1. Home
  2. digital
  3. 1123114250

Musical Fidelity X-10 Tube Buffer Stage

Could this actually:

"add the warmth and musicality you crave" for only $399.00?

Or is it just another quirky, overhyped piece of UK voodoo gear?

I have to admit this caught my eye on amusicdirect.com as I still try to tame the high end of my SCD-1, but a recommendation would sure make me feel a bit better before placing the order.

Has anyone tried it? Or any thoughts?
cwlondon
maclogan
49 posts
 
It works very well with older cdps prone to high frequency distortions - the wiry and gritty sound of the 80's and 90's. It is defimitely not a gimmick.

It has little or no effect (in my system)with modern, high quality cdps (which don't need correction anyway).
bnrlaw
130 posts
 
If you've already got tubes somewhere in the chain, it won't make a huge difference, but otherwise, in an all solid state system, it will definitely give a liitle of that tube warmth and body.
steakster
720 posts
 
In my experience, the original MF X-10 added warmth but at the expense of narrowing the soundstage and losing a bit of resolution. I had more success taming the digital nasties by adding Stillpoints ERS paper to the inside of my transport. Don't use too much though.
darrylhifi
498 posts
 
I used the old one in an old system and it did not float my boat.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
Technically speaking it's a dual triode set-up in differential connection for each channel making it two dual triodes.
A differential connection is a stage with 100% feedback.
This device simply makes an output more linear in any output you use.
Depending on linearity of the output of the source device this unit will or will not bring a substantial difference.
More to discover