Musical Fidelity M3x ViNYL Phono Stage - Black

The M3x ViNYL — Every Setting on the Front Panel, With the Record Still Playing

Almost every phono stage hides its loading switches underneath. You set them once, at installation, and you rarely check again. Musical Fidelity put all of the M3x ViNYL's controls on the front panel, each with an LED showing which value is active.

That changes how you use it. Capacitance and impedance are supposed to be matched to your cartridge by ear as much as by specification sheet, and it is a far easier judgement to make when you can step through the options during a track instead of between sessions.

Stuart Smith summed it up for Hifi Pig in October 2021: the M3x "allows the cartridge you use to reveal its own character without adding too much of the character of the electronics inside the M3X itself."

What the Front Panel Gives You

Six MM Loads and Six MC Loads

Moving magnet runs at 47 kΩ with 50, 100, 200, 300, 350 or 400 pF. Moving coil offers 25, 50, 100, 400, 800 or 1,200 ohms. That is a genuine spread, wide enough to cover nearly any cartridge you are likely to put in front of it.

Two Gain Steps, Plus Six More

Moving magnet delivers 40 dB, moving coil 60 dB, and a +6 dB button raises either to 46 or 66 dB. Sensitivity works out at 5 mV in for 500 mV out on moving magnet, and 500 microvolts in for the same 500 mV on moving coil.

The IEC Button

This engages the IEC rolloff, which cuts the subsonic content a warped record produces. It is a per-record decision that lives under your finger rather than under the chassis, which is the whole argument for this front panel.

Discrete Circuitry and the Measurements

The signal path is entirely discrete rather than built around op-amp chips. RIAA accuracy is ±0.2 dB on moving magnet and ±0.3 dB on moving coil. Distortion measures below 0.028 percent, and crosstalk is better than 100 dB in moving magnet mode.

What Reviewers Are Saying

Stuart Smith reviewed the M3x ViNYL for Hifi Pig in October 2021 and reached a conclusion that does not need much interpreting: "there is very little to whine about and lots to commend." He listed the build as offering plenty of loading options.

On the character of the sound itself, his summary was "Organic sounding with an overall lack of artifice" — and on the price, that it "represents good value for money given the sonics and the features on hand."

Who Is the Musical Fidelity M3x ViNYL Best For?

• Anyone who wants to hear what loading does rather than read about it — six values per cartridge type, all on the front, all switchable while a record plays.
• Owners of a low-output moving coil. Sixty-six decibels with the gain button engaged, into a load as low as 25 ohms, covers the demanding end of the category.
• Listeners who change cartridges often. Nothing needs unscrewing, unplugging or turning over when the next one arrives.
• Buyers who want a full-size component. This is a 17-inch-wide chassis weighing 14.5 pounds, built to sit in a rack alongside everything else rather than hide behind the turntable.
• Not for a balanced system — connections are a single RCA pair in and out, with no XLR at any point. If your amplifier expects balanced inputs, check our other phono preamplifiers for one that offers them.

How Does It Connect?

A single pair of RCA inputs takes the turntable, and a single pair of outputs goes to a line input. Output sits at 500 mV nominal and will swing to 10 volts, so no realistic amplifier input is going to be short-changed by it.

Set MM or MC first, then work through the loading positions with a familiar record playing. The unit draws 20 watts at most and nothing at all in standby, so leaving it connected costs you very little.

Pairs Well With

A stage with this much adjustment is worth feeding properly:

• A low-output moving coil cartridge — the 25 and 50 ohm settings and the +6 dB button were built with these in mind.
• A shielded tonearm cable — its capacitance adds to whatever you select on the front panel, so treat them as one setting.
• Cleaning fluid and a brush — a discrete signal path this quiet makes surface debris the loudest thing left.
• A turntable worth the electronics — loading adjustment can only refine what the cartridge and arm deliver to it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What loading can I actually select?

Moving magnet capacitance runs 50, 100, 200, 300, 350 and 400 pF at a fixed 47 kΩ. Moving coil impedance covers 25, 50, 100, 400, 800 and 1,200 ohms. An LED shows which position is live in each case.

How much gain does it have?

Forty decibels on moving magnet and 60 dB on moving coil, with a +6 dB button adding to either. That gives 46 dB and 66 dB respectively, which reaches into genuine low-output moving coil territory.

What does the IEC button do?

It engages an additional rolloff that removes the subsonic energy a warped record generates. Think of it as a rumble filter with a switch on the front, usable record by record rather than set once and forgotten.

Does it have balanced outputs?

Connections are RCA throughout — one pair in, one pair out. A system built around balanced interconnects will need a different phono stage, so this is worth confirming against your amplifier before ordering.

How big is it?

Full width, at 440 by 105 by 390 millimeters, or roughly 17.3 by 4.1 by 15.4 inches. It weighs 6.59 kilograms, about 14.5 pounds, and is built to occupy a proper shelf position rather than tuck away.

What does it draw from the wall?

Twenty watts at maximum, and zero in standby. Musical Fidelity specifies the unit for both 115 and 230 volt mains at 50 or 60 hertz, so it is indifferent to where in the world it ends up.

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