In 2026 — made of acorns and matches: a measurement complex for the Musical Fidelity M1

The author describes the process of building a DIY measurement system to evaluate a rare Musical Fidelity M1 turntable equipped with an SME M2-9 tonearm. Since the device is located far away, the author needed an objective way to assess its condition without a personal inspection. The project utilizes accessible components: a Sound Blaster G3 external sound card, an old Sony player, and a laptop. The software stack includes WFGUI and the author's own utility, DAT Viewer. The article details the equipment setup, the use of test records with a 3150 Hz tone, and initial control experiments. The author emphasizes that this piece focuses on preparing the measurement system and analyzing the method's limitations, leaving the actual measurements of the Musical Fidelity M1 for future publications. This approach allows for the assessment of high-end audio equipment technical condition with minimal investment.