So, when I acquired a Musical Fidelity A1 to AB vs. The CA-1 I had no intention of keeping it. I got it for a price I could sell it for and I reasoned I'd try a different flavor in my Q Acoustic Concept 50 and then realize I was wasting time with a "big audio" piece that doesn't come close to Van Alstine. I've never come across a "big audio" piece in the same Van Alstine price range that could put up any kind of fight with Van Alstine products, but the A1 has a sumptuous liquidity that I haven't heard in any other amplifier. I found this beginning, as I'm not averse to spending top dollar for preferred performance. In a previous Vandersteen system I had a Hegel H590 which retails for 11k, ultimately in that system I upgraded performance from the Hegel to a Holo Spring 3 KTE DAC feeding Van Alstine DVA M225 monoblocks...heretofore, that was the best system I had put together to my ears. I was forced to sell that entire system because of a move made for a family circumstance. I've been experimenting with a system rebuild ever since.
Gobsmacked that I preferred the A1 over the CA-1, I decided the A1 should be put up against the DVA M225 monos, so I required them last week. Gobsmacked again, even though the DVAs were driving my Q Acoustics beautifully, and with superior presentation to the CA-1, every time I had the DVAs hooked up I was missing the A1...I always switched back to the affordable "big audio" 25 watt integrated. And so it stays