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While the integrated certainly has an identifiable character, everything that differentiates the Gallos from the Thiels was in evidence. The A5 works with a speaker to maximize its performance without dominating it. Through the midrange, the A5 was just as rich and detailed as it was in the bass and it remained transparent not only to the music but also to everything upstream in the system.


Overall I found the A5's balance remarkably tube-like in the modern sense of tube sound. Its robust warmth and full-bodied demeanor were not overdone and quite welcome in a transistor-based amplifier in the A's price range. But beyond that, the A5 has a powerful yet agile personality that spells out sand amp. From top to bottom, it has an open, uncongested and unfettered quality that breeds both listening excitement and long-term appeal.


I did a lot of listening to LPs utilizing the A5's phono stage and judge it a great windfall. Resolution was generally quite high as was musicality. Though you'll have to restrict cartridge selection to either a moving magnet or a high-output moving coil, in today's market that leaves a lot of attractive options.


The phono section's resolution was excellent. Early on I pressed into service my Denon DP62L turntable outfitted with the Garrott Brothers' Optim FGS Cartridge that usually resides in the family room. The Denon was not welcome in such a high-resolution system. The A5 clearly articulated the shortcomings of this classic turntable. However, when I inserted the Rega P9 with Hadcock GH Export arm and Rega Super Elys cartridge, the system started making some damned fine sounds. The soundstage was huge and depth was as good as the recording would allow. Bass power and articulation were excellent as was midrange detail and openness. Sometimes -- and I stress sometimes -- I wished for just a little more transparency and detail through the treble region but overall I found the A5's phono section an unqualified success.

"Private Investigations" from the eponymous Greatest Hits compilation LP by Dire Straits [Mercury 987576-7] really showed off some of the A5's best attributes. The soundstage was huge, wide and showed off tons of depth. The delineation of the classical guitar had the perfect amount of incisiveness, the plucked strings sounding neither blunted nor artificially sharp. The broken glass at the rear of the soundstage was way back deep in the stage and the various percussion instruments from around the stage were holographic in their presence. The reverberation around Knofler's guitar spread across the room like concentric ripples on a pond. Bob Ludwig's mastering job came to the rescue on the LP's version on "Money For Nothing" which is much less bright than on any prior issues, including the XRCD version of the Brothers In Arms CD. Here on LP, it sounds expansive, powerful and rhythmic without the ear-piercing brightness of prior versions. Also in evidence is greater demarcation between the leading and backing vocals (and their respective textures). Sting's breathy vocal quality is a little more clearly displayed as well. If you're a fan of Dire Straits, don't miss this one.


Speaking of Brothers In Arms, the Simply Vinyl version [SVLP 182] does sound better than any CD version I know. It's also one quiet piece of vinyl and a highly recommended acquisition. Bass is deep and tight, the soundstage expansive. The drums sound faster than hell. This was in fact the first time I'd take notice of what was to become a prominent characteristic of the A5 sound - speed and agility. The presentation is focused and utterly transparent.

A5 CD player
The A5 CD player really impresses as it sounded terrific and seemingly better than its price would promise. It was so good, it almost defied description other than to say that it did just about everything well. It certainly defied any kind of serious criticism. I listened and listened looking for something that separated it from my own reference separates and finally put my finger on something. As compared to the Accustic Arts Drive 1/Audio Aero SE DAC combo -- the combined price of which is 4 x that of the A5 CD player -- the Musical Fidelity piece is more incisive and a little more dynamically demonstrative through the upper midrange and treble. With the wrong system, the A5 could sound just a tad mechanical, a little less organic, a little less fluid. I stress, a little. But the right kind of system can turn this difference into a definite advantage. My reference pieces smooth out the upper registers for a slightly more mellifluous and seemingly natural ride. In the wrong system, this smoothness can sound less dynamically articulated to result in blurred edges and a slight loss of rhythmic excitement. As long as one doesn't drop the A5 CD player into a system with a tipped-up treble, this is pretty much a non-issue. Mate the A5 with neutral speakers or some that lean toward polite reticence and you've got a really synergistic match. In other words, your take here will depend upon whether your glass is already half empty or still half full.


Other than that, the A5 was outstanding in every way. I found it to have a great sense of purity through the midrange that matched the A5 integrated. One of my favorite aspects of the A5 combo's performance was its punchy bass that seemed to accentuate note-to-note dynamic contrasts while never raising them above the plane of the music. It seemed to draw attention to the bass based on its unusually strong presentation but the overall musical balance remained undisturbed and the presentation was never muddied. For once, bass aficionados can have their cake and eat it too.
The A5 components are two birds of a feather and work synergistically by not fighting each other nor masking each other's virtues but by reinforcing what each does so well. I speak of the boldness in the bass coupled with as rich and uncolored a midrange as I've ever heard anywhere near this price. The A5s' single-mindedness also translates to coherence. No big bold bass coupled with reticence anywhere else for example. You listen to the A5 CD player and you have the sense that you're getting the unadulterated truth - just more of it. The A5 CD player makes the strongest of arguments for an integrated CD player that'll leave plenty of budget for something else; music maybe? Concert tickets? Maybe even a better pair of speakers? Yeah, that's the ticket.


I've been using Green Day's American Idiot CD [Reprise 48777-2] for months now. I like the music and it's a good example of a decent run-of-the-mill CD. On "Jesus of Suburbia", I heard something I'd never heard before: the back of Billy Joe Armstrong's head. Well, I didn't hear it as much as I could almost see it. In other words, rather than just having excellent pinpoint definition, I could hear him standing in a very three-dimensional spot on the stage and easily sensed the space directly behind his voice. Ditto for the various instruments that are placed around the stage. I could almost see and locate them forward or backward on the stage. I've got the same recording on vinyl and as I listened to the same cut, I couldn't get the same kind of specificity (though the vinyl has more bass).


This kind of image resolution wasn't exactly new. If I may quote myself from the Sound Mechanics Performance Platform review, "Supertramp's Bother Where You Bound CD [A&M CD 5015] proved very interesting. I've been listening to this CD for years and the sound of the soldier's marching in lock step on the title cut has always sounded the same until the other night. As I'd always observed, they walked across the rear of the stage but suddenly they were not at the rear of the soundstage. Suddenly I was hearing details that I'd never heard before. Suddenly they were three-dimensional. They sounded real and I could hear the individual footfalls, as they were not in perfect unison. And I could hear so much depth to the image that I could sense real space beyond the marching. I could almost see them as well as the path in the snow on which they marched."
I've been listening to GRP's Live in Session [GRP-D-9532] for years and I felt compelled to revisit it as well. Once again, dynamics, rhythm and pace seemed different. This was the third or fourth time the pace of the music just seemed faster. No, no two-minute "Three Minute Waltz" here, but the music seemed livelier and more energetic - faster. Instruments were more laid back on the stage on this 1985 disc as compared to the Green Day disc and not quite as holographic. Still, they were very focused and the lateral spread went wall to wall. At times the music here can get rather chaotic with keyboards, electric guitar, saxophone and powerfully recorded drums vying for prominence but the A5 CD player sorted it all out exceptionally well. When Diane Schurr sings "Reverend Lee", the Musical Fidelity's low noise floor means that one can clearly hear the vocal reverberations as they reflect off at least three walls in the studio. Convincing! Percussion, which is very important on this modern jazz disc, was punchy and lightning quick. Bass lines were as intelligible here as they were on the Fagen disc, which is to say they were quick, physical and solid. The saxophone from "Dolphin Dreams" just seemed to soar above the rest of the instrumentation and even its vibrato seemed more dynamically effusive in a way that just charged the music with goose-bump-inducing emotion.


And that's really the magic of the A5 components. You can break it all down into nuts and bolts but these Musical Fidelity products simply sound musical. And if you agree that this is what a good system should be all about, you'll understand the value of the A5 components. It's no more complex than that.


Taken alone or as a pair, the A5 components are extremely satisfying. But before I sign off here, I feel compelled to once again suggest that current and future A5 owners consider a high-quality platform for them, even if it's the inexpensive maple platforms I described earlier in the review.
The A5 integrated amplifier is an excellent piece at an excellent price. It offers performance that I don't know how to equal for less than twice its price and far more if you want to actually improve upon it. I enjoyed its ability to drive any speaker in the house with transparency and rhythmic authority. I loved its look and its relatively compact dimensions. And I loved the fact that I could continue to enjoy LPs with its integral phonostage. At the risk of belittling the A5, I have to add that not only will it make a first-rate centerpiece in a fairly inexpensive first system but it's also absolutely perfect for a compact second system. I can just picture it sitting on a bookshelf in a very finely appointed library or den.


The A5 CD player too is an excellent performer that offers performance just shy of the very finest CD playback systems I've used (and priced at multiples of the A5's asking price). It certainly gave my reference gear more than a run for its money and if I were in the market, there's absolutely no reason this player wouldn't top my own short list.


If these Brits can pack this much music into this $5K pair of components, I'd love to see what spending a little more would buy from Musical Fidelity. But then again, this pair of A5s can more than serve as the final destination for a lot of audiophile journeys. I regularly talk to audiophiles who are looking to do just that. To them, I can't recommend an audition of the A5 components highly enough. You should check them out if for no other reason than to see why they are so popular among certain critics - this one included. Earlier in the review, I made the comment that I initially didn't find the A5 components all that inspiring. That was only initially. In fact the more I listened, the more inspired I found them and this is exactly as it should be. The A5s will likely continue to inspire their owners for years to come. And I don't think I can say anything more laudatory than that.
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