMO. It certainly does that to the NuVista M3 integrated

Michael.

 

So does an xa-1.

 

You mean X/A2+X200s