Musical Fidelity M3si

The M3si - Overview

The M3si integrated amplifier is a comprehensive further development of its predecessor, the M3i. Additional inputs, higher power and virtual monoblock power amplifiers, each with its own power supply, add up to a great new product. The M3si stands for a most impressive high-end sound quality. Because its power has been significantly increased and the power supply's sieve capacity almost doubled, it delivers a wider, more stable and deeper stereo sound image with considerable dynamics. On top of that, the M3si also offers pristine resolution. The high-capacity virtual mono power amplifier configuration enables it to celebrate bass with plenty of punch and depth. Or as Audio writes in its 11/2014 issue: "For the price class, outstandingly wide and deep reproduction perspectives."

M3si - Technical background

The M3si also benefits from Musical Fidelity's exclusive surface mount technology. This reduces the amount of circuit space on the motherboard and gives us much more flexibility in circuit design. It was also important for us to add more inputs and increase the power supply capacity of the power amplifier. This is done with a pair of large power supply capacitors for each channel. The output is a generous 85 watts per side. So the new M3si now delivers a reassuring power foundation. The distortion value of 0.007% at 1 kHz is very low. Even at 10 kHz it's only around 0.01%. Most hi-fi amplifiers suffer from an enormous increase in distortion as the frequency rises. For us, this is an indication that the overall circuit design is not good enough. The very low high frequency distortion of the M3si proves that layout and circuit design can work in perfect harmony - hence the low distortion at HF. We believe these facts validate the M3si design approach. The signal-to-noise ratio has been improved by more than 3 dB. This is a significant step in allowing music to be heard with a wider dynamic range. Channel separation is also excellent. The MM phono stage delivers top performance. It has very precise RIAA equalisation, with a deviation of only ± 0.5 dB from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. This accuracy is maintained up to 50 kHz. The signal-to-noise ratio is an excellent 88 dB. The distortion rate is below 0.3%. The phono stage of the M3si almost offers the sonic potential of its big sisters. The 24-bit 96 kHz asynchronous USB input - like other top computer interfaces - uses exactly the same circuitry and technology as our highly regarded V-Links. The signal-to-noise ratio is incredibly low, jitter virtually non-existent. The M3si's USB input is capable of extracting the finest details from any computer source.