Musical Fidelity A200

Specifications :
Power Output……………………………..60watts per channel, Class A at 8ohm
THD…………………………………………<1%
Phono MC…………………………………250uV
Phono MM…………………………………2.5mV
Line Inputs………………………………..CD, Tuner, CDV, Tape1, Tape2
Sensitivity…………………………………150mV
Dimensions(w x d x h)………………….44 x 37.5 x 9 cm
Weight……………………………………..10kg

Description :
The  Musical Fidelity A200 is the company’s state-of-the-art one-box amplifier. Clothed in the same garb as the smaller Class A integrated amplifiers, it looks strikingly different alongside more conventional offerings. However, its styling is not purely an aesthetic consideration: there is a method behind its modernness. Class A amplifiers run hot, especially when they are idling or only passing small signal voltages. Hence they require massive heatsinking or ventilation to prevent their transistors going into thermal runaway. The whole corrugated top plate of the A200 is intended to act as a heatsink, though in practice the whole case joins in to help dissipate those unwanted watts. The Musical Fidelity A200 offers little in the way of facilities: all it allows the user to do is switch it on, select which source is to be listened to, and adjust the gain. There is a small push button on the rear panel to choose between the two phono options (moving coil or magnet). Six inputs are provided (access via gold-plated phono sockets) for disc, CD, tuner, CDV, and two tape decks. Loudspeaker cable hook-up is courtesy of sturdy binding posts. Whilst the phono stages are acceptable, the Musical Fidelity A200 really shines through its line level stages.

For music as varied as female folk singers, symphony orchestras and small jazz combos, the Musical Fidelity A200 sounds open, spacious and clean, despite a hint of valve-like euphony. Vocalists present with an intimate clarity and a wealth of detail that display singing techniques with ease and commendable expression. Vibrato, intonation, phrasing, and breathing, the depth of texture within the voice, are etched with precision and human warmth. The accord with backing musicians is similarly portrayed, the ensemble playing as an integrated and rhythmically coordinated whole. Music flows with a natural, unforced ease, and the Musical Fidelity A200 successfully conveys the weight of the orchestra: in respect of its showing here its 60 watts rating would be judged as conservative – it gives the impression of more substantial reserves of power. The A200 does not try to polish off this music’s rough edges. All the energy, excitement and grunge come through untainted by unwarranted politeness or refinement. Sometimes it tends to add a warmth, a tonal bloom to instruments, which can make recordings sound that little bit more human and less mechanical. But instruments like acoustic bass, when recorded at high levels, can do without this. If searching for an amplifier with an added touch of warmth that does not get in the way of the music, then the Musical Fidelity A200 deserves to be heard.