Musical Fidelity combo - B&W 603 S3 [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

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Fietser
08-26-2006, 06:09 AM
Hi, let me introduce my self. As this is my first post here.:smilewinkgrin:

About 18 months ago I needed a new cd player as my old one broke down. That was fine by me, as I needed to upgrade anyway. I had an old Pioneer, Magnat combo, which wasn't bad except for the speakers which could be boomy at some time in my small living room.

So a colleague recommend me Nad. And as there was a sale, so I went for the 542. This sounded ok except for a little more boom. So, I could upgrade the amp or the speakers to tackle that problem. First I got the Nad 720BEE receiver, an obvious choice, but that was a disaster. I had even more boom and the sound was sharp. So, the speakers had to go as well. I got the Kef IQ5 which sounded great in the shop. But at home the sound was even sharper than before. Ok, the boom had gone! By then I learnt about break in, so I waited for a period for things to settle in. That helped a bit.

My goal was to get a full sound with non fatiguing highs. It wasn't it. The highs sounded distorted and the sound wasn't full. Time for other speakers. I got the B&W 603 instead, and that was better, they sounded full and seem to fit all kinds of music without faltering. Still, the highs weren't to my liking.

A few months ago I decided to get other electronics. I listened to Marantz with B&W. Ouch, nasty sound. Then I heard the Musical Fidelity A5 combo with my speakers, WOW, incredible! But as the A3.5 combo were similar but smaller and cheaper, why not I thought? After breaking the A3.5 in somewhat, they didn't sound nowhere near as the A5 I heard in the shop. So I went back to do some comparison with the A3.5 and the A5. And, don't believe what advertisers say!!! These two sound way different! The A5 combo is warm and rich. The A3.5 combo is cold sounding, but with very nice details. Really, miles apart. This counts for both amp and cd player.

So what I did, is to swap the combo for the A5. But at home it sounded far to warm. So Ik decided to keep the A3,5 amp. At the moment things sound not too bad, but I'm waiting for a more full bodied sound. Maybe things have to break in a little more? As I don't have them that long. :confused5:

Anyway, I'm hoping that a long search is over, and that I have the combo I want as things improve. In the mean time after reading so much about this stuff, I got a bit involved. :eek:

Hoping to get the ulimate sound I want. Not easy as I know now. :biggrin5: