[orthobiz]

I've got my Toshiba 3950
My Benchmark DAC1 is on its way
Should I top it off with the
Musical Fidelity X-10 V3 MU-VISTA TUBE BUFFER?
I know the X-10D had limitations, but that was 7 yrs ago.

amusicdirect.com

Any opinions?

biz

[Kim S.]

I still have the original X-10D.  I was one of my first audiophile revelations that got me serious about this hobby.  I never tried it with a decent dac.  It does wonders for a mass market cd player.  I loaned it to a nonaudiophile friend and he was very impressed.  He just "upgraded" to a rather crappy multichannel system so I just got the X-10D back.  I plan to put it in my "secondary" system.  I'm sure the new version is even better.  I know some people look down at MF products but I'm very impressed with them.  Let us know your impressions if you get the new version.

[mcgsxr]

Not to hijack your thread, but what were the limitations of the original tube buffer, and do you know how the current iteration addresses these?

I have seen these around, but never really knew anything about them.

Mark in Canada

[orthobiz]

No hijack, the more I know, the better.
My understanding is that the X-10D original was a relatively inexpensive way to add a tube sound to the output. By giving the rest of the system an easy load with the buffering, you could just about run any length cable (not my problem in my system).

Some said any improvement in sound was because it increased the volume by a dB, louder being better. Others said it was a great little device. This new iteration has a better set of tubes. amusicdirect and musical fidelity websites will direct you to British press on the unit.

I'm really close to buying it. For 400 bucks, it looks like an item you can throw into secondary systems if need be.

biz

[Kim S.]

I did notice that the orginal x-10D made cd's play louder.  It also made the music sound less digital and more analoge like.  If anything it improved the detail and clarity of the music.  I'm interested on how the new version performs.

[orthobiz]

I can't believe yet another post from my Northern Lower Michigan brethren. Anyway, was laughing out loud big time at Nathan's review of the Benchmark. May get that tube buffer stage just to play around and see what kind of differences there might be with and without.

biz