Keeping to the S/S Pre-amp that offers good flexibility theme I reckon an MF A1fbp would fit the bill pretty well. There's a fair few happy owners on here & there have been several that have circulated here on the Wam & graced a few box-swappers systems even. There's plenty of generally very good feedback so they're summat of a known quantity.........On recollection I can't recollect anyone pairing one up with a powerful valve amp as in general S/S Pre + Valve power does seem summat of a 'Cinderella' pairing compared to the more commonly recommended Valve Pre+ S/S Power combo.
The MF has 6 line inputs, two of which are balanced + switchable MM/MC phono stage.......One each of the Balanced + Line inputs is also switchable as a Unity Gain HT/AV input from the back panel (*cute little chromed toggle switches, same as fer MM/MC switching). There's also a set of tape outs + tape monitor switch so you can easily run a H/Phone Amp (there's no H/Phone output on t' M.F. A1fbp) I have an MF x-can v8 I use fer can listening which usefully has a tape loop output which feeds my Alva Nanoface for recording vinyl.
It has remote switching for inputs, volume, tape monitor & mute. The remote is pretty horrid, but works well. I have a couple of Logitech Harmony Remotes & these are much nicer & cut down on clutter & are pretty much superior too any OEM ones I've had. They retain all the functionality of the originals with much better ergonomics. The 'Transmit Radius' coverage* (*Just made that up
) is also very good & I can easily control all my eqpmt from pretty oblique angles, indeed generally even pointing the remote pretty much any old where/how. :roll:
I have my full AV setup integrated to my main Stereo Rig & the results of using my main stereo power amp with my Audioflaps 8000 series Processor + 7 channel power amp combo are extremely good. Although it still always feels completely mentalist ter me fer basically fairly limited use.....its 5 boxes before any AV sources
& the power up sequence always feels like a pre-flight check.
The A1fbp also has a USB input which I guess is a bit of a 'Brucie Bonus' .......it'll only handle 16/44.1 + 16/48 & has always had limited usefulness to me as if I ever need a quick hookup to the laptop It'll mostly be for doing cleanup/editing etc on my recorded Vinyl which is all 24bit. I now use the C.A. SM6's USB input which is very good......Lol in the fairly recent past I actually had 3 different examples of this limited functionality M.F. USB input, as my M1 DAC + x-can v8 also feature it too & indeed all sound identical. I believe the more recent revision of the M1 DACs USB input is now 'asynchronous' & will handle higher sampling rates/bit depths.
A1 fbp's often seem to turn up for up to £450 & even at the upper end of this seem to offer VGFM..........M.F.'s more recent M6 Pre looks all but identical on paper specs + inputs & flexibility to the earlier A1fbp* (*I have the early glossy brochure for the M6/AMS series with comprehensive quoted measurement figures) The main difference's look ter be that the M6 is in one box with more substantial casework & that it's reverted back to the use of a proper big 'n tactile KNOB
fer vol control.* (* The MF A1fbp's vol control is all analogue BTW...just with digital readout)
