[elrod-tom]

I've just found a great little tweak for my decent (but by no means audiophile-grade system): Musical Fidelity's X10-D.

I've got this little gem (powered by an X-PSU) feeding through both my headphone amp and my system in general via the analog outs from my DAC. While I've noticed an improved smoothness in my headphones, the difference in my speakers is stunning!!!

I guess there is something to all this tube talk after all

I would have never thought that introducing what appears to be a pretty simple tube device into my rather ordinary solid state system would make the music sound so much more natural. I was listening to Chris Issak's "Forever Blue" today, and if I closed my eyes it was like I was listening to a nice accoustical number in a local pub.

WOW

For my money, the best investment I've made in quite some time!! I'm curious what other users think.

 

[Ari]

Musical Fidelity's X10-D.

...and if I closed my eyes it was like I was listening to a nice accoustical number in a local pub.

WOW

____________________________________________
Congratulations elrod-tom.... happy you are happy !!

I'm a starter. Can you talk about your DAC? I mean, what's the difference between the "audio out" of your CD player and "audio out" of a DAC? I know it's a "sub starter" question...

And, what CDP you use?

 

[elrod-tom]

Quote:

Originally posted by Ari I'm a starter. Can you talk about your DAC? I mean, what's the difference between the "audio out" of your CD player and "audio out" of a DAC? I know it's a "sub starter" question... And, what CDP you use?

Welcome to Head-Fi Ari, and (standard greeting, I'm told) sorry about your wallet!

I use an Adcom 575 CD player as a transport, and an MSB Link II as a DAC. The Adcom has a digital out, which I run to the Link. The analog stage on the Link is much better than the Adcom (which itself is not bad, by the way). I'm running the analog output through the X10-D to clean it up.

Hope that helps...

 

[Ari]

Originally posted by elrod-tom


Welcome to Head-Fi Ari, and (standard greeting, I'm told) sorry about your wallet!
___________________________________________


My fellow Elrod-tom !!

First of all, thanks so much!! I have a very nice welcome feeling here ! about my wallet, Jee, my wife is sorry too...

This HP world is fantastic !! And I undestood about DAC staff. Very nice indded and helped a lot !!

Best from

Ari

 

[Trawlerman]

Elrod-Tom,

Welcome to Head-Fi mate. We have a great bunch of lads on here and i'm sure they'll all make you feel more than welcome.

I also have an X-10D. I purchased mine new when they first appearedon the market back in 97-98.

I remember What-HiFi saying that the results were a tad mixed. Some players benefitting more than others. The Marantz players worked really well with the X-10D.

I found that with using it on my mid-range Rotel (RDD980/RDP980) didn't change much at all. The entry-level rigs tended to benfit more than the mid-fi / hi-end rigs. I still use this between my TV and pre-amp and find that it just softens the sometime harsh sound from the digital tv broadcasts. It also gives around 1db of amplification so is not that easy to A/B test on it.

For the money it's an interesting little thing and is certainly a talking point with many visitors to my listening room.




Sound As Ever
listening to Collision Course - Asleep At The Wheel
on Krell MD10/Studio >-- Audiolab 8000q >-- 2 x Rotel RB970s in mono >-- Spendor SP3/1s

 

[Dusty Chalk]

So...now you have to roll them tubes!

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Dusty Chalk So...now you have to roll them tubes!

Tell me about it

I got very interested in this and bought one. My suspicion was that the ZOTL was presenting a load that the ART DI/O wasn't handling gracefully, particularly with the R10.

Early results are very promising. Bass response is improved, and I'm actually hearing some small detail that I didn't hear before. The downside is that the tubes are adding their own signature to the sound, which is more obvious when I switch to a solid state amp. So, it's tube rolling time over here, until I find a good set of tubes that minimally colors the sound. If you've read my posts on R10, you'll have noted that I tend to describe it as bass-light. With the X10-D inline, that issue disappears, and the R10 extends itself full-range.

Since it's apparent use is to present an ideal impedance to the source, my guess is that those systems that already do so, or have high end sources that aren't sensitive to input impendance on an amp, will find this useless and maybe dislike the tube coloration (it's going to take some work to find neutral tubes). However, in the right setup, this device can work magic.