NEWS: Musical Fidelity announces the return of the A1

On the way from Musical Fidelity is the 21st Century version of one of the company's classic designs – the A1 is back!

Highly acclaimed from its introduction in 1985 to the mid 90s, not to mention being celebrated for its griddle-like top-plate heatsink, which tended to run a little warm(!), the 20Wpc A1 went on to sell some 200,000 units.

Now it's been updated. Modern facilities include a USB input, a front-panel display and full remote control, and there's improved build quality and some styling changes. Yes, the top-plate is now flat.

The amp has line and MM phono inputs, and the Class A design is said to make it sound sweet, warm and full, with no hardening or muddying as it nears full power output.

But what of its typically Class A – ie rather modest – power output? Doesn't that fly in the face of Musical Fidelity's recent preaching about the importance of plenty of power to drive speakers properly?

No, the company says: you either have to make sure your speakers have at least 92dB/W/m sensitivity, or use the new £999 amp to drive a pair of its 550K or 750K Superchargers.

The new A1 will be available in mid-April, and will be joined a month or so later by a matching CD player, the A1 CD PRO 2.

Technorati Tags: amplifier, Class A, Musical Fidelity

Andrew has written about audio and video products for the past 20+ years, and been a consumer journalist for more than 30 years, starting his career on camera magazines. Andrew has contributed to titles including What Hi-Fi?, GramophoneJazzwise and Hi-Fi CriticHi-Fi News & Record Review and Hi-Fi Choice. I’ve also written for a number of non-specialist and overseas magazines.