[mrarroyo]

For some reason I enjoy the sound that of older Musical Fidelity gear. I have owned a few of their V2 and V3 products and currently owned an X-Can V2 amp which was modded by PinkFloyd (previous member in this forum) plus some additional changes since (ceramic tube sockets, gain reduction, dynamat addition to the inside bottom of the case, and ferrites in the power cord). This unit also has a Little Pinkie PSU V3i.

Anyways I won an X10-D off eBay and upon its arrival it did not look like it was well taken care. I then contacted PinkFloyd and we discussed upgrading the unit with all the possible improvements. Well today it arrived and it is currently burning in using a 2nd Little Pinkie PSU V3i and wiht a set of Rusian 6H23-EB valves. The sound is lovely w/ plenty of detail and clarity but with a touch of additional warmth. I will let the X10-D burn-in for 200 hours and then I will install a pair of NOS JAN 6922 valves.

Meanwhile here are the before and after shots of the unit.

 

[Zombie_X]

OOO, Looks perty!! I have a X-10V3 which sounds great.

 

[SP Wild]

Cool. I prefer tubes over solidstate - how severely do these buffers restrict transparency? To what degree would these tube buffers make my ss gear sound more tubey?

 

[Zombie_X]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SP Wild /img/forum/go_quote.gif Cool. I prefer tubes over solidstate - how severely do these buffers restrict transparency? To what degree would these tube buffers make my ss gear sound more tubey?

Not as much as you'd think. I still think they sound very transparent, but tubes tend to blend things together more..

As far as tubey sound goes, the highs become slightly rolled, the bass rounded, and the mids are lusher. Though this is not the case for all tubed equipment. Some tubes sound very solid state like.

To me I like both tubes and solid state. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

 

[nallyvaico]

I recently upgraded my X10-D (v 1!) with JAN Sylvanya 6922 tubes - the sound has become just awesome! It is paired with Rotel RCD-951 CD player which now sounds at least 4x its cost!
 
Before, there were the original JAN Philips 6922, which must have already burnt out over the time - I bought the buffer second hand already, and the sound was pretty dull...

 

[SP Wild]

I  know the tubes in my XcanV3 were microphonic the day I bought it,  I exchanged for a second unit and it was the same with microphonics - I am cautious with Musical Fidelity quality control.

 

[mrarroyo]

Believe it or not sometimes new tubes loose the microphonics in the fist 20-30 hours of use. At least I have had that experience.