On the back of John’s superb upgrade to my Nu-Vista 600 amp, he assured me that a repair and upgrade to my 2005 MF A5 CD was going to be money well spent.
The player had been failing to read discs for a while until it got so bad it was unusable. It always had a great sound, tending toward being laid back rather than exciting or dynamic, but always musical.
John explained that the circuit in this player was an excellent design and that the problem I had was undoubtedly the laser pickup. He explained what he was going to upgrade and this included a higher spec valve.
I left it with him for him to complete when he could fit it in and it duly arrived back via courier.
Not only do the transport and laser now work properly, but I was absolutely staggered by the sound quality. It retains the musical and sweet nature it always had, but instead of a somewhat flat soundstage and slightly polite character, there is now real depth in imaging and dynamics are greatly extended. It still has a less forward character than many more modern electronics, but is never fatiguing or brash like many digital sources can be.
My perception upon first listen, was that it now sounds like a high-end vinyl front end and it continues to impress each listen. It sounds way better than CD players I have heard costing thousands of pounds.
Money well spent methinks! Now it looks fabulous and sounds fabulous.