Not sure if anyone is still out there on this thread, but I wanted to post some thoughts. I’m actually the guy that verdant audio mentions going from a Marantz amplifier to an M5SI at the beginning of this thread. The Marantz I had was the PM 14-S1 and the M5SI had it all over that thing. I’m sure my choice of Sonus Faber had something to do with it, but overall the 14-S1 just wasn’t for me.
Fast forward to now, and I’ve had the KI Ruby set for a year as well as still have and swap in the M5 SI. I think both are great. I’m actually on here right now because I have loaded pictures and started a whole post to sell the M5 SI due to moving and space and all that. I haven’t put the ad up because I’m torn. I really love that musical fidelity amp and I’m trying to justify keeping it even though it’s completely illogical, and I will probably use it less often where I’m going to move.
I’ve never heard the M6 SI but like everyone else I’ve read all over the web that the two are supposed to sound very similar, and one can be a good indicator of the other keeping in mind the 6 would be an elevated experience. The build quality of the musical fidelity is very good and everyone saying it’s built like a tank is very correct. But the ruby set is just in a different league of equipment. The build quality on these is outrageous. I’m sure to those out there who have $10,000 pieces the build quality is normal, but when I unboxed these I was VERY impressed. Impressed like I was talking out loud to myself on how bad ass these things felt to the touch and when you tap on them and when you run your hand across them. Ha! That last part would sound really weird to the uninitiated!
I personally don’t want a built-in DAC in my amplifier, so the ruby fits that bill for me. I think the SA KI sounds absolutely wonderful and especially super audio cd. I will, however, give a quick story of an experience that happened when I did a comparison between the DAC on the SA KI Ruby and my Chord Qutest. I had the SA player plugged coaxial into the Qutest, as well as RCA’s from the SA player into the CD input on the PM KI. The Qutest was in “Line 1” on the PM KI so I was easily able to push one button on the remote to switch the output I was hearing from DAC to DAC. The Qutest was undeniably noticeably more present and more ready to fight, so to speak. and anyone who has owned the Qutest can attest that it sounds fantastic. I could go on about that piece alone, but I won’t. The SA KI sounds great, as I mentioned, but it’s just not quite as sensitive I guess. That might be the word. so sometimes I listen to CDs through the SA KI as a transport to the Qutest, and other times like right now I just listen to the CD player like I did 20 years ago. Both ways are enjoyable to the utmost, and I feel very fortunate to have this equipment.
One final thought before I ask what anyone thinks on me selling the M5SI or if anyone might be interested in it, I have the Marantz TT – 15 turntable and it hooks into the PMKI and plays flawlessly. Whenever I hooked it into the M5 SI there was a constant buzz. It would lower in volume if I grounded or didn’t ground but it was there all the time. I found that very odd since so many reviews talk about how good the preamp for phono is in the M5 SI. I’ve used it in two different homes and used both grounds from the turntable, one of the grounds, no grounds, nothing seems to get rid of that buzz. Thoughts?
Anyone have a good home for a musical fidelity M5SI? Ha ha! Ahhh!