Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista Vinyl S – High-End Phono Performance at a New Price Point

Musical Fidelity’s Nu-Vista series has long been admired for its combination of cutting-edge engineering, meticulous craftsmanship and the unmistakable sonic character of nuvistor technology. With the arrival of the Nu-Vista Vinyl S Phono Stage, the company has distilled much of the flagship Vinyl 2’s performance into a more compact and more affordable form. Despite its lower price point, the Vinyl S preserves the smooth, powerful and emotionally engaging Nu-Vista sound that audiophiles around the world have come to treasure.

Fanthorpes HiFi is pleased to confirm that the Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista Vinyl S will be available very soon, and we are now inviting customers to contact us to register their interest. Demand is expected to be strong, and early enquiries are highly recommended.

A More Attainable Nu-Vista Experience

The Nu-Vista Vinyl S is built on the same foundation as the Vinyl 2, sharing its fully balanced, discrete Class A topology and nuvistor-based circuitry. Through revised PCB design, optimised component layout and a new slim chassis, Musical Fidelity has managed to reduce both the size and cost by around 45%. These changes allow the Vinyl S to deliver remarkably similar performance in a far more accessible package. Despite the reduced footprint, the unit retains the luxurious tactile feel and solid construction that define the Nu-Vista range, making it a genuine high-end component both inside and out.

Key Features at a Glance

High-End Phono Engineering

The Nu-Vista Vinyl S incorporates a fully balanced Class A design with a three-stage gain structure, ensuring exceptional transparency and low distortion. Its split-passive EQ stage supports RIAA, DECCA and COLUMBIA equalisation curves, a rare feature at this price level that allows precise matching to a wide range of recordings. A two-step subsonic filter helps control unwanted low-frequency resonance while eight 7586 nuvistor tubes form the balanced buffer circuit. With MM and MC cartridge compatibility and gain settings ranging from 40dB to 69dB, the Vinyl S is engineered to match virtually any phono cartridge with ease.

Flexible Connectivity

Musical Fidelity has equipped the Vinyl S with two RCA and two balanced XLR inputs, making it ideal for systems with multiple turntables or cartridges. Both RCA and XLR outputs are provided, each with its own dedicated output stage, allowing users to run both simultaneously if required. This flexibility makes it a highly versatile phono stage for complex or evolving analogue setups.

Modern User Interface

A vibrant colour display provides clear visibility of input selection, loading options and gain settings. Each input retains its own configuration, allowing instant switching between turntables or cartridges without re-adjusting settings. The display brightness can be dimmed to suit your listening environment, and the new Nu-Vista “S” slim remote control offers convenient access to key features.

Technical Excellence, Refined

Why Discrete Circuits Matter

The Vinyl S uses fully discrete circuitry rather than integrated op-amps, allowing Musical Fidelity to fine-tune the signal path with precision. This approach requires far more components and development time but results in a more natural, dynamic and detailed sound. Discrete designs also offer superior longevity and serviceability, supporting the Nu-Vista philosophy of engineering products that stand the test of time.

True Fully Balanced Architecture

Unlike pseudo-balanced systems, the Nu-Vista Vinyl S processes the positive and negative signal paths independently throughout the entire circuit. This ensures maximum noise rejection and a cleaner, more accurate signal. It also doubles the number of active components and demands exceptionally careful PCB layout, reflecting Musical Fidelity’s commitment to absolute performance even in a more compact chassis.

Extreme Cartridge Loading Options

Every input on the Vinyl S can be configured for MM or MC cartridges with fine-tuned control over gain, impedance and capacitance. The broad gain range—stretching up to 69dB—makes this phono stage suitable for even the lowest-output moving coil cartridges. Signal relays and JFET transistors manage switching duties with minimal noise, ensuring perfect integration with any analogue system. Even at maximum amplification, the Vinyl S delivers exceptionally quiet operation with virtually no audible distortion.

Silent Power Delivery

Power is supplied via a custom toroidal transformer paired with EMI filtering and a DC blocker to eliminate hum and interference. Each channel is fed by its own symmetrical low-noise power supply, while every nuvistor stage benefits from passive filtering and precise regulation. When dealing with microvolt-level signals from a phono cartridge, these steps are essential for achieving the outstanding signal-to-noise performance that the Vinyl S offers.

Designed for the Nu-Vista Ecosystem

The Nu-Vista Vinyl S complements the Nu-Vista 600.2 and Nu-Vista 800.2 integrated amplifiers beautifully, both sonically and aesthetically. Its slimmer new chassis maintains the unmistakable Nu-Vista identity while providing a more compact form that suits modern systems. The heavy aluminium casework offers excellent vibration and electromagnetic shielding, ensuring that delicate phono signals are handled with absolute purity.

A Legacy of Nuvistor Technology

Nuvistor tubes were developed in the 1950s as a higher-performance alternative to conventional vacuum tubes, known for their excellent reliability, low noise and compact size. They earned a place in legendary studio equipment such as the Neumann U47 microphone and Ampex MR-70 tape recorder. Musical Fidelity revived nuvistor technology in the 1990s with the first Nu-Vista products, and the concept has since evolved into a celebrated range that continues to attract worldwide acclaim. The Vinyl S continues this tradition, showcasing the musical warmth and technical precision that nuvistors uniquely deliver.

Register Your Interest at Fanthorpes HiFi

The Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista Vinyl S will be arriving soon at Fanthorpes HiFi, and we expect significant interest from vinyl lovers and high-end analogue enthusiasts.

For more information about Musical Fidelity call us on 01482 223096 or email shop@fanthorpes.co.uk

Trade In

At Fanthorpes we love to trade in, so if you want to trade in your existing HiFi against new HiFi, contact us and we will let you know what it is worth as a trade in.

Finance Available

We can also offer buy now pay later on orders above £400, allowing you to spread or defer your payments over a year.

Nationwide Delivery and Installation Service

When you buy equipment from Fanthorpes HiFi, we will provide a nationwide delivery and installation service within mainland UK. Our installer will drive to your house and install your new HiFi. For more information about our delivery and installation service email shop@fanthorpes.co.uk or call 01482 223096.