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Posted (edited)

I have a dilemma. A friend with way too much hifi has offered me a wonderful deal in exchange for some rare vinyl he wants. He has three Musical Fidelity CD Players

-A5

-DM25 transport and paired DAC

 -Nu vista 3D


And I get to choose one. 
 

they are similar in a trade value but each was claimed to be the best ever from MF in their day. 
 

I’ve looked at the technical specs and they look amazing (certainly better than my Marantz) but which one to choose- not based on the current used value of each. The sound quality.  
 

Anyone with experience with any of the machines or advice would be great

Edited by VictorVampire

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Posted

Nice dilemma (or is it a trilemma?)

Will your friend let you borrow them first?  That way you could compare them side by side in your own system and then decide which you like best. 

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Posted

I will ask- he is getting some choice vinyl worth north of 600. I am thinking though of building a new system around whatever I choose so would like it to the best spec.

The technical data is beyond me sadly especially the DAC bits    I would say I’m not keen on the gold bits on the nu vista and why does the DM25 need a huge separate DAC case

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Posted

I'm a bit late to to the party, but the A5 hands down. Gorgeous player. Plenty of reviews out there saying it punched waaaay above it's price tag and I concur. You'll probably need to recap it at this point. 

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Posted

As you say, they all seem like they were great in their day. Nice dilemma. Agree with Sir, if you can listen to them (maybe 2 at a time?) you should see if one fits your system better. They are all getting on, though, is the point I would make. There's a link here to look into the laser mechanisms that the manufacturers used in their units.

 

https://vasiltech.narod.ru/CD-Player-DAC-Transport.htm

 

The older 3D will be a problem if it fails, I'd stay away from that, but the other 2 use the Philips VAM1202. You can still get (3rd party grey) replacements for these on eBay, should they fail.

Posted
  On 11/06/2025 at 2:09 PM, betty boop said:

The a5 cd, I am a prior owner. It Was a decent player 🙂

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Me too and really liked the A5. I'd almost be tempted to run with the newest and lowest hours. Transport mechanisms, laser assemblies and DAC chips have a finite lifespan. 

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Posted
  On 19/06/2025 at 5:35 PM, Wrecker2025 said:

What did you replace it with?

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luxman D-05 which is a lovely player and then more recently marantz ki-ruby CD/SACD which is definitely best sounding for my setup i have had yet 🙂

 

  On 20/06/2025 at 2:54 AM, DRC said:

Me too and really liked the A5. I'd almost be tempted to run with the newest and lowest hours. Transport mechanisms, laser assemblies and DAC chips have a finite lifespan. 

Expand  

yes very true.. breaking all that is my old musical fidelity x-ray i have from the late 90s ? still going strong... :D  it put up a good show vs an oppo 95 we once compared with ...proved to me old stuff can still have magic 🙂 

Posted
  On 20/06/2025 at 2:58 AM, betty boop said:

luxman D-05 which is a lovely player and then more recently marantz ki-ruby CD/SACD which is definitely best sounding for my setup i have had yet 🙂

 

yes very true.. breaking all that is my old musical fidelity x-ray i have from the late 90s ? still going strong... :D  it put up a good show vs an oppo 95 we once compared with ...proved to me old stuff can still have magic 🙂 

Expand  

Sometimes you get lucky! I've been playing around with a Kenwood power amp I lent a friend of mine and has been returned to me. I reckon I purchased that amp from Brash's in around 1990 or 1989. It is still going well and sounds pretty good for a 35 yo amp. The matching pre failed about 15 years ago. Go figure. 

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