Musical Fidelity M8xi

Musical Fidelity M8xi

In 1990, Musical Fidelity created the very first Super Integrated amplifier: the A1000. It was warmly received and continues to be sold at high prices, even second-hand, to this day. The A1000 was the first in a long line of Super Integrated Amplifiers from Musical Fidelity.

Its successors: the NuVista M3, Tri Vista 300, kW500, M6/500i, NuVista 800, and NuVista 600 were all equally well-received in the world of audiophiles. The M8xi is the newest and best of the family.

General description
The Musical Fidelity M8xi is a separate preamplifier with two monoblock power amplifiers that share a common chassis. Each amplifier has its own heatsink and separate transformer. Genuinely dual mono. The preamplifier has its own separate power supply and is placed close to the input connections.

This elegant design feature ensures that both channels are ultra-low impedance directly at the amplifier. This is an important detail. Each channel has twelve large bipolar transistors – 200 amps peak-to-peak is easily available. The metalwork is of high quality. The front panel is a custom fine extrusion of military-spec aluminum. The custom heatsinks have excellent dissipation properties and finish. The M8xi construction feels solid and high quality.

New circuitry

In the past 5 years, our power amplifier circuitry has reached a high level of development. In our ongoing quest to improve performance and customer value, we have been looking for ways to enhance our designs. One of the key guidelines was to maintain the low feedback configuration and simply continue with low feedback!

The challenge was how to improve efficiency and performance without affecting sound quality. If I may say so, I think we have come up with a brilliant solution.

Our new M8xi power amplifier design delivers more power, lower distortion, and better sound quality. Incredible but true. The efficiency of the output power has been increased, providing about 10% more power at a similar supply voltage. More importantly, the entire driver stage is pure Class A.

We believe that this innovative approach has a substantial impact on sound quality. The soundstage seems wider, and the micro and macro dynamics have more impact. This effect is particularly noticeable in well-recorded piano music.

I’m sure you all know that the piano is a percussion instrument, but in reality, this is rarely audible on most Hi-Fi systems. With an M8xi, the percussive nature of a piano becomes immediately clear and jumps out of the speakers. It is a surprising and satisfying improvement in sound quality.

Vocals have more subtlety, detail, and presence. Large-scale music has depth, width, and an incredibly dynamic presentation. In short, the M8xi is a versatile all-rounder. It often sounds like a small Class A amplifier with huge power.

The DAC

The M8xi also features a 5-input DAC. DACs are increasingly being used in integrated amplifier designs to increase convenience when connecting various digital sources, so it was decided to incorporate a DAC that performs at a high level independently of the amplifier. For added integrity, the DAC has its own power supply.

Based on the Texas Instruments PCM5242 TI low-distortion and low-noise DAC chip, which is also used in many other premium products in the hi-fi industry and in previous Musical Fidelity products, the M8xi features 2 x coaxial (S/PDIF), 2 x optical (S/PDIF), and 1 x asynchronous USB Type-B inputs.

The coaxial and USB inputs support hi-res audio streams up to 24-bit / 192kHz, and the optical input supports up to 24-bit / 96kHz. For maximum performance, all data streams are upsampled and reclocked by an internal converter to reduce jitter and eliminate unwanted artifacts in the sound.

Technical performance

The Musical Fidelity M8xi delivers 550 + 550wpc at 8 ohms. It is extremely stable and highly linear. The distortion is also low; less than 0.005% in the audible frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The M8xi has remarkable linearity and consistency. It is unconditionally stable and can effortlessly drive any speaker with ample power reserves.”

Price €7499,-

*Contact us for current stock and/or delivery information.

Musical Fidelity M8xi Specifications:

• Inputs: 4 x RCA (line), 1 x XLR (balanced), 2 x optical (Toslink), 2 x coaxial (S/PDIF), 1 x USB (Type B)
• Outputs: 1 x RCA (pre out), 1 x XLR (pre out), 2 x speakers (L/R)
• Output Power: 550W per channel (8 ohm), 870W per channel (4 ohm)
• Frequency Response: 10 Hz – 20 kHz (+/- 0.1 dB)
• Signal-to-noise ratio: >120 dB (line), >98 dB (DAC)
• Harmonic distortion: < 0.005% (line), < 0.002% (DAC)
• Input impedance: 40 kOhm (RCA), 80 kOhm (XLR)
• Output impedance: < 0.05 ohm
• Power supply: 100 – 240 V AC, 50/60 Hz
• Consumption: < 0.5 W (standby), < 30 W (idle), < 1500 W (max)
• Size: x 440 160 460 mm x
• Weight: 30 kg