First teased at Hi-Fi Show Live late last year, Musical Fidelity's M8xi integrated amplifier will be unveiled at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show (in The Bristol Suite) this weekend before it goes on sale in spring for £5649 (SRP).
The M8xi comprises a DAC, pre-amplifier and two monobloc power amps housed inside one large chassis.
Musical Fidelity wanted its latest amplifier to drive any speaker on the market, and so its dual-mono configuration is capable of delivering a generous 550-watt (into 8 ohms) power output. Each amp has its own dedicated power supply, ensuring signal integrity on each path with minimal crosstalk.
With the M8xi’s design, the company has improved the bridged output stage efficiency, yielding, it says, about 10 per cent more power while maintaining manageable voltages on the supply rails. The driver stage has been designed to operate in pure Class A, too.
The pre-amp section largely operates in Class A, runs off its own power supply, and utilizes low-noise op amps. It features both XLR and RCA inputs, as well as the switchable Home Theatre (HT) input found on many precious Musical Fidelity designs. This allows for an AV processor to control the home cinema volume levels while benefiting from the sonic character of the Musical Fidelity.
Five digital inputs, fed by a Texas Instruments PCM5242 DAC chip, comprise two optical (supports up to 24-bit/96kHz), two coaxial and one asynchronous USB Type-B input (support up to 24-bit/192kHz). All data streams are up-sampled and re-clocked by an internal converter in an effort to reduce jitter and remove unwanted artefacts in the sound.
XLR and RCA balanced outputs are also on the menu, did the owner wish to add external amplifiers or headphone amplifier to it.
Finished in an industrial chassis with an anodised aluminium front panel and large side-mounted heatsinks, the M8xi hopes to do Musical Fidelity’s long heritage of producing ‘Super Integrated’ amplifiers proud.
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