The music erupted—not with anger, but with authority . The AE1s sang as if they had grown ten times their size. The soundstage was vast, black, and between the notes lay an abyss of silence. The amp wasn’t adding anything. It wasn’t even amplifying. It felt like it was revealing .

You have a big, expensive main rig in the basement. You need something for the bedroom or office. You pair the FX with a Wiim Pro Plus streamer (which has a basic volume control) and some vintage bookshelf speakers. Total cost: under $500. Total enjoyment: Priceless.

Like many Musical Fidelity products from its era, the FX amplifier is built with a focus on core audio performance rather than excessive aesthetic flourishes. However, long-term owners should be aware of a few maintenance considerations:

, established the foundational hybrid technology that brought tube warmth to solid-state power.

Design & Build

The standout feature of the FX is its midrange reproduction. Vocals, acoustic guitars, and string instruments are rendered with a lifelike texture and warmth. It avoids the harsh, glassy edge that plagued many early solid-state amplifiers, leaning instead toward a presentation that mimics the fluid nature of valve (tube) amplification. 2. Soundstage and Imaging

What will you connect to it? What is the approximate size of your listening room ?

Fire up a track like Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car or Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories . The first thing you notice is the lack of grain . Cheap class D amps (the type found in $100 mini amps) produce a hard, glassy top end. The FX, being analog Class A/B, delivers a smooth, organic midrange. Voices have "chest" and texture.

Because the FX is a (it has no volume control or source selection), it requires a preamplifier to function.

Cons

The heart of the FX series is the FX2 power amplifier. This is a substantial piece of audio equipment, both in terms of its physical presence and its sonic capabilities. Here is a detailed look at its key features:

Some units may require updates to the thermal paste and insulators on the MOSFETs to prevent electrical conductivity issues that can arise over decades of use.

The amplifiers deliver "massive dynamic slam" without sounding forced or strained. Musical Fidelity Amplifiers Today

Leo grunted. “Musical Fidelity doesn’t make anger. They make truth.”