Disc Players

With product design and assembly so long associated with its factory in Wembley, Musical Fidelity was for decades a staple, home-grown hi-fi brand. So it will take time for the change in brand ownership to sink into the audiophile consciousness. The iconic style of MF's separates look to have been retained, right down to the cardboard packaging, but in tacit acknowledgement of its shift in geography, they now bear the label: 'Musical Fidelity – an Austrian Brand'.

Under the continuous direction of CEO Antony Michaelson for over 35 years, the brand had long been distributed in Austria by Audio Tuning Vertriebs GmbH, parent company of Pro-Ject Audio Systems, and owned by 'vinyl visionary' Heinz Lichtenegger. With Michaelson on the cusp of retiring, and the two CEOs having already worked closely for over two decades, the future of Musical Fidelity was secured by the sale of the brand name and associated intellectual property to Audio Tuning in May 2018. With worldwide distribution, after-sales support and its Far Eastern manufacturing relatively unchanged, this acquisition went ahead with very little fanfare. For the audiophile it is 'business as usual' and with the hope that – Audio Tuning's engineering team now on tap – Musical Fidelity will gain a new and vibrant lease of life. PM