Musical Fidelity Nu Vista 300

Hi

Has anyone had any experience of this amp? Someone has offered me one and I wonder if there’s anything important I need to be aware of.

Are they unreliable?

On 20/05/2019 9:19 am, Howard Stone wrote:
> Hi
>
> Has anyone had any experience of this amp? Someone has offered me one and I wonder if there’s anything important I need to be aware of.
>
> Are they unreliable?
>

**Well, they're Musical Fidelity products. As such they:

* Have poor heat sinking.
* Use components that MF purchased cheap. Those components were used,
despite the fact that they have not been manufactured for 60 odd years
and replacements cannot be obtained.
* Use cheap quality components wherever possible.
* Things like electrolytic caps are marginally rated and fail prematurely.
* Are a triumph of style (which is, IMO, stunningly ugly) over substance.
* Should be avoided at all costs.

--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au

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On 20/05/2019 9:19 am, Howard Stone wrote:
> Hi
>
> Has anyone had any experience of this amp? Someone has offered me one and I wonder if there’s anything important I need to be aware of.
>
> Are they unreliable?
>

**Additionally: What's wrong with your Krell? That is a properly built
product (except for that silly fan direction thing), using quality,
easily available components.

I've serviced a large number of MF products over the years. They're
hugely over-rated and just plain horrible. Still, I make good money from
the company's cost-cutting and dumb design decisions.

--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au

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Thanks for your input.

The Krell is fabulous! It has really opened my eyes to what hifi can do, an=
d now I have a sound which is more like live music than I=E2=80=99ve ever h=
ad at home before.=20

The =E2=80=9Cproblem=E2=80=9D is that I have more than one system!=20

The Nu Vista has apparently been upgraded with boutique high quality parts =
by an engineer who was involved with MF when it was designed. He=E2=80=99s =
a techie with a good reputation here. =20

The amp is the property of a private owner who collects hi fi, apparently h=
is partner has said that he has too much of it, so he wants to divest himse=
lf.

It=E2=80=99s in London; I=E2=80=99m in London. I=E2=80=99ve been invited to=
go and see it today. I=E2=80=99m sure it will sound fabulous (he has speak=
ers some unusual speakers apparently too, Ubiq Model 1)=20

I will also get to find the details of all the upgrades.

On 21/05/2019 7:37 pm, Howard Stone wrote:
> Thanks for your input.
>
> The Krell is fabulous! It has really opened my eyes to what hifi can do, and now I have a sound which is more like live music than I’ve ever had at home before.
>
> The “problem� is that I have more than one system!
>
> The Nu Vista has apparently been upgraded with boutique high quality parts by an engineer who was involved with MF when it was designed. He’s a techie with a good reputation here.
>
> The amp is the property of a private owner who collects hi fi, apparently his partner has said that he has too much of it, so he wants to divest himself.
>
> It’s in London; I’m in London. I’ve been invited to go and see it today. I’m sure it will sound fabulous (he has speakers some unusual speakers apparently too, Ubiq Model 1)
>
> I will also get to find the details of all the upgrades.
>

**MF products are seriously dodgy. The Nuvistor valve used in all MF
Nuvista products ceased production in the mid-1960s. Now, I will
certainly acknowledge that some MF products sound pretty good. That
includes some Nuvista amplifiers. However, IMO, there are better, more
honest products available. None are branded MF. I reckon you do better.

--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au

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You persuaded me!

Howard Stone > wrote:

> The Krell is fabulous! It has really opened my eyes to what hifi can
> do, and now I have a sound which is more like live music than I’ve
> ever had at home before.

And you can use if for welding too. :-)

Andrew.

On Tuesday, May 21, 2019 at 5:37:40 AM UTC-4, Howard Stone wrote:
> and now I have a sound which is more like live music than
> I’ve ever had at home before.

That's because everything is more like the
way it is now than it's ever been before!

On Tuesday, May 21, 2019 at 8:42:06 AM UTC-4, Trevor Wilson wrote:

> **MF products are seriously dodgy. The Nuvistor valve used in all MF
> Nuvista products ceased production in the mid-1960s. Now, I will
> certainly acknowledge that some MF products sound pretty good. That
> includes some Nuvista amplifiers. However, IMO, there are better, more
> honest products available. None are branded MF. I reckon you do better.

True, but a set of four (4) Nuvistors for this amp may be had for $60 these days. Not cheap, but not outrageous either given the price for boutique components.

That being written, there are many reasonable alternatives to MF products such that unless one has silly money to be burnt immediately, the MF is not a good idea.

Howard, I will keep an eye out for a 70s/80s US-made brute-force amp for you. If I find one, I will let you know. Likely it would be cost-of-shipping as I come across this stuff not-working for little or nothing. And the failure modes are typically maintenance/physical damage related, not electronic failures.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA