[god-bluff]

Why does this great British Hi-Fi company get little coverage on here ?

They've just released a new headphone, the MF200, which looks a very nice, improved, version of the MF100 and it doesn't get a mention on here.
 
More excitingly, their first 'high end' headphone (MF500 ?) is finally due soon, I believe. This should match up well with their new flagship, fully balanced, amp the MX-HPA. This (the amp) is another interesting product that's had no coverage on Headfi. These could really rival the other flagship phones/amps but a lower price point.
 
It has been the same with their other headphone which haven't been very popular here. If the amazing  EB50 had 8 drivers and came from an obscure Chinese company rather a British company which has made some of the best HiFi of the last 30 odd years things might have been different. (ps I know the EB50 is made by Dunu but the important bits and the sound are pure MF)
 
Just think its a bit odd or it might just be me, and apologies if I have somehow missed these products.

 

[god-bluff]

Lack of response, as expected
Proves my point I suppose

 

[god-bluff]

The MF200
http://hifipig.com/musical-fidelity-mf-200-headphones/

 

[Hooster]

 

Why does this great British Hi-Fi company get little coverage on here ?

 
More excitingly, their first 'high end' headphone (MF500 ?) is finally due soon, I believe. This should match up well with their new flagship, fully balanced, amp the MX-HPA. This (the amp) is another interesting product that's had no coverage on Headfi. These could really rival the other flagship phones/amps but a lower price point.

 
Dunno about their headphones, but that amp is very limited in terms of features. Compared to other offerings it seems outdated.
 
I don't know exactly what is wrong with the company but my guess would be poor marketing and a poor understanding of the market. 

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
I don't know exactly what is wrong with the company but my guess would be poor marketing and a poor understanding of the market. 

 

For starters, they don't realize for example that a compact, $350-ish amplifier - the V-Can - was up against a bunch of $200+ DAC-HPamps with variable gain.

Then they replace their high end hybrid headphone amp with a good solid state unit - the Mx HPA - with a nice USB DAC, which to some is a nice alternative to, say, the Cantate.2 if they were in production at  the same time. But then, as much as people like spending money on overbuilt stuff, you'd always have people who would say that the Asgard or NFB-15 is a better buy. Oh, wait, the Lyr can do most Orthodynamics too, while the Mx HPA is probably just a bit more powerful than the Asgard.

 

Another problem is the distribution network. Since MF works through dealers, and ones that have actual audition space, retail prices include whatever keeps those dealers running (and usually much higher than MSRP). In some cases they have no understanding of what they are up against in terms of business model, like direct selling by AudioGD and Schiit. In the case of Schiit, Woo, and Audezee for example the local dealer for those have already accounted for internet prices+shipping+arbitrary customs fees, but rather than just scare people with corrupt customs agents, they keep the mark up relatively low knowing how some people here know how to circumvent that issue (like sending it to a relative in N.America, then have that item in their luggage when they visit, which is quite often for some families here), and just attractive enough to know that there is a dealer they can hand it over to when there's a warranty issue.

 

Musical Fidelity doesn't sell at a high mark up over MSRP here, but if to begin with there are better value for money deals for the same amount of money, then they're already fighting an uphill battle. And while their base are primarily people with speaker systems many of these people read audio magazines and know how to use the internet, meaning they'll likely stumble into AudioGD and Schiit anyway. Or maybe now at least just get the Cayin CS-55A, which is a fantastic KT88 speaker amp that also has a really good headphone output.

 

 

 

[god-bluff]

£350 for a v-can ! (around double the typical uk price) I didnt realise they cost that much in the US. It certainly sounds like they hiked their prices up (a bit like Grado over here until recently). Their lower end stuff like their v series are a lot more affordable and hence popular in the UK. Their other products such as the latest Nu Vista integrated amp, costing £8000, are a different story.
When I asked the question 'what's wrong with MF' I meant why aren't they more popular on the forum not because there's much wrong with the product. I think you perhaps provided a good answer so thanks

 

[ProtegeManiac]

£350 for a v-can ! (around double the typical uk price) I didnt realise they cost that much in the US. It certainly sounds like they hiked their prices up (a bit like Grado over here until recently). Their lower end stuff like their v series are a lot more affordable and hence popular in the UK. Their other products such as the latest Nu Vista integrated amp, costing £8000, are a different story.
When I asked the question 'what's wrong with MF' I meant why aren't they more popular on the forum not because there's much wrong with the product. I think you perhaps provided a good answer so thanks

 

Not the US, I think over there they started out at $299 (must have ended up at $199 at some point). It's over here in some parts of Asia that they can hit $350 (I meant to say that they don't get too high a mark-up anymore, but when the V-Can first arrived here it was roughly $300+). And of course you start asking in Head-Fi, and people here will point to the Asgard or the NFB-xx. Other people would have ended up here using Google, so if one asks in a speaker audio forum, they're still bound to get "Asgard or NFB-xx" or whatever. I mean, $199+ tiny desktop amp in A/B, or

1) Full class A, made in California without any suspicion of workers jumping off the building for $249, or

2) a DAC with a Class A headphone amp for $200-ish (the NFB-12) if you're not one to just assume that every factory works the same way

 

 

 

[Roderick]

I like the looks on MF amps and Dac's. Allmost bought M1HPAP but then I decided I "need" balanced connections. However their headphones don't share the classy look of their other products. MF100 looks like a 50$ headphone. MF200 looks better though but not good enough compared to other portable headphones it is competing with. Also no detachable cable(?) is a problem for me... What bothers me most are the headphone specs. 20hz-20khz response is weird. It's the most common range and so it kind of feels like MF did not even bother to measure the headphones. Even more weird is the graph on their site. Lack of spikes is very suspicious. My guess is that MF made up the specs. I can't help but to think that the headphones are some Taiwan OEM and MF is just another company that decided to make a quick buck in headphone business.

 

[Hooster]

Roderick makes a good point.
 
Specs for a M1HPAP headphone amp:
 

M1HPAP - Specifications

Pre-Amplifier

1. THD(+ noise): <0.008% (10Hz to 20kHz)
2. Signal to Noise Ratio: >109dB “A”- wtd
3. Frequency Response: 15Hz to 75kHz -3dB max.

Inputs

1. 1x Line Level RCA / Phono
2. USB type ‘B’ connector for computer/PDA

General

1. Dimensions - WxHxD (mm): 220 x 100 x 300
2. Weight (unpacked / packed): 3.4 kg / 4.1 kg

 
This has to be one of the most miserably incomplete and useless spec sheets I have ever seen. This may very well be a great product, but if they put as much effort into the design and build of this thing as they do into typing their spec sheet, then I would not touch the thing with a 10 foot pole. This might be forgivable for the cheapest consumer grade electronics, but for a headphone amp that they charge hundreds of $ for it is a cardinal sin. It is bad enough that the specs do not contain valuable information such as the amps power. They say nothing about the outputs and the part about the inputs is incorrect.
 
No wonder no here one seems to be interested. No one at Musical Fidelity seems to be interested either, so I guess that's just fine and dandy.

 

[god-bluff]

Still no-ones heard  MF200 ?  Even tempted ?  
 
I'm tempted by MF100 at current prices but would like to know how 200 improves on it.
 
ps. was MX-HPA amp I was referring to. Not M1HPAP. Still no mention of this on Headfi
 
Dont believe in conspiracies of silence but sill wonder why.

 

[billybob_jcv]

If I was going to believe in conspiracies, I might believe you were shilling for MF...

 

[god-bluff]

If I was going to believe in conspiracies, I might believe you were shilling for MF...

Erm no I don't think I am. Just a 'fan boy' for past 25 year or so of this 'obscure' company.

 

[kramer5150]

They seem to have very limited distribution channels.  There are probably other forums based in the UK  where these might have more of a following.
 
Not bad looking at all for the "on-ear" crowd.
 

 

[nordkapp]

Don't know what you are talking about. They are huge in 2 channel stereo. Doubt many "head-fi'ers" have heard of them. Their offerings are limited in this market segment (headphones and ancillary equipment).

 

[kramer5150]

What retailers carry their headphones?... The op was asking why their phones are not very popular. This could be one reason.