PRO-JECT AUDIO SYSTEM BUYS MUSICAL FIDELITY

Musical Fidelity’s office has already closed down – although the website remains live. Reports say that Musical Fidelity founder, Anthony Michaelson, has “retired” but continues to offer his services on a consultancy basis

Announced at the recent High End Show in Munich, the sale is now in effect. In fact, Musical Fidelity operations have now been moved to Pro-Ject’s Austrian office.

Interviewed to celebrate and comment upon the company’s 30th anniversary, Musical Fidelity’s founder, Antony Michaelson, offered these thoughts. Many of them spookily prescient and some that may possibly be used as clues to the current position, “It is a surprise because 30 years have passed in a flash. Along the way, there were times when I thought, ‘That’s it, we’re finished.’ I do not like to admit defeat, so we battled on through supply crises, manufacturing glitches and cash flow problems, which makes it all the more satisfying to reach this point.”

“The other day, I met someone in the business who said, ‘Oh, you are legendary!’ I reckon that means I have been around the business for a while and am still alive and kicking – for which I want to say thank you to the tens of thousands of people who own Musical Fidelity products and to everyone whose hard work and talent has got us where we are today.”

I’m sure those words of thanks will be echoed again by Michaelson after this most recent news and that the company is, indeed, “finished”. At least as an independent entity.

You can see the attraction for Pro-Ject’s founder, Heinz Lichtenegger. Musical Fidelity still holds stocks of high-end amplifiers and lifestyle, all-in-one, products featuring streaming capabilities. Both the all-in-one/streaming product sector is currently booming.

So what does this mean for fans of the Musical Fidelity brand? It means a new outlook, many old Musical Fidelity staff without a job, questions about the current range and the relatively new announcements made about MF products.

For example, reports say that certain M8 amplifiers will be relaunched but what of the LX2-HPA headphone amplifier and LX2-LPS phono amplifier, announced in January of this year? Also, will the NuVista Vinyl high end phono amplifier and M8-500 Encore, all-in-one and M6 phono amplifier, announced at February’s Sound & Vision show survive? Hear a live interview on those HERE.

I’ll post more details when I get them. (YOU CAN NOW SEE UPDATED INFORMATION HERE)

You can check out the Musical Fidelity website yourself here – hurry, it might not be around for that long – www.musicalfidelity.com

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