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Posts: 47
Location: readargos
Joined: October 31, 2002
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As others note, Musical Fidelity changes their products frequently, and their website seems in constant flux, as well. It might not be listed under the legacy components, but it may come up under the instruction manual page or the Fine Tuning service page. So I think it's simply oversight, the company not quite keeping up with itself.
I am a fan of the Musical Fidelity solid-state amps and preamps from the original A3cr through the A308cr (which I've owned for years), roughly from 2000-2004. I owned the A3cr, the A3.2cr, and the A308cr. They are all the same circuit with small differences, solid-state regular production models based off the Limited Edition Nu-Vista series from 1999. The A308 was the top-of-the-line, being a little more overbuilt. The subsequent A5 line fell between the A3/A3.2 and the A308 in build quality. It was made in Taiwan, so MF was able to sell it for the about the same cost as the A3/A3.2 even though the A5 was a little better.
As for the A300cr amp itself, I never heard it. An issue with the original A3 is that it worked very well with some speakers, even some large, full-range models like the JMlab Electra series, but would quickly run out of juice with more average sensitivity loads, such as monitors from B&W or Sonus Faber, and wasn't as good with 4-Ohm loads like Magnepan. MF quickly made the provision for bi-amping two A3cr amps by including a line-level RCA output so you could daisy-chain two A3cr's together for speakers that allowed bi-wiring, and/or use the outputs to drive a subwoofer. (The initial production of A3cr's sold in the U.K. did not have this RCA-throughput feature.) Before the A300cr came out, I did buy a second A3cr amp for bi-amping, and I was very happy with the sound.
To solve the power issue with the A3cr (a "soft" 120 watts/channel into certain speaker loads), Musical Fidelity attempted to scale up the design with the A300cr (225 watts/channel). However, you can't always simply increase the power and get the same sonic results. It reportedly lost some of the magic. While the A3cr was rated Class A in Stereophile, the A300cr "only" earned a Class B. This isn't to say the A300cr wasn't good. Like I said, I am a huge fan of the Musical Fidelity gear from this era, and I'm sure it sounds rather close to its stablemate A3cr. If you like it, keep it! I sold my original A3cr gear, but came back to the brand a few years later.
I am working on a review of the A308cr, which explains what Musical Fidelity did to scale up the A3cr circuit, but not lose the magic - the speed, immediacy, and delicacy - of smaller, simpler solid-state designs. Even the Anniversary Tri-Vista kW monoblocks were based off the A308 design advancements!
The Nu-Vista binding posts look cool, but as you suggest, don't work with most audiophile spade plugs. They're better suited for banana plugs or bare wire. With the A3.2 and A308, MF used friendlier binding posts that were kind of knock-offs of WBT's Next-Gen.
For my money, these are some of the best hi-fi components produced in the past 20 years, and still competitive with some of the best components on the market today. Unfortunately, I think largely because they change product lines so often as part of their production model, the company has not enjoyed the same reputation as some of the more elite names in the high-end. The sound quality is there, however - they will easily take on gear 2-3 times the price, if not more. As well, after the Tri-Vista products came out, I think Musical Fidelity went in a different direction sonically, so the products after 2006 or so, I have not heard and would not include in their "classic" designs.
You may want to open the amp's top-plate every so often and check the capacitors. At least on the A308, they can leak after a few years. If you see any leakage, I would stop using the amp until you can get the caps replaced. This may seem like a big deal, but capacitors do age. Even if they're working without apparent deterioration, it doesn't mean the amp is performing at its best. Companies like Krell recommend getting their amps recapped every 5-7 years or so. If you factor in what you'd have to spend on a new component to get comparable sound quality, recapping is actually cost-effective.
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