Anyone have a Music First Preamp ?

I've had both Lightspeed and MF in my residence recently.

The Lightspeed is only better than the Music First when the input Z of the amplifier is significantly north of 50K ohms, at least 100K ohms to be conservative. Given finicky system matching requirements, I would not say that the Lightspeed is better than the MF, but I would say "Well, it depends".

Having said that, in the right system, I do prefer the Lightspeed. I prefer the B1 to the MF as well, but the dual channel volume control on the B1 drives me nuts.

I had the entry level Music First passive preamp in my system, but don't recall the model number. A local Music First dealer contacted me because I was in his area and he wanted to borrow the Lightspeed for comparison. In exchange, he offered to have me borrow the Music First, and said that the unit usually retails for $3000+.

I told him before he took the Lightspeed that it really wanted 100K ohm input Z from the amp. He came back and told me the Lightspeed sounded like crap. I asked him about the input Z of the amp, and he said he doesn't pay attention to that stuff and has no idea. Anyway, you can lead a horse to water I guess.

No kidding, eh?

I thought there was a small amount of unnatural dryness to the MF, perhaps clinical would be a good word. The Lightspeed does not have this characteristic when paired with appropriate components.

50K ohms input Z may work fine for you, but it's on the low end of the range. YMMV, but personally, I'd aim for higher than the minimum.