[KrooLism]

Well, now I've done it, curse you head-fi! I went all out and bought one of the best CD players ever made.
I simply can't contain my excitement!!

I was going to critically listen to this unit for a few more days before writing a short review about it. But I couldn't wait. I have done some comparisoms and I thought it would be best to review this with an "out of 10" scale.

Looks - 11/10:
This thing is beautiful. It's by far the best looking piece of audio equipment I own. The display is very userfriendly with big fonts. The feet glow an orange colour at startup, which then turn to blue once the tubes have warmed up. Very very cool.

Build Quality - 9/10:
This thing is the brick outhouse of cd players. It's also MASSIVE in size as well. Probably to accommodate the dual outputs on the player. Heavy as all hell too. 22.6kg's (50lbs) when I was checking it in at the airport.

Functionality - 7/10:
CD's take a while to load up. The A5 is certainly a LOT faster on redbooks. I haven't tested this on an SACD yet.
I don't think she likes CD's with data on it. Demon Days didn't play well at all. It started to skip on some sections. I'm burning a cd with just the .wav files on it to see if it would make a difference. Also, a little noisy when changing tracks. But that goes back to build quality, you can hear that the mechanism is absolutely rock solid when reading the disc.

Sound (Tube) - 8.5/10 on startup, 10/10 after warmup:
I have never had a tube system before apart from my LD II. I can see how it warms up the music almost to a point where the sound would be too laid back for the HD-650 save the grace of the M902 (don't mind the pun) - which is a brilliantly sharp and detailed solid state amp. When using the K-1000's amped by the Aleph, this is almost my dream sound. The upsampling does make a small difference in the smoothness of the music. Wind and string instruments lose their graininess and gain such dynamics that it made me blink a couple of times. More on the sound once I have had this for a few more days.

Sound (Solid State) - No rating yet as I have only just hooked it up and have only been listening to a few hours.


Finally, I would just like to add that MF are geniuses when they added both output options. It's like buying two separate CD players. I can pick which output I use depending on the music and my mood. It's also great for people who want to know the differences in the Tube and SS sound. For the M902, I have the tube going into the unbal in, SS going into the balanced in's. I also used the optical out of the kW SACD too so I can compare the M902 DAC to the dual differential DAC's inside the kW SACD. Once again, I am going to praise the M902 for it's functionality. You can have a piece of the music going, and all it takes is a toggle of the input selector and you can instantly hear the differences between tube, SS and DAC's.

For listening to music, I would probably go tube while if I was referencing the material, solid state is better. More to come soon.

Music:
The Violin Player - Vanessa Mae
19/2000, 5/4, Rehash - The Gorillaz
Mezzanine, Protection - Massive Attack
The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd

Other model's I have made comparisoms to:
Musical Fidelity A5
Primare DVD 30
Linn Unidisk 1.1
Krell SACD Standard
Denon 3930
Meridian G08

 

[dhwilkin]

Congratulations! I've been in love w/ MF's kW line every since I heard a system w/ their monoblocks in it, and I have no doubt the kW cdp is also amazing. One of the few cdps I would consider upgrading to, from my NuVista. Would definitely like more impressions, especially between the solid-state and tube outputs.

 

[NeoVibe]

Congratulations on your purchase. I've got an X-DAC V3 and will get an X-PSU V3 soon... but what I'm really excited about is the new X-DAC V8 which also has SS and Tube line-out

However there are no reviews anywhere yet

cheers

 

[kurumaya]

MF make great digital. The only regret that I've ever had in my many gear flips is selling my MF A3.5 player. Your Kw is many echelons above that even, I bet it's unbelievable...Any pictures?

 

[HiWire]

Congrats. Enjoy the music!

 

[toastmaster]

PLLEEEEEEEEEASE post pics! This baby sounds like it should look incredible.

 

[KrooLism]

Thanks guys. Heh - two guesses why I would be selling my Nikon camera! lol

It is an amazing player. For those who haven't seen it, you won't even fathom the size of this thing. I didn't know they still made CD players that big. It would be atleast double the size of the A3.5 kurumaya.

OK - Solid State review - 9/10:
I've been listening to the solid state output for a few days now and here is the main differences.
Firstly, with the gear I have, the music becomes brilliantly sharp to a degree where the detail is too good. You hear everything, and I mean absolutely everything. I was listening to some of Kenny G's music and not only can you hear the saxaphone keys being pushed... you can even tell which keys need levelling or servicing. I could tell which note was coming next as soon as I heard a particular key being pressed. The resolution is unbelieveable.
(This is only on K-1000, couldn't hear it on HD-650, even when I knew what I was trying to listen for.)
However, it does take the musical feel away from the music.
Almost like in photography. Some photos are better with a soft filter. Otherwise, you just see too much detail.
Personally, I would probably listen with tube 75% of the time.

Incidentally - I will give a review on the Grace M902 DAC.
As you guys are probably aware, the digital data is exactly the same. The differences between an exceptional player and a good one is only how that digital data is interpreted and converted to an analog current. That current which when applied to a dynamic or some other driver, produces a sound wave.
A great myth I have heard is crap players don't read 100% of the digital data. If that we're the case, your $99 CD rom will never install your operating system, or any software for that matter, on your computer!

I have hooked up the tube out to the Grace unbal in's. The SS out is connected to the balanced in's of the 902. I have also connected them together optically and s/pdif.

If tube on the kW is 10/10 and solid state is 9/10, then the sound out of the M902 is probably 8.5/10. You can tell the sound isn't as good as the dual differential upsampling DAC's inside the kW, but only on an INSTANT direct comparisom. The beauty of the M902 is that the source selector is so fast and simple. The kW is better - but because the Grace model 902 DAC is so damn good, I'm afraid I can only give a 4/10 rating for value for money.

I don't regret buying it though.

Pics coming tomorrow.

 

[KrooLism]

Oh - by the way.

When I burnt that Gorillaz CD again with music .wav files ONLY, she played fine on the kW.

I don't think it likes data discs much. I haven't tried an MP3 cd in her and I never will. Only the best fuel for fast cars.

 

[DarkAngel]

I was interested is just a brief comment on how you like the MF KW vs MF A5 & Meridian G08..........A5s are pretty reasonable on used market and have the MF minature tube output.

Personally I prefer the older MF 308 line styling to the new KW and A line, the two black bars stuck on either end of facia seem strange, would prefer an all silver face design

 

[KrooLism]

The Meridian G08 is a fantastic sounding player, but I don't really like the old fashioned, "you can tell it's so British" looks of Meridian products.

IMHO, the A5 kills it in looks.

Look - to be very honest, if I was solely going to use redbooks, I would get the A5. And depending on the availability of SACD's here in Australia, I may sell my kW sooner rather than later.

The G08 does have balanced outputs, but unless you're system spands over vast distances (cabling going over 40 feet) RCA makes no difference. Also, the A5 uses a tube output so I guess that would probably come down to personal preference.