Musical Fidelity M3 integrated

If you are talking about the NuVista M3 any rca ic will do; of course length would be a problem. You could get custom lengths made. I suggest using a Bob's Devices SUT if you are using MC cartridges with the phono stage or a good external phono stage. It is still a very good unit; mine blew away a Mac 402 with matching pre a couple of years ago.

Thank you for your reply. I thought there are internal jumpers between the pre- and the power section. Maybe I've mistaken?

What a surprise that the M3 blew the Mac 402 with matching pre. How do you come to this conclusion? Have you change the main power cord to the power suply?

Looks like I'm stuck with the M3 for a while, but I can live with that :)

I came to the conclusion along with my friend who owned the Mac. On his Wilson Sasha the M3 was so much better he sold the Mac the next week. Yes, it has internal jumpers; they are short RCA ICs. I removed them when I wanted to try my kW line stage with the power section of the M3. The kW was better, after all it cost as much as the M3 just for the line stage, but not that much better. I have tried other power cords and there is an improvement. I also changed the umbilical cables for ones made by Sweetcome Audio in Hong Kong; they are not that expensive and a definite improvement. I also got a power cord from them. I have also used some PS Audio cords with a Voodoo adapter.

Wow, so he sold the exspensive Mac?! What a change of fortune! I guess he got himself his own M3 then. I'll try to open the M3 soon to get a clearer picture of what to do. I have a spare 0.5 meter of Kimber Kable PBJ. Do you think they'll do the trick or should I get something else? Mine umbilical cables are from Kimber Kable as well, and I'll get in touch with Sweetcome Audio to see if they still sell a suitable power cord for the M3.

You've been very helpfull, sir! :)

Actually, he went whole hog and got some Lamm monos. He had a tube Lamm pre at first and then bought the kW line stage I had. His last purchase has been a AR Ref 5 line stage. Needless to say this is a very good sounding system. I hesitate to recommend any ICs as they are really a matter of personal taste. The best .5 meter ones I have tried are some solid silver Siltech with WBTs. I haven't used them for a while due to reorganizing my system. There is also an internal switch for selecting MM or MC that is not mentioned in the manual. Any good power cord will do; the problem is that they all sound different. Voodoo makes an adapter that allows you to use 15 amp cables; some of the 15 amp ones I have used are bigger and heavier than most 20 amp ones. My email is stanleywallen@yahoo.com if I can be any farther help.

I love my M3 and intend to keep it forever. I even have a spare set of nuvista tubes just in case. I have switched my phono to MC and run my Lyra Delos straight in. Excellent sound.

Good move, mr Manitunc. May I ask where to buy a spare set of nuvistas at a good price? I can see I'll keep my M3 for a long haul as well.

I must say it's tempting to send it to MuFi for an uppgrading, but it's quite exspensive...

I bought some also by searching the web by the part number; they were quite cheap for NOS parts. I would not have MF do the upgrade.

An update for those who are interested: As a precaution I've installed the new nuvistors (rca 6cw4) and replaced the ICs between pre-power as well (with 0.5m kimber pbj). It was a fairly easy job. No soldering at all. The amp is playing now. guess i'll have to wait for the tubes to "burn in" (for how long do you think?). As it's right now I can't tell any improvements.

Couldn't located the mm/mc but I'm in no hurry in this matter.

Thanks for your kind help :)