The Musical Fidelity B1xi amp eschews Wi-Fi and integrated streaming in favour of longevity and build quality.
It's made to handle even very demanding speakers and promises low noise and excellent vinyl performance.
Musical Fidelity's B1 amp was a popular choice in the 90s thanks to its relatively low price and impressive performance.
Now it's been reimagined for a new generation of music fans in the shape of the B1xi, which is inspired by the original but uses more modern components.
One thing that hasn't changed is Musical Fidelity's philosophy: keep it simple. That doesn't mean the B1xi lacks features – there's Bluetooth here, a DAC and HDMI ARC – but the design eschews digital displays, Wi-Fi and other non-core features.
The promise here is "warm and dynamic sound at a relatively low price" – an ideal match for one of the best turntables, perhaps.
Musical Fidelity B1xi: key features and pricing
The B1xi is Class A/B design rated at 60W for 8 ohms, 100W for 4 ohms and 140W for 2 ohms. Like its predecessor, it's a pure transistor design and substantial power output means low noise even with power-hungry speakers. The DAC here is based on the ESS9018 with sample rates up to 24-bit/192kHz.
There's an MM phono stage, coaxial and optical digital inputs, the aforementioned HDMI ARC and three RCA inputs. There's also Bluetooth 5.1.
The amp has a variable RCA pre-out for subwoofers or bi-amping, and there's also a 5V USB-C output that can power an external streamer.
It's all encased in metal, with a solid aluminium front panel and chunky all-metal controls, and the digital and analogue boards inside are kept completely separate to reduce interference.
The preamp section has its own dedicated linear power supply, which Musical Fidelity says is rare in integrated amps, and that design means very low noise and excellent channel separation. The volume control is a motor-driven analogue potentiometer, and the firm says that vinyl fans will especially love the "exceptionally low-noise, high-phono stage".
The Musical Fidelity B1xi is on sale now in the UK and will be available from August 2025 in the US. Its recommended price is £699 / $879 / €799 (about AU$1,433).
