Musical Fidelity M8Xi Amplifier ... a Goliath amongst us

I think there was a designer in Musical Fidelity who had been spending too much of his life on caffeine and narcotics and marathon listening sessions who in a fit of mad innovation made this massive battle tank of an amplifier with every wet dream specification and design feature for an audiophile fantasy.


If it was a tank it would be Ferdinand Porsche's Panzerkampfwagen VII Maus 188 ton Hitlerite monster that fortunately never went into service. It makes no less than 550 watts per channel into loudspeaker systems with an impedance of 8 ohms, while with a 4 ohm load the figure is a remarkable 870 watts per channel. The manufacturer even goes so far as to speak of even higher power reserves, namely a peak of no less than 1.6 kW at 2 ohms.


Contact Us Available in Store

$13,800.00
Musical Fidelity

Find out more about shipping

Questions? Call now: (03) 96392737.
or: Contact us...

Follow us for special offers and limited promos! Become one of us

Pick up in store to save time and money

 

 

 

Product Description

Details

I think there was a designer in Musical fidelity who had been spending too much of his life on caffeine and narcotics and marathon listening sessions who in a fit of mad innovation made this massive battle tank of an amplifier with every wet dream specification and design feature for an audiophile fantasy. If it was a tank it would be Ferdinand Porsche's Panzerkampfwagen VII Maus 188 ton fantasy design that fortunately never went into service.

In actuality this is the first new product under the leadership of Heinz Lichtenegger since his company Pro-Ject Audio purchased MF last year. Long time Musical Fidelity designer Simon Quarry brings the technical expertise to create a marvellously sounding new amplifier that stays 100% true to the original Musical Fidelity heritage. He has clearly been given free rein to create a flagship product.

It makes no less than 550 watts per channel into loudspeaker systems with an impedance of 8 ohms, while with a 4 ohm load the figure is a remarkable 870 watts per channel. The manufacturer even goes so far as to speak of even higher power reserves, namely a peak of no less than 1.6 kW at 2 ohms.

The M8xi is a separate preamplifier with two monoblock power amps sharing a common chassis. Each has its own heat sink and separate transformer. Genuinely dual mono. The preamp has its own separate power supply and is mounted close to the input sockets. Consequently, PCB tracks are very short. This ensures that both channels signals are ultra low impedance the instant they get into the amplifier. This is a significant detail. Each channel has twelve big bipolar transistors - 200 amps peak to peak is easily available.

The metalwork is unusually high quality. The front panel is a custom made fine line extrusion of military specification aluminium. The custom made heat sinks have outstanding thermal dissipation qualities and finish. The M8xi construction has the feeling of ridiculous solidity and quality, it weighs 40kg so simply moving it is something of a planned exercise if you are on your own and it is advisable that two people be involved in positioning and installation.

Official UK site on the M8Xi 

 

The folllowing is from Musical Fidelity's press release:

"Musical Fidelity has always designed fabulous big amplifiers, following its belief that you can never have too much power. Now under Austrian ownership, and
sharing a stable with Pro-Ject Audio Systems, it’s delivered the M8xi, offering a massive 550W – which it comfortably exceeds from its dual-mono construction.

Inputs extend to both digital and analogue audio options, but this isn’t just a big prize-fighter of an amp: it’s also fast and nimble, delivering music with both speed and accuracy, not to mention masses of detail. If you want your amp all in one box, and superlative performance, this is the one to buy. 

Combining electronics normally found in high end separates in a single chassis, the M8xi is better than the sum of it‘s parts outperforming components in much higher price ranges. The sheer size and impression of the cabinet complement the high output. The fine finish and attention to detail reflect the extreme low distortion levels.  

The output stage efficiency levels have been increased thus yielding about 10% more power for similar power supply voltage. The whole driver stage is pure Class A. The resulting measurements in distortion are lower than 0.005% in the audible frequency range with hardly any changes from 10 kHz to 50 kHz. An outstanding achievement and validation of the circuit design and PCB layout.

The M8xi sounds effortless, and fluid. Large scale music has depth and width paired with an incredible dynamic presentation. It sounds like a superb small Class A amplifier but with limitless headroom."

 

Additional Information

Additional Information

Finish No
Power (Watts) No
Phono Stage No
Speaker A/B No
Width No
Height No
Length No

Free Shipping Information

We offer free shipping to metropolitan areas on all orders over $100, except for orders containing the following products:

Televisions, Floorstanding speakers, Subwoofers and Package systems.

Shipping on these items will be standard delivery. If you want expedited shipping, an option should be available at checkout.

We try to dispatch all goods within 48 hours however from time to time the stock in store runs out before we have a chance to update the website. In these cases we will contact you if the item will take longer than 48 hours to be dispatched.

We strongly suggest that items are shipped to a business address, or an address where someone can sign for the delivery. On checkout you have the option of choosing Authoirty to Leave. This will not require a signature, but goods will be left at your premise and the delivery company will take no responsibility for them beyond this point.

Delivery times can vary depending on location. Regional areas may take more than 5 business days depending on the courier used.

Write Your Own Review

Only registered users can write reviews. Please, log in or register