So Macho! Why Musical Fidelity's Massive M8xi Integrated is a Titan Amongst Amplifiers

With well over 500 watts per channel, this is one of the most powerful integrated amplifiers ever made. Yet it's surprisingly inexpensive compared to much of the largely US-made high end competition. Mike and David are seriously impressed by this big chunk of heavy metal, as it's more than just a monster powerhouse - it actually sounds great too.
Each episode of Hi-Fi Riff features Mike and David's unedited, unexpurgated views about all manner of weird and wonderful hi-fi designs. Business executive Mike has a wealth of knowledge from previous hi-fi retail experience, and David has written about hi-fi for thirty years. Now Editor-in-Chief of StereoNET, he's picked up a few things along the way.
So relax and enjoy some one-take hi-fi riffing - and please leave your comments below. And don’t forget to hit the Subscribe button, this one goes up to eleven!
The eighties-tastic title tune is called ‘UFO/Mike’s Jumper’, and used with the express permission of our old pal and rights holder Simon Lythe.
Follow Hi-Fi Riff on Instagram here: hifiriff
Listen to this episode as a podcast here:
podcasters.spo...

[@carlstow2076]

Great video as ever guys. You told us about how good the bass was but forgot to tell us about the midrange qualities and the high frequencies 😂😂

[@IainWilliamson-kk5hs]

Always a pleasure to watch you both. Thanks you for yours insights and acerbic wit

[@johnricketts4732]

In the nicest possible way, in the hope of getting on the end of year comments again and because your HiFi royalty, can I have the Eric Morecambe mug.

[@antunkatona5674]

Hi Fellas! I’ve been following your channel since you started it and I must say, I really like the feeling I get when I watch your videos - what a cheerful, relaxed and friendly atmosphere you have created in that room! You two have obviously known each other for many years and it shows. It is especially important because like all great things in life, HIFI is best when it is shared! I may not always agree with your assessment of audio gear but there are things that I do agree with and I especially appreciate you making episodes on retro gear. Those are some of my favourite episodes. Best wishes from Croatia! Cheers!

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Thank you so much, that is a really nice thing to say and hugely appreciated. Mike

[@antunkatona5674]

@@Hi-FiRiff Straight from the heart! :) Cheers!

[@timothyfreeseha4056]

I love the design. Not a button fest, which I always appreciate . It really does remind me of the super amp days of yore.

[@cardinalfang7725]

"In hi-fi, there's a dreadful habit of just playing music that sounds great because it's really well recorded, even though it's totally crap music generally." This is true at too many audio shows and the reason I either leave, or don't go into some rooms at all. I could burn that quote into a big wooden sign and hang it above my system.

[@paulnicholls6872]

If you get a chance, have a listen to the Musical Fidelity M6si. 220 watt dual mono, again great value and plenty of power.

[@titntin5178]

Cheers guys, always a pleasure. My poor little 4 ohm Elysian 3 speakers would probably melt under this wattage, but I appreciate that those living in a stately home, or with difficult to drive speakers will appreciate the power reserves. I've always been a Musical Fidelity fan and used many of their amps and even the old MC2 speakers back in the day (they are still in my loft), and my unused A3 Cd is still in the system in case someone brings a disc around! Although I'm pretty happy with my Naim Nap 250DR, I'm drawn to trying a musical fidelity amp again - I can't help feeling there's a bit of MF 'magic' missing.

[@razisn]

No speakers melt because one's using a powerful amp, unless one gets wild with the volume control without paying attention to the speaker distortion this causes. A wimpy speaker can also melt them in this way... Watts are not thrown at a speaker uncontrollably, the speaker calls for them.

[@titntin5178]

​@@razisnAre you this litteral in real life? What a laugh it must be to be around you... Of course Im not suggesting speakers will literally melt with an over powered amp. Thanks for stating the obvious. 😂

[@razisn]

@@titntin5178 not only will they not melt but no harm will be done to them at all. If you already knew that what was the point of your comment. Was it because you had nothing else to write? It wasn’t even humorous. You’re not an entertaining and funny person despite of what you may be thinking of yourself.

[@titntin5178]

@@razisn Oh no, the claws are out! Ouch, I'm devastated by your opinion. My comment was merely to state that the power provided by this amp is far more than I need. I clearly had something else to write, because I wrote several other things! Regardless of what you think, Dave has often replied to my comments and one of my comments was recently featured on their comments yearly round up. You may have zero humour, but the guys most certainly do. Why do you watch them at all, if you are this humourless? If your statement of obviousness was initially meant to be helpful, then I guess thanks for trying..... Your dis though is pretty poor mate, you really need to work on that if you want to genuinely offend someone. Good day to you 😀

[@razisn]

@@titntin5178 you must have too much spare time in your hands to waste it writing all this rant. No one in here knows you, neither do you signify in any way (for example with appropriate punctuation or other marks) that you intended your comment to be a joke. I've seen people that don't know any better making such comments in all seriousness. Still, you decided to get defensive and passive aggressive because of my comment which was intended to convey the truth to you or to anyone reading this. Btw I have some news for you, no one cares whether this amp or any other is overkill for you, including our hosts. Ta!

[@wladers39]

Beautiful flow, guys. Whatever it was you had before shooting this one

[@MrVinylista]

Just Coke. Nothing crazy though, just a couple of lines...

[@titntin5178]

@@MrVinylista Thank god for humour and people who get it :)

[@dougg1075]

It’s probably all anyone would ever need. I like it

[@Hi-FiRiff]

So do we 👍

[@Mackey-nb1rw]

Hey great review of a beast of an Amp- I have only heard 150 W ( my ATC SIA 150MKII or 227 W class D Eigentakt Amp) - one suggestion for a review which will compliant your Sugden DAC and Synthesis dac reviews - maybe Mr Stereonet could use his ‘pull’ and get hold of the Audial S5 which uses the classics Phillips Multi bit dac chip and is NOS ( I admit to owing Chord dacs including TT2 and MScaler) I am interinterested in trying something different ? - ps what’s your go to dac Michael?

[@Hi-FiRiff]

I have a Naim Uniti Atom Headphone edition (no power amp), which I always seem to some back to. Mike

[@AngusRShamal]

Hi! Ever considered reviewing/riffing the tiny integrated PS Audio Sprout100? Punches way above its weight.

[@alanjacobs9216]

Probably, if he could afford it, this would be the ideal amp for Tommy Saxondale. Great chat guys, as always. Coincidentally, I've just received the latest issue of Russ Andrews "Connected" - I live on Corfu, things move slowly here. I loved your interview. I was struck by your statement that this channel has low production standards. Over-egging it a bit there, eh?

[@robertleitch2016]

I salute your restraint in not describing this as a "Big Heavy MF"...

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Why, oh why did I not think of that! Mike

[@Plastpackad]

Orb - Fluffy clouds, what a classic.

[@titntin5178]

Takes me back to festival days and smoking 'herbal' cigarettes :) Great track!

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Definitely! Mike

[@razisn]

What the M8xi MOST PROBABLY cannot drive easily at high levels is speakers that are both insensitive and of impedance that drops to 2 ohms and lower. This is an educated guess having known other similar amps current in their stable. For example, I would be careful using it with electrostatics. This is a bridged amp after all and to get a bridged Class A/B amp to drive such loads with ease you probably need to spend much more money.. Personally, I'd rather have a 200-300Wpc non-bridged amp than a 500W bridged one at the same price. I'm still waiting for MF to offer the power part of the NuVista 800 in an M line chassis as a 330W power amp of reasonable price. Simon Quarry had implicitly told me they're looking into it but that was some years ago.

[@r423sdex]

Electrostatics, they always sound awful.

[@razisn]

@@r423sdex Go back to sleep.

[@jamescrook8815]

Would this amp be enough to handle bowers and wilkins 802d4 rated at 500 watts

[@Cestmoi50]

@@r423sdexthan you obviously don’t know what you are talking about😂😂… but seen your reaction I don’t even think you have equipment remotely close to high end (no offense). But if electrostatic speakers, magneto, band tweeters are the most details And smooth sounding speaker technology available. Hense electrostatic and magnostatic headphones are on every one’s toplist. Like hifiman susvara’s, meze audio, dan clarke, audeze. And for speakers martin logan ESL to give a example

[@oliverbeard7912]

A Jeff Rowland integrated might be a good alternative to this. Certainly looks solid though. Back breaking stuff.

[@garth56]

I can think of maybe one speaker, unlike the Krells or the Dan D'Agostino which double power when the impedance halves, could be the original Apogee's. Correct me if I'm wrong but they went down to 1 Ohm and were a killer 82dB efficient!!!

[@pittsburghpenguinstv9735]

Discovering Orb's 'Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld' selected by DJ Mike

[@MrVinylista]

It was my CD! 😎

[@Hi-FiRiff]

I have it on Vinyl - original pressing. Mike

[@Ricky-cl5bu]

It sounds like a great amplifier

[@r423sdex]

It's not that good.

[@jamescrook8815]

So what's your experience of why it doesn't sound good?

[@garyjones4001]

I have musical fidelity m700 monos which luxman u 700 pre sounds great

[@rulerofrecords1]

Sooo, curious, what would you consider "the best" amp then? I do despise the term but interested what you would rank "above" this monster? Kind regards from cologne and cheers Uli

[@chrisblock6697]

If I wanted to keep a UK theme, how about this with some ATC’s that I understand need power and can get quite loud?

[@Hi-FiRiff]

ATC won't lend me any more speakers as they had to physically restrain me to get their SCM 40's back last time. MIke

[@hamidrezahabibi8111]

With this price category and/or a bit more I’ll go for Aesthetix Mimas; KORA and to respect 🫡 the British manufacturer I’ll definitely go for Trilogy Audio 🇬🇧

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Interesting!

[@garethvaughan426]

Another fab review, what a beast, apart from the dac & the remote don't get the thinking there, talking head in bass bins, did that at a Budgie concert at a small venue in Scarborough lol not the best idea I've had 😮

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Haha Brilliant!

[@waxmonkeys3841]

Great Amp. I went with the M6si500. Basically the same power and specs but without a dac or any digital inputs. I don't want digital on an expensive Amp as digital gets updated and outdated, while great analog will always be great.

[@kurt9948]

I wonder if this m8xi would be a good match for the Yamaha NS-1000M's and NS-2000's that i own.

[@martinscase3904]

Hey, what happened to the Akai reel-to-reel video?

[@martinscase3904]

@@andrewlittleboy8532 ah not the leotards...

[@peterlynn3190]

I didn't imagine it then. Looked forward to that as I cosyed myself a while later. Had one to create music and made for a great overdrive with echo on guitar. Hours of fun.

[@MrVinylista]

Coming (back) soon!

[@tonyjedioftheforest1364]

I started to watch and paused it and when I tried to continue it had totally disappeared.

[@nudebaboon4874]

No headphone amp no phono stage=crazy!!!

[@iborrada]

What is the hifi pub?

[@Hi-FiRiff]

It's a local pub where we talk about Hi-Fi over a beer. It's full when we arrive and empty when we leave for some reason. Mike

[@larsstecken]

I was waiting for the review to start...

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Don't hold your breath! Mike

[@512bb]

Ok guys, how about the infamous "amp killers", Apogee Scintillas?

[@razisn]

See my comment in this thread. Btw amps are not 'killed' anymore nowdays. They go into protection mode.

[@512bb]

As a experienced audiophile of 45 years, I'm well aware of all the protection circuitry built into modern SS amps. My comment was simply meant as a throw back line for all the guys that remember some special times...btw the Scintillas dropped to a 1/2 ohm load, My bi-amped class A Krells were about the only amps that would drive them effectively, watts were not the issue.@@razisn

[@razisn]

@@512bb As an experienced audiophile of more than 45 years I know what the Apogees were. You obviously did not check my comment under this video... Btw neither your age nor your experience are mirrored in your userid or your comment and people in general do not have psychic powers... So I can't see why one should get passive aggressively defensive when someone makes a comment intended to be helpful to readers...

[@512bb]

As I stated it was an easy throwback line to the guys that remember the Apogees, nothing more, nothing less,...and no, I didn't read your comment.@@razisn

[@razisn]

@@512bb You implicitly asked whether the amp would drive them, a question that had already been answered more generically in my comment. Hence I pointed to it, since I hate repeating myself. Rather than reading it and getting your answer you chose to tell us a bit more about yourself and your past gear. Ok then, pleased to have met you..

[@nasdkhan254]

When is the review of the Yamaha ns 1000m??

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Excellent question.... it would be 23 hours long with me asleep for 22 hours and 59 minutes :-) Mike

[@nasdkhan254]

@@Hi-FiRiff Bring it on . I bought a second hand pair recently and I'm enjoying them . However I did reduce the midrange dials on mine a bit to blend in my room

[@michaelbooth6007]

Did you try it Bi - Amped ?

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Ha ha! Two together can cause serious danger to the cosmos due to them being a similar density to a black hole.

[@gaetancharbonneau3902]

The amplifier is extremely cheap, on a watt per $ basis, that's for sure. I wonder how Monolake/Watching clouds sounds on this Musical Fidelity... Cheers guys!

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Wasn't familiar with the track/album. I'll put it on next time I am with DP. Mike

[@kjbunnyboiler]

Evening chaps👍👍

[@michaelevans7015]

Evening!

[@hopebyron8271]

David price I'll have to disagree on your review on the Music fidelity Mx8 , the Rotel Michi X5 series I is definitely better, dont for I've had the Bryston power amps , Marantz PM 10, as you well know iam familiar with the Yamaha N1loom I think your wrong on that one Michi X5 series I has got a better Dac than the music fidilety just dont think you've spent enough time with the x5 Michi X5 350 watt Music 550 watt fidelity lets talk about sound quality as aspose to power your review on the x5 was fair dont think you've spent enough time Michi X5 I'm happy with it !!!

[@Carl-yx1ww]

M8 kiss lol

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Thank you. Mike

[@r423sdex]

I remember when musical fidelity made very good components, seems such a long time ago.

[@alanjacobs9216]

Ah, you've not been listening....or watching this channel.

[@razisn]

The expected out of place trolling comment of the day..

[@tomeasterbrook9486]

@@razisnit’s one of several from the same person that seem to be pretty meaningless & just antagonistic for no reason other than for the sake of trying to get reaction. Oh hold on; what am I doing…….