Musical Fidelity M6 Encore 225
FOR Big, spacious sound; midrange clarity; responsive nature; upgradeable hard drive
AGAINST Sound could do with more finesse and rhythmic precision; no Bluetooth
What is Musical Fidelity’s
M6 Encore 225? It’s a modern, premium, all-in-one that includes every bit of electronics you need to make up a system, bar the speakers. There was a time when a product such as this would be seen as a compromise choice – one for those who prioritise neatness over performance.
It would also have been a cheaper alternative to a quality separates set-up. But one look at the Encore’s hefty price is enough to suggest there’s something more ambitious going on here.
What you get
What’s in the box? The admittedly hefty full-width chassis contains an upgradeable 1TB of storage, a CD player/ ripper, internet radio with Tidal integration and 225W per channel of amplification. There are also digital inputs to complement their analogue siblings. That price tag may be high, but Musical Fidelity has certainly worked with generous proportions.
It’s the built-in hard drive that takes us by surprise. This approach has fallen out of fashion in recent years with most companies preferring the use of an external NAS (Network Attached Storage) device instead. There are advantages to a built-in drive, namely speed of response and stability.
Use a NAS unit and there is a certain amount of latency caused by the streamer section pulling the music across the network from the NAS. There’s also the downside of a network issue affecting playback or causing glitches. Musical Fidelity avoids both these issues with its design approach, though having a drive in the same box as the sensitive audio circuitry creates its own challenges.
Extra storage
If 1TB (or around 2500 CDS) doesn’t sound like enough, you can double that for an extra £80. All the processing is done by a dual-core 64-bit Intel CPU, which comes equipped with 2GB of RAM. This particular processor has been chosen to enable easy upgrading, making the 225 something that can be usefully improved over time. That Tidal integration is a recent addition, for example.
Any music you have already stored on an existing NAS or network-attached computer has to be copied over first. This transfer is done through an app on your phone or on a computer using Google Chrome, but you’ll need to be connected to the same network as the Encore. Transferring music in this way is a simple drag-and-drop procedure, though if you have a large number of files it will take a while for everything to be copied over.
Read first, then play
Put a CD in and the Musical Fidelity will default to ripping the disc onto its drive rather than playing it straight away. This is done primarily to help with speed of playback. Once that’s done, the player can read the music files quicker and more accurately than if it had to fetch the information from the disc.
Play the CD directly and any reading errors have to be corrected on the fly, affecting performance. Ripping it means multiple reads can be taken to ensure the maximum amount of information is recovered. Should you wish, you can just play a CD without ripping it, but we find it doesn’t sound as organised and focused. The same thing is done when reading music files from any of the four USB type A inputs.
Analogue fans haven’t been ignored. There are three single-ended line-level inputs as well as two optical and a pair of coaxials. Both types of digital inputs can accept 24-bit/192khz music streams. Don’t get too excited about the presence of a USB type B connection – Musical Fidelity has reserved this one for dealer/factory use.
We’re surprised the company hasn’t included Bluetooth connectivity. This is fast becoming a universal way to connect portable devices to amplification products so it seems a
“There was a time when a product such as this would be seen as a compromise. But one look at the Encore’s hey price is enough to suggest there’s something more ambitious going on here”
featuring misstep in an otherwise well equipped unit.
There’s a version of the Encore that doesn’t have internal power amplification, saving you around £800 in the process. Our sample has 225W-per-channel modules built-in. These are the same as used in the £2750 M6si integrated amplifier. If, for some reason, this isn’t enough you can add extra muscle thanks to a preamp output.
In use, Musical Fidelity’s decision to build in the hard drive pays off with a level of responsiveness that’s alien to alternatives taking music from a separate NAS device. The Encore is speedy, and switches tracks and sources in an instant. We’re less impressed by the dedicated
looks cluttered as some app, though. It’s and isn’t as intuitive we’ve used. It’s also a little glitchy. You could use the (cheap-feeling) supplied remote instead, but it isn’t much good if you want to scan through a large music library. Try the front panel controls and it all feels a bit clunky. Even something as simple as powering down the unit is a multi-step operation.
Big, bold and full-bodied
The Encore’s sound is big-boned and bold. It has a fluid, full-bodied balance that still has enough in the way of bite to satisfy with the likes of both Stravinsky and Eminem. We play Stravinsky’s The Rite Of
Spring and like what we hear. The Musical Fidelity delivers a large-scale presentation, one with plenty of authority and drive. That generous power output helps it to render wide-ranging dynamics with a good degree of control.
The stereo imaging is pleasing, the Encore painting on an expansive and spacious canvas. Instruments are nicely separated and the overall lack of clutter is admirable. There’s a good degree of precision here too, coupled to a convincing layering of the orchestra.
The Encore keeps things decently organised – no small feat considering the demanding nature of the recording – and manages to communicate plenty of the piece’s drama. Moving onto Eminem’s No Love reveals a healthy portion of attack, though the Encore doesn’t render the hard-charging momentum of the track with the determination we would like. We also hear a bit of an edge to the sound that emphasises the lack of refinement in the recording. This edge, coupled to a touch of excess brightness in the upper frequencies, also helps the Encore sound exciting and open, so it’s a trade-off some won’t mind. There’s certainly no shortage of clarity, particularly in the midrange, where Eminem’s rapid-fire lyrics are delivered with poise and purpose.
The Encore has a consistent character whether you listen to hi-res 24-bit/192khz files of The Dark Knight Rises OST or Solange Knowles’s Cranes
In The Sky streamed from Tidal. Try either the optical or coaxial digital inputs and you’ll find them capable. There’s not quite the transparency of the line-level inputs – the sound lacking a little in substance and refinement – but it remains enjoyable.
Quality output
We’re pleased with the headphone output. It retains the character we hear through the speaker terminals, coupling scale, authority and openness to good effect. There’s a fair amount of detail here and plenty of dynamic expression. Such outputs are usually box-ticking exercises for manufacturers so we’re pleased Musical Fidelity’s engineers have taken care to ensure a good sound.
We think there’s a place for the M6 Encore 225. It’s well equipped, and Musical Fidelity’s decision to use the internal hard drive for playback pays off with impressive responsiveness and stability. While we have certain small issues with the performance and usability, it remains a fine way to get good sound without a stack of electronics or nest of wires.
“The Encore’s sound is big-boned and bold. It has a fluid, full-bodied balance that still has enough in the way of bite to satisfy with the likes of both Stravinsky and Eminem”