The Musical Fidelity M8 Pre was designed according to the company’s philosophy of allocating production costs in proportion to their impact on the final result. According to the company’s specialists, in luxury high-end “designer” equipment, metal work can account for up to 98% of the project cost, although it has very little to do with sound quality. In contrast, when designing the M8 components, heavy investments were made in the most important components for sound: electronic components (transistors, capacitors, resistors, etc.), printed circuit boards and power transformers.
Moreover, even premium-level components for wholesale purchases do not greatly affect the final price of the product. The design as such here is subject to the principle of reasonable sufficiency: a welded steel chassis, powerful heat sinks made of a standard profile, thick front panels without any decorative elements. The only thing the designers allowed themselves was manual grinding of the front surface and stylish nameplates made of medical stainless steel. And with such strict minimalism, the m8 models look solid and convincing.
The amplification circuits of the Musical Fidelity M8Pre operate in pure class A; Each channel is equipped with a power supply with its own transformer, and each stage in it has its own regulator. The component has two balanced inputs, five unbalanced inputs (one of the XLR and one of the RCA inputs can be switched, if necessary, to HT mode for integration into DC systems), a recording output, an input for a switchable high-quality MM/MC phono stage – all this will be enough for the most “branched” audio path.
The built-in phono stage is designed to connect MM, as well as MS heads with an output of 0.44 mV and higher. Of the six line inputs, two are balanced; direct signal supply is provided, bypassing the volume control when integrated into a home cinema system with a surround sound processor. The volume control is an electronic multi-turn with 0.5 dB steps; when turned, the level is displayed on a small indicator.
The Musical Fidelity M8Pre weighs 17kg, thanks to its reinforced steel chassis and dual mono design. Each channel is powered by its own 350-watt transformer, filter and stabilizers, due to which it was possible to obtain a crossover attenuation of -96 dB (1 kHz). The circuitry is completely balanced; in combination with bipolar power supply, it provides effective suppression of any interference, both internal (noise and interference) and penetrating through the supply network. The preamplifier comes with a remote control that is universal for the entire M8 series.
Characteristics of Musical Fidelity M8 Pre
Maximum output voltage RMS/Peak: RCA outputs 9.5/26 V, XLR outputs 19/52 V
Output impedance: 47 Ohms
Total harmonic distortion (20 Hz – 20 kHz): RCA inputs 0.005%, XLR inputs 0.004%
Sensitivity: linear inputs 352 mV, Phono MM/MC input 3.5/0.44 mV
Input impedance: RCA/XLR inputs 75/150 kOhm , at the Phono MM input 47 kOhm
Overload capacity: at the linear inputs 12 dB, at the Phono MM inputs 29 dB
Reproducible frequency band (+0/-0.1 dB): 5 – 100000 Hz
Dimensions: 440 x 162 x 400 mm
Weight: 17 kg
