Musical Fidelity has officially announced the availability of its latest phono stage innovation: the Nu-Vista Vinyl S. This compact powerhouse distills the acclaimed performance of the flagship Nu-Vista Vinyl 2 into a more accessible package, blending cutting-edge nuvistor tube technology with modern engineering finesse. As of today, the Nu-Vista Vinyl S is ready for immediate purchase, marking a significant addition to the high-end audio landscape.
Nu-Vista story started in 1990s
Musical Fidelity, a British audio stalwart renowned for its commitment to sonic purity and innovative design, draws on its storied legacy with this release. The original Nu-Vista series from the 1990s introduced nuvistor tubes—miniature vacuum tubes prized for their low noise, high reliability, and exceptional linearity—to the hi-fi world. The Nu-Vista Vinyl S revives this heritage, incorporating eight 7586 nuvisors in a fully balanced Class A buffer circuit. The result? A phono preamplifier that delivers rich, dynamic sound with emotional depth, perfectly suited to pair with amplifiers like the Nu-Vista 600.2 or 800.2.
Engineering alchemy
What sets the Vinyl S apart is its engineering alchemy: it retains the identical core circuitry and Class A topology of its larger sibling while slashing the mechanical footprint by 45% through optimized PCBs and layout refinements. Housed in a sleek “S” chassis of milled extruded aluminum panels, the unit measures a trim 483 x 131 x 404 mm and weighs 14 kg—rigid enough for electromagnetic immunity yet unobtrusive on any rack. A super-silent power transformer, complete with EMI filtering and DC blocking, ensures ultra-low noise, while discrete input power filtering keeps interference at bay.
Balanced and discrete design with 3 gain stages
At its heart, the Nu-Vista Vinyl S boasts a fully balanced and discrete design with three gain stages, split-passive EQ for precise RIAA, DECCA, and COLUMBIA curves, and separate audio signal boards for each channel. It offers extreme cartridge loading flexibility: selectable MM/MC per input, gain from 40dB to 69dB (with +6dB boosts), and JFET-switched capacitance (50-400pF for MM) and impedance (5 ohms to 47kOhm for MC). A two-step subsonic filter (off, mild/IEC, or standard at 20Hz with 18dB/octave roll-off) tames rumble without compromising the music.
Connectivity is equally thoughtful, with two RCA and two balanced XLR inputs, plus individual RCA (unbalanced, 500mV nominal) and XLR (balanced, 1V nominal) outputs that can be used simultaneously via dedicated stages. A color display—complete with dimming—shows loading settings and selected inputs, with all configurations remembered per input for seamless switching. Topping it off is the included slim “S” remote control, machined from solid aluminum for effortless control.
Technical prowess
Technical prowess abounds: frequency response stays within ±0.25dB for MM and ±0.3dB for MC, SNR exceeds 101dB “A”-weighted for MM and 82dB for MC, and THD remains below 0.005% at 1kHz. Overload margin hits 32dB, and power draw tops out at 40W max (under 0.5W in standby). Input sensitivity is 5mV for MM and 500µV for MC, making it versatile for any setup.
This isn’t just a phono stage; it’s a gateway to vinyl’s soul, says Musical Fidelity’s product director in an official statement. By leveraging nuvistor reliability and discrete Class A circuitry over off-the-shelf ICs, we’ve achieved neutrality, dynamics, and repairability that pseudo-balanced designs can’t touch. The Nu-Vista Vinyl S makes high-end vinyl playback more attainable without compromise.
For those upgrading from entry-level phono stages or seeking a compact solution for demanding cartridges, the Nu-Vista Vinyl S promises to suppress noise and interference like never before, unlocking layers of detail in even the most cherished LPs. The Nu-Vista Vinyl S is available now worldwide through authorized Musical Fidelity dealers.
