After Musical Fidelity's run of new Class A products with not insignificant price tags, comes the new Musical Fidelity M6 Series. With the M6, MF have gone back to the more traditional higher power, class AB output design. The range consists of the M6 CD Player, M6i Integrated Amplifier, M6 Pre amplifier and the M6PRX power amplifier. The M6's predecessors, the A5.5 and A5 were always popular at Zouch Audio, so the M6 has some big boots to fill. 

On the face of it the new M6 series doesn't look all that different from the old A5 and 5.5 series'. You can still tell it's a Musical Fidelity product from twenty paces. They look very similar but gone are the two black plates each side of the front panel but the large centrally positioned volume control still remains. It looks like they use the same chasis for the range and aside from the new USB and XLR inputs, the rear panel of the amplifiers remain mostly the same.

The M6i even has less power than it's predecessors, now only 200 watts per channel yet they are asking you to part with more money. Whats going on with that?!

So you'd be forgiven for thinking that the new M6 series is just a slightly revamped version of the A5.5 series BUT that couldn't be further from the truth.

Lets start with the M6i integrated amplifier, yes it has less power than the previous models and yes it looks very similar but it is a totally different animal. The tonal balance remains similar to previous models but we feel it draws much from the reference Titan Power Amplifier by using the same output devices but less of them and other trickle down technology. The soundstage is very very wide and very very deep, when listening to Orchestral music, the soundstage tends to recess which gives a much better sense of how the orchestra is actually laid out. Then when you fancy listening to something a bit heavier, the more than ample 200 wpc will rock and roll with the best. The new M6i is also equipped with a USB input which for anyone who either already uses digitally stored music or is thinking about doing so, comes in very useful in allowing you to connect you PC directly to the amplifier. Asthetically, the M6i looks more refined, more subtle with a much better finish and a better feeling of solidity in the buttons and volume control. Unfortunatly it seems that Musical Fidelity's trend of making the volume control indicator very small has continued into the M6 series so once again gauging how far you are up the volume pot at distance could have been made easier and when the amplifier gives the impression of such effortless power, it would pay to make the display clearer.  On balance though, this is a very small fly in a very large dollop of ointment and as with the Primo and AMS35i  you soon forget about this tiny detail when you get drawn into the music. 

Next the M6 CD. This now comes with extra features including XLR outputs and it is evident that MF have wanted to make their products as future proof as possible. The M6 CD has a smorgasboard of digital inputs, a Coaxial SPDIF, optical and a type B USB (incase your not sure, type B is the square one). So now you can hook your digital radio, computer and possibly even your digital TV receiver into the player to use the very high quality onboard DAC.  As a stand alone CD though, the M6 CD is excellent. Superb tonal balance and a good sense of realism. Like to M6i, it feels well built and solid though it would make sense not to put the draw open / close button underneath the draw but maybe I'm just being picky! Generally speaking though, the M6 CD is an excellent piece of equipment. Like to amplifier, it may look very similar to the previous A5 and 5.5 but it is definately in a different league,  a huge step foward and features like the digital inputs including the USB make it a very versatile machine. 

As many of you may know, Musical Fidelity's previous efforts in making pre power combinations based on either A3 or A5 models have never gone down too well. That's not to say that they weren't any good, the question always remained whether it warranted the extra cash and extra real estate over the integrated version but now the new M6Pre and M6PRX have addressed that. The M6Pre is very similar to the M6i in terms of features, it has a USB input, a home theatre bypass (RCA), two XLR inputs (one of which can be used in HT bypass mode) and the addition of a switchable MM / MC phono stage. The power amplifier however is far from an M6i with the pre amp stage removed. It develops 260 watts per channel which is enough to drive most speakers. Like the rest of the range, it is more refined with XLR inputs and two RCA inputs allowing the user to connect two different sources with variable volume controls. These are selected using a switch on the front panel. 

Within 5 minutes of the Pre and PRX landing on the shop floor it was up and running with the M6CD and DALI Helicon 400 MK2 speakers. First impressions from stone cold? Instantly impressive, a gargantuan soundstage, huge bass and immense detail. Was it all a little too big? Was is a little to "up and at you"? Yes! After a quick cuppa and a read up on the new combo, we returned to listen again. This time everything was better proportioned, although the system still presented a massive soundstage and an ''up and at you'' presentation, it had a much better balance. That huge bass now much more controlled and defined. The system becomes so involving, it just sucks you in and makes you smile. The combination isn't flawless and some purists may say it's huge soundstage is a slightly removed from the realism of the performance but personally I don't care. This combination makes music fun and makes you want to put on CD after CD. At £5000 for the combination it represents good value and we think it will easily hold it's own against any other similarly priced equipment and most importantly, it does what any good system does. It makes you happy!

So the new M6 range has gone down a treat here at Zouch Audio, all the equipment is fairly priced, built well and theres nothing you can't play on it. Like all great things, they have a few small flaws like the volume control but as a whole, we love this kit. The removal of the pretend grab handles and the new flat front panel make the M6 look more grown up, more refined. We do recommend you come down to listen to the new range, whether it be the CD and Integrated amp or the full pre power combo, it's bound to leave a lasting impression. 

As the hours rolled by, things just keep getting better and better!

It makes you wonder what bi amping with two M6PRXs would do!