It's exciting to read about the MFA Lumi again. I came close to buying one in the mid 80s from a Phoenix dealer but I just barely preferred the ARC SP-10 for its most impressive dynamics. The MFA had a bass foundation the ARC simply could not touch.
So much has improved in the 30+ years since. Line stages and phono stages have come so far with refinements in resolution, tonal coherency and much lower noise. I could never be satisfied with the SP-10, and the same for the MFA. But these were atop their class at the time.
Perhaps cap updates, a new generation volume control, an IEC to support a removable power cord, would take the MFA to another level of performance. But like the SP-10, the MFA is more of a collector's piece today than competition to preamp products of the last 10 years or so. And I would certainly not chase down the Vendetta for the same reasons above.
So much has improved in the 30+ years since. Line stages and phono stages have come so far with refinements in resolution, tonal coherency and much lower noise. I could never be satisfied with the SP-10, and the same for the MFA. But these were atop their class at the time.
Perhaps cap updates, a new generation volume control, an IEC to support a removable power cord, would take the MFA to another level of performance. But like the SP-10, the MFA is more of a collector's piece today than competition to preamp products of the last 10 years or so. And I would certainly not chase down the Vendetta for the same reasons above.