Has anyone heard of this "MUSICAL FIDELITY - X-10 V3 TUBE BUFFER"?

[audiofan]

http://www.amusicdirect.com/products/detail.asp?sku=AMUFIX10V3

Looks like this is a good add-on to CD player instead of buing a dedicated player.

[purplepeople]

So... I don't get it? Do you add this in the signal path between CDP and amplifer OR do you replace the output stage of your CDP with this circuit?

ensen.

[audiofan]

based on the manual , putting it between amp and pre-amp will improve sound of any sources.

[Andrew Pratt]

I've seen it but never heard it...though I'm curious about it

[Cowanrg]

ive seen, heard, and believed.

its a cool piece. we have it on our x150 integrated and xray cd player. it definately cleans up the audio a bit and makes things a bit more detailed. for a 2-channel system it definately helps things out. and for the money, its worth it.

[purplepeople]

How does it work?

ensen

[aarsoe]

Basically it is a 1 to 1 buffer stage, driven by tubes... So what comes in - goes out

[Joe S]

I have one of these along with the X PSU, which I understand greatly increases the benefit (have not tried it without the PSU). It is connected between my CD player (Cyrus 8x with PSX-R) and my amp (Krell KAV 400xi bi-amped with MF X-A200s driving treble). I was astounded at the fifference it made in detail, warmth and, in particular, base authority! Certainly one of the best bits I've ever purchased. I am so impressed I've been wondering what would happen if I put two of them in line! Check out the MF site for copies of the Hi Fi world and Hi Fi News reviews (both September '04). Also gets rave reviews in Stereophile this month (12/04 issue I think).

[David Meek]

Hi Joe, welcome to The Guide. :welcome:

Yep, you've pretty much duplicated the review in Stereophile by Sam Tellig. Let's just say he liked it. Also, he says that of the four X-devices he reviewed the X-PSU made more of a sonic difference than the X-DAC!

[audiofan]

just wondering whether X-10 V3 is equivalent to Benchmark DAC-1 in sound?

[Joe S]

Don't know that product. X-10 is of course not a DAC but David is right, Sterophile fouind that the X-10 plus PSU made more of an impact than the X-DAC plus PSU and the X-10 costs 40% of what the X-DAC does. I don't think he was absolutely clear what he though of the combination of the three working together, though--i.e. whether that was significantly better than one or the other alone.