Musical Fidelity - M6x Vinyl Phono Stage

Three separate cartridge inputs — two single-ended, one balanced — each remembering its own settings, in an entirely discrete phono stage with no op-amps in the signal path.

The M6x ViNYL is a full redesign of the earlier M6 ViNYL rather than a revision, and the central change is the move to entirely discrete circuitry with no operational amplifiers anywhere in the signal path. Musical Fidelity’s argument is one it has made before and now acts on: even the best audio op-amps tend not to sound as neutral, natural or vivid as a discrete design, and where an integrated-circuit phono stage might use a few tens or hundreds of components, a discrete one uses hundreds or thousands. The other major addition is a balanced XLR input.

That makes three cartridge inputs in total: inputs 1 and 2 are single-ended RCA pairs, input 3 is the balanced XLR pair, and each one independently remembers its own cartridge type, loading, filter and gain settings. Three turntables, or three tonearms, can stay permanently connected and correctly configured, and switching between them takes a button press.

Adjustment is all on the front panel. Buttons cycle MM or MC, MM capacitance and MC loading, with two further buttons for the IEC filter and a +6dB gain boost. It is worth being precise about that gain control, because Musical Fidelity’s marketing copy describes “selectable gain” in terms that suggest several steps: there is one switchable +6dB boost, on or off, and the company publishes no absolute gain figure in dB at all. The IEC button is likewise the RIAA/IEC amendment — a gentle low-frequency rolloff that reduces subsonic output — not a steep rumble filter.

Published performance is strong: RIAA accuracy of ±0.2dB on MM and ±0.25dB on MC, distortion below 0.005% on MM, a 26dB overload margin on both inputs, and signal-to-noise better than 101dB on MM and 90dB on MC. Outputs are provided on both RCA at 500mV nominal and balanced XLR at 1V nominal, with 10V and 20V maxima that put overloading the output stage out of reach in normal use. The rear panel adds grounding posts and a three-position ground lift — direct, soft through a resistor and capacitor, or fully lifted — for chasing down hum. It took What Hi-Fi’s Phono Stage of the Year in 2023.

Features

• Entirely discrete circuitry with no operational amplifiers in the signal path
• Three cartridge inputs — two single-ended RCA and one balanced XLR
• Each input independently remembers its own MM/MC, loading, filter and gain settings
• Front-panel buttons for cartridge type, MM capacitance, MC loading, IEC filter and gain
• MM loading at 47k Ω with capacitance selectable from 50 to 400pF
• MC loading selectable from 25 Ω to 1.2k Ω
• Switchable +6dB gain boost
• IEC filter button, applying the RIAA/IEC amendment to reduce subsonic output
• Balanced XLR and single-ended RCA outputs — 1V and 500mV nominal, 20V and 10V maximum
• Three-position ground lift (direct, soft, lift) plus grounding posts
• What Hi-Fi Phono Stage of the Year, 2023

Specifications

• Type: MM/MC phono stage, entirely discrete, with balanced and single-ended inputs and outputs
• Inputs: Three. Input 1 and input 2 are single-ended RCA pairs; input 3 is a balanced XLR pair. Selected by front-panel left/right arrow buttons
• Per-Input Memory: Each input recalls the settings last applied to it
• MM Frequency Response: RIAA or RIAA/IEC, ±0.2dB
• MM Input Sensitivity: 5mV in for 500mV out at 1kHz
• MM Input Impedance: 47k Ω
• MM Input Capacitance: 50 – 400pF selectable
• MM THD at 1kHz: <0.005%
• MM Overload Margin: 26dB
• MM Signal-to-Noise Ratio: >101dB
• MC Frequency Response: RIAA or RIAA/IEC, ±0.25dB
• MC Input Sensitivity: 500µV in for 500mV out at 1kHz
• MC Input Impedance: 25 Ω to 1.2k Ω selectable. Musical Fidelity prints this as “1,2KΩ” using a European decimal comma; it means 1.2 kilohms
• MC Input Capacitance: 470pF, fixed and not adjustable
• MC THD at 1kHz: <0.02%
• MC Overload Margin: 26dB
• MC Signal-to-Noise Ratio: >90dB
• Gain Adjustment: A single switchable +6dB boost, on or off. Musical Fidelity publishes no absolute gain figure in dB for either MM or MC
• IEC Filter: Front-panel button applying the RIAA/IEC amendment, which reduces subsonic output. Musical Fidelity publishes the RIAA tolerance for both settings but no turnover frequency
• Outputs: 1 pair RCA single-ended, 500mV nominal and 10V maximum per channel; 1 pair XLR balanced, 1V nominal and 20V maximum per channel
• Front Panel Controls: Power/standby/mute; MM/MC selection; MM loading; MC loading; IEC filter; +6dB gain; input select arrows
• Indicators: Orange in standby, blue when powered, red during the stabilisation mute
• Grounding: Grounding posts plus a three-position ground lift — DIRECT connects signal ground to chassis ground, SOFT connects it through a resistor and capacitor, LIFT disconnects it
• Circuit Design: Entirely discrete, with no operational amplifiers in the signal path
• Mono Switch: Not fitted
• Headphone Output: Not fitted
• Mains Voltages: 230V/115V internally set, or 100V optional; AC 50/60Hz
• Power Consumption: 20 watts maximum; <0.5W in standby
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 440 x 100 x 385 mm, height including feet, depth including terminals
• Weight: 5.5 kg unit only; 11 kg in the shipping carton with accessories
• In the Box: 10-amp IEC mains lead. No interconnects are supplied
• Range Position: Below the M8x Vinyl and the Nu-Vista Vinyl S and Nu-Vista Vinyl 2; above the M3x Vinyl and V90-LPS
• Warranty: Two years, administered by the local national distributor — Harmonia Distribution has handled Musical Fidelity in the United States since 15 November 2025. Cover is for the original owner only, is non-transferable, and requires the original sales invoice as proof of purchase date. Older Musical Fidelity literature quoting a five-year term with separate categories for disc players and servers is obsolete
• Country of Manufacture: Not published. Musical Fidelity was founded in London in 1982 and has been owned since 2018 by Audio Tuning Vertriebs GmbH of Austria, the parent of Pro-Ject. The company states that its products are designed and voiced in the UK and continental Europe, which is a design statement rather than a manufacturing one, and it publishes no country of manufacture for this model
• Not Published: The individual MC loading steps and MM capacitance steps — Musical Fidelity gives only the ranges, and the buttons carry no printed values, so any specific step list circulating elsewhere is unverified. Also unpublished: absolute gain in dB; the number of loading positions; weighting and reference level for the signal-to-noise figures; channel separation; output impedance; whether the +6dB boost applies to MM, MC or both; the IEC filter turnover frequency
• Note: The 5mV in for 500mV out and 500µV in for 500mV out sensitivity figures work out arithmetically to 40dB on MM and 60dB on MC, but those are our calculations from the published sensitivities, not Musical Fidelity specifications. Musical Fidelity’s own product page carries a section heading reading “The M6 Vinyl In Brief” on a page for the M6x ViNYL, along with a handful of typographical errors; we have corrected rather than reproduced them. Make sure any manual you download is the M6x document, not the M6 — they are different products