The Musical Fidelity A1 is PURE 🔥

This episode is brought to you by AudioQuest:

🎥 Camera: John Darko / Olaf von Voss
🎬 Editor: John Darko
🌈 Colour: Olaf von Voss
🕺🏻 Motion GFX: John Darko
💰 Ad segment: John Darko

0:00 Intro
0:57 ONE
3:33 TWO
4:41 THREE

Zu DWX

Can the Musical Fidelity A1 cook an egg?

What is a Class A amplifier?

NAD C 3050

Marantz Stereo 70S

KEF Q Concerto Meta

FiiO R9

Cables and power products by AudioQuest

Room treatment by Vicoustic

Darko.Audio may earn a small commission from items purchased via affiliate links, as indicated by a '🛒'.

Darko.Audio is an Amazon Associates Program member, an Audio Advice Program member and a Howl Program member.

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[andrewbarton]

Real life matters, and as much as some people may have struggles with the distributor margin and the store margin, being able to go somewhere and listen is frankly priceless, as well as the knowledge from the folks in the industry

[Kami]

Canadia: “The secret state between Narnia and Canada. To get there, you must stand in an old cupboard and say sorry three times and then eat Maple Syrup and Turkish Delight and you will get teleported there.”

[sarkanyp]

Yeah, I knew the A1 deserves one more video, high viewes were not happening by mistake, ppl are want to know more! I wanted to know more as - before my purchase - I was afraid of the possible loose bass or issues with heat but man... heat is also a feature on that lovely heatsink and the bass-punch is lovely on this unit! Love it! Nice content as alway Mr. @DarkoAudio!

[smuconn]

"Real life matters, " indeed, it does. Your enthusiasm for this amp is infectious.

[albiepalbie]

I’ve had this amplifier for a year
It’s brilliant

[dollhausenx]

I bought this because I have tinnitus and was trying to find something that I could stand to listen to without that high end etch that has become pervasive. Everything in the reviews made the A1 sound like the ticket for me. I auditioned and was convinced at the store and took it home and it stayed. I sampled a bunch of speakers. I had no problems with power even with lower efficiency speakers though I'm not playing loud. I love the sound. I've said it before, it reminds me of the days when people came over to listen to records and not our systems. The A1 is not an audiophile's dream amp, that's for sure. It's for people that are more interested in the rhythmic drive of music.
I have to say that the entire discussion about price is irrelevant. Those inflation calculations have a lot of error in them. So you spend a third of the video pointing out those errors. I get it as a value proposition economic lesson, but not sure what's the point in a review. Were there complaints about the price? Because I think it's a frickin' deal compared to a lot of the stuff out there. Or perhaps it says something about the cheap and meaningless nature of humans in general that we clutch our pearls and thrust our fists over whether someone is taking us to the cleaners. Ugh.
By the way, I like the Todd Hido bass trap in the left corner.

[pennesalmone]

Of course I watch it tó the end…. (Almost) always :) captivating content, optimal length (would also listen for longer…) Dear John, you are partly to blame for me listening much more again to music and having HiFi back as a hobby in my life - and thus being a happier human being 😊

[Eyerex]

Thing i love is that it has a tape out for some of us who still like making tapes

[yerfdogjohnny]

Tip of the day. If you have a Roon Nucleus and it can be connected via Ethernet close to your DAC of choice, forget using a streamer and just connect your Nucleus to your DAC with a decent USB cable and you’re good to go using the Nucleus as both the Roon Core and streamer. In some cases less is more and hey one less component to buy and have in your cabinet. Enjoy! Ps: Nice review of the A1

[AllboroLCD]

Learning the back story on this piece alone, tells you everything you need to know really. There was much thought and passion put into its design.
BTW, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots one of my Flaming Lips faves! The surround mix is particularly worth a listen if you can get it ; )

[gaza]

Top tip (well I think it is) for anybody running sensitive speakers with amps such as these with a lot of output gain. I found using a dac with an adjustable voltage output quite important, like that of the chord qutest. Mine is set to run at 1volt and I run all the digital into that, cd, streamer and so on. It allows my sugden a21 to run with much more control on the volume pot, it’s very strong, much like the a1. Brings it more inline with vinyl playback but it still a much stronger signal. Thought that might help folks a little.

[marktupper]

I bought the original A1 in 1985 - 300 quid it sounded fantastic !

[OzSteve]

Real life matters, but only in Canadia

[Hairyderriere]

Would like one for nostalgic reasons, for sure.

[KreggartheGreen]

Real Life Matters for Music First Audiophiles. Great video John.

[mrkitewine]

I’m loving the Canadia stuff, almost as much as previous videos having American versions of kit being made from a different material (Aluminum) to what the rest of the world gets (Aluminium),

[JimmiJingle-om]

I’ve been to Canadia, specifically Thunder Bay, where I smoked pot with some friendly Canadiacs outside the Inntowner Tavern. Good times.

[coffinlin]

Greetings from Taiwan 😂 especially just fixed an old A1 last year!
I always enjoy your insight about electronic music. Way to go!

[s.daniel]

I go through a lot of gear. One piece I’ll never replace is my A1. Holy shit! I do run different speakers, but for me, q acoustics 5020’s with the A1 is audio perfection.

[alexandertimoschuk]

John Darko makes great audio commentary. I respect and trust his reviews. I bought the DW6s based on his use of ZU products. Entering the HiFi realm, I was quickly sucked down the rabbit hole so I convinced myself that I needed an amplifier to complement the new speakers. The A1 was at the top of my list. My uncertainty pushed me to the audiophonics Purifi monoblocks that were crammed with watts.