[Review] Musical Fidelity x-10v3

Musical Fidelity x-10v3

Further to the phonostage experiments, I have still a few bits to complete which have to be put on hold due to availability.

I have moved onto musical fidelity stuff, as it has such lovely build.

Atm, I am going to do mf x phonostages, I have an xlp, and just bought an xlps from a member, so just have to get the xlps3 to make a trio. tha's to come.

first to' a brief precis of x-dac and x-24 k from memory.

the xdac has the pmd hcd filter ,said to be great too for regular cd, a cheaper dac.

Later came the x-24k, the dac and ouput stage of the xray.
This has a 24bit dac but no hdcd.
Its a bigger case.

Soundwise, both are hugely similar, I couldn't really tell sigificant difference at all, if anything I would rate the x24 as ever so slightly better, perhaps as it was newer, but both are fine in their own right. As to upgrades, not sure, they do need a good psu rather than the wall warts.

ok now to the 'enhancers'.

the x-10v3 is a lovely case, 6112 mu vista valves, circuit here:



Its identical to the xcans v3 almost in totality.

As you can see the valves are used in what's called a differential pair, 2 valves linked together.

Its exactly the output stage of the a5cd after the analog filters, too, which the filters are used in the xdacv3. MF use all the same circuits which extra add ons and subtle changes, hence the huge variety of products, all based on the same thing. Its also said to be the tri-vista dac output but with the 5703 valves replaced by the 6112, and I suspect the input to the kwpreamps and the kwintegrated.

ok using a pioneer pds 904, mf x-80 amp and avi biggatrons, I will just give an impression of sound, nothing comprehensive.
Melc as test track swithced in, it gives vocals a brighther lighter airier feel, quite bright indeed, not harsh, but lit. Bass seems less, perhaps less congested, lighter again.

pioneer is duller in comparison, a bit too much, but has nice dynamics in the bass which the mf doesnt'.
The mf certainly 'enhances' it, but is personal preference, its not a definite improvement, but interesting. No improvement in 'emotion' from what I can tell.

Bit disappointing is the pcb, mf sell hard their pcb design layout, but its not an expensive pcb that is dual sided, just the one side white stuff.Built in taiwan, build seems good, but an earth isn't good on the casework, compared to the original x10v1, and the power connector seems slightly flimsy.

Now the x-10d v1, well this is actually the x-pre that I have, this is one of the biggest audio bargains, its a valve preamp, using 2 6922 valves, dc heaters, so hopefully no hum.

Its identical to the x10dv1, totally, apart from a little less feedback which gives more volts at the output.Everything else is totally the same, apart from switching for sources, so I have set the 2 at a similar vol.

circuit of the x10v1 and xpre here

http://www.zeuslab.newmail.ru/MF_X10D.htm

simply one valve feeding another then to the output, different to the v3.

In comparison, its darker than the v3, I haven't yet done it against the cd on its own, so can't tell how x-10v1 would compare as an enhancer, it doens't 'light' the music like the v3, but I think its stronger in the bass.

I am running the output of the cd via a phono splitter so I can just switch on the amp inputs and get a straight side by side comparison.

ok just done an a/b on mel c's never be the same again, the x-pre(10dv1) has a very similar effect to the v3, only different, its far more subtle, loses bass in comparison to the pioneer alone, may be fixed by a bigger psu? top is sllightly brigher, not to the extent of the v3, so I can see why people say the 10dv1 is hardly audible, it took me a bit to hear the differences, its not as spacious or quiet at the top as the v3, but for a valve preamp, incredibly transparent with little hum at all. needs a big psu to get the bass hopefully.