Musical Fidelity Kw 550…

TroyD · January 14

Is in the house!! One came up at a price I couldn’t pass up….and I’m as excited as a puppy with two peckers

That power supply is a BEAST. It’s gotta be 75lbs. I’m getting too old to schlep gear like that…..

Looking forward to getting in some listening!!

BDT

VR3 · January 14

Very very nice!

Need more! Pics and a Polkfest!

F1nut · January 14

Nice Troy. Now you can make smoke come out of those ribbons.

Clipdat · January 14

That's a real big boy integrated right there! Congrats!

Nice speakers, too! Enjoy.

Joey_V · January 14

One of the legends

msg · January 14

Excellent.

pitdogg2 · January 14

Congratulations Troy!!

WagnerRC · January 14

congrats Troy. nice.

billbillw · January 14

That amp was on my short list before I went to the Class D dark side. I'm sure it sounds fabulous.

treitz3 · January 14

Trust me when I say that this amp will (properly matched) rock your damned socks off!!

Tom

heiney9 · January 14

Great score! Enjoy

H9

tonyb · January 15

Nice....really nice Troy. Congrats on a nice scoop.

Jetmaker737 · January 15

Beautiful piece of gear! Enjoy.

TroyD · January 15

So, I after a few hours of listening, I have a few thoughts but nothing that I'd hang my hat on other than this is a different animal from the Tri Vista or the A1008........

I do have one quibble though.....for a company that has produced some amazing sounding products, of which I've owned a few, they all have the same crappy remote. It is BEYOND infuriating.

Anyone have an aftermarket remote that they recommend?

BDT

VR3 · January 15

My remote worked great with a ir repeater

billbillw · January 15

TroyD wrote: »

So, I after a few hours of listening, I have a few thoughts but nothing that I'd hang my hat on other than this is a different animal from the Tri Vista or the A1008........

I do have one quibble though.....for a company that has produced some amazing sounding products, of which I've owned a few, they all have the same crappy remote. It is BEYOND infuriating.

Anyone have an aftermarket remote that they recommend?

BDT

Assuming you probably just need the simple controls like power toggle/input/volume control? I see that remote has a bunch of buttons for other MF devices, but I suspect you don't need those.
Back when I had a BAT VK30, I used a URC-R7 which I found super cheap on eBay. It had a good ergo feel in the hand. Maybe check for that, or a similar R5, R6. The lower the number, the simpler they are. The question is whether they have codes for Musical Fidelity built in or not. You can usually find the list of manufacturer codes through a google search for the remote. Sometimes smaller manufacturers will use use generic codes from larger companies like Philips. That might take some research.
Otherwise, Harmony remotes are great and they will certainly have MF in their code base, but they require software setup on a PC which some don't like.
Remotecentral.com used to be a good source of info, but it seems like their website may be down permanently.

EDIT: I was looking at some newer products from ONE for All. They have some newer universal remotes that use a smartphone app to setup. I cannot seem to find a list of manufacturers that are supported though. If you can find an older universal remote that has a "learning" function, you can probably get away with teaching the main commands from the MF remote. The inputs can be a problem though. You usually have to pick one of the number buttons and assign each, unless the MF remote cycles through each with a key press, then you can assign that to the channel up/down.

pearsall001 · January 15

Congrats!!! Dynamite integrated for sure. Many hours of audio bliss await.
I feel your pain on the cheesy remote...it baffles me how companies can produce such great products then skimp on such a much needed remote. The remote should be on the same level.

treitz3 · January 15

Nice score, Troy! Good on ya' bro'. Yeah, MF doesn't play around when it comes to those very heavy power supplies.

Tom

F1nut · January 15

billbillw, just fyi, the power button is manual on MF amps.

Troy, I use an older Harmony 550, which I love. It has none of the MF remotes volume control issues. Harmony has stopped making remotes, but I believe they still support them.

For a learning remote I can recommend a long out of production Sony RM-VL900, which you can sometimes find new on eBay.

billbillw · January 15

F1nut wrote: »

billbillw, just fyi, the power button is manual on MF amps.

I knew they had a hard toggle power button, but I wasn't sure if there was a standby/sleep feature.

treitz3 · January 15

Not on my amp. Hard button press only on both the PS and the amp itself.

Tom

Conradicles · January 15

I got an old Harmony remote if you need one Troy. Nice AMP!

TroyD · January 15

Yeah, for an amp that goes for what a good used car goes for, I’m thinking a metal brick a la the Jolida JD100 remote.

And the problem with ALL of them, they switch components perfectly…..volume control iis super frustrating

F1nut · January 15

volume control iis super frustrating

Yeah, I don't get it. The Harmony or the Sony control the volume perfectly, so it's not the volume potentiometer, it's the damn remote.

F1nut · January 15

The newer remotes look much nicer.

treitz3 · January 15

Speaking of that Jolida JD100....you ever get that thing back up and running?

Tom

skipshot12 · January 16

Congrats on that mamma jamma.

Had the KW 500 pushing my Infinity Prelude MTS’ speakers and it was beautiful!

msg · January 16

+1 on their remotes. When I got the A5 running, that was definitely a wtf-disappointment after concluding it wasn't a singular fluke or narrow transmit angle. Too bad, too, because they've a nice look and feel to them.

I learned my MF remotes into my URC MX-800 remote, but the learn capture wasn't accurate, despite a few tries, and sometimes my volume knob will "run away". @F1nut told me he experienced similar, and that a Harmony resolved that. They were already discontinued by that point and difficult to find on the 'Bay, or stupid expensive.

If/when a runaway happens, you'll be proud of your panther-like speed and leap capabilities. But since you're not new to MF @TroyD , have you experienced this already with your prior MF gear?

Best keep limber. Gotta wear wristbands, headband, and stretch out before listening sessions. Also recommend sippy cups for bigboy sodas to mitigate spills.

pitdogg2 · January 16

Troy's able to leap small coffee tables in a single bounce once he gets the angle right off the small workout trampoline....correct. Okay maybe two bounces.....

billbillw · January 16

FYI: I see used Harmony 650/700 models quite frequently on Facebook Marketplace for under $50. Those two are basically the same except for color. If buying used, you can usually tell if they were seldom used by how much wear is on the volume/channel/d-pad buttons. I've seen a few that look practically new.

TroyD · January 16

Appreciate the remote suggestions!

So just in a couple days of listening….wow. This is a completely different animal than the tri vista or the A1008. Incrementally better in some respects….bass definition, for example. Lacks that glorious midrange liquidity of the tri vista and top end sparkle…but holy crap, solid, 3D, holographic imaging batman.

Again, more to follow but this was unexpected for sure….

Musical Fidelity Kw 550…

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