The X-PRE has 4 line-ins selectable from the tiny black switch. I did not open mine to have a peek but have seen pics of the insides - 2 boards with the valves sitting on the botton one and popping through holes bored in the second board.
Associated Review Equipment:
Acoustic Energy AE109 2-way floorstanders 91dB 6Ohm nom. 150W max.
Marantz CD-63SE (no need intro)
Sansui AU-555 30W/ch integrated with pre-outs & main-ins (pretty old! 1973).

I just removed the U-shaped jumpers on the Sansui's back and hooked the X-PRE's OUT to the main-ins of the Sansui. Then from CD player OUTs to X-PRE's line input #1. All RCA phono connections. All connections/cables are non branded but better than yer com wit the box.

The dealer lent me the X-PRE for a whole week as it reqd running in. I ran it in roughly 24 hrs and always left it on - it has no power switch. Pulling the power cable out switches it off.

The Sound
Yes it has a much warmer sound. It is definitely not bright at all. Tings and tingles do not sound as though it hit you on the head. To some this is good others not. I turned the volume knob on the X-PRE up and it never sounded stressed. Although I must say I could still hear the shortcomings of my Sansui. So, really what power amp you use is very important. I can safely say my experience has been in the midrange area as I accepted I was not going to be able to fairly evaluate the bass given my amp is old. I played Nat King Coles's songs and this preamp sang beautifully. You can near the warmth coming from the spkrs. Detail is not the focus of this preamp. Given that you have a good power amp that you like the sound of, then it is really worth listening to it with the X-PRE. It does change the colour of the music flowing forth to the renowed valve smoothness and warmth. I replied to someone who listens to classical music only that the MF integrateds are worth a serious listen as they excel with strings and anything plucked. This X-PRE follows that same tradition. The unit never gets hot at all. The AC transformer is external to the unit and is similar to the multi DC converters black packs that come with toys/chargers that are DC powered. This thing gets hot.

In the end, I returned the unit as it was not for me since I still had to upgrade the poweramp so as a solution the X-PRE is off my list. But I certainly liked the idea and was very excited to find I could get a valve sound for such a small outlay. It looks cute and I certainly had many people commenting on it. Esp if you hide your power amp - just get a look at their faces when you whack up the volume. Ah .. I think one can also use this unit as an addon for more inputs to an amp since it is mainly a switching unit.

The Negs
Switching between input sources #1-4 does produce scratchy sounds - ie. the switching is not electronic in nature with relays etc. I guess you will NOT expect it to be at the price. I wished the feet has rubber stuff as it is light and moving todays heavy gauge cables can actually move the unit! Given that diff power amps have different gain levels, maybe having such a switch to set gain levels would bring about improvements?

Ummm ... thats all. I'm tired. Any questions feel free to email. This is after all not a full featured review.

The X-PRE has 4 line-ins selectable from the tiny black switch. I did not open mine to have a peek but have seen pics of the insides - 2 boards with the valves sitting on the botton one and popping through holes bored in the second board.
Associated Review Equipment:
Acoustic Energy AE109 2-way floorstanders 91dB 6Ohm nom. 150W max.
Marantz CD-63SE (no need intro)
Sansui AU-555 30W/ch integrated with pre-outs & main-ins (pretty old! 1973).

I just removed the U-shaped jumpers on the Sansui's back and hooked the X-PRE's OUT to the main-ins of the Sansui. Then from CD player OUTs to X-PRE's line input #1. All RCA phono connections. All connections/cables are non branded but better than yer com wit the box.

The dealer lent me the X-PRE for a whole week as it reqd running in. I ran it in roughly 24 hrs and always left it on - it has no power switch. Pulling the power cable out switches it off.

The Sound
Yes it has a much warmer sound. It is definitely not bright at all. Tings and tingles do not sound as though it hit you on the head. To some this is good others not. I turned the volume knob on the X-PRE up and it never sounded stressed. Although I must say I could still hear the shortcomings of my Sansui. So, really what power amp you use is very important. I can safely say my experience has been in the midrange area as I accepted I was not going to be able to fairly evaluate the bass given my amp is old. I played Nat King Coles's songs and this preamp sang beautifully. You can near the warmth coming from the spkrs. Detail is not the focus of this preamp. Given that you have a good power amp that you like the sound of, then it is really worth listening to it with the X-PRE. It does change the colour of the music flowing forth to the renowed valve smoothness and warmth. I replied to someone who listens to classical music only that the MF integrateds are worth a serious listen as they excel with strings and anything plucked. This X-PRE follows that same tradition. The unit never gets hot at all. The AC transformer is external to the unit and is similar to the multi DC converters black packs that come with toys/chargers that are DC powered. This thing gets hot.

In the end, I returned the unit as it was not for me since I still had to upgrade the poweramp so as a solution the X-PRE is off my list. But I certainly liked the idea and was very excited to find I could get a valve sound for such a small outlay. It looks cute and I certainly had many people commenting on it. Esp if you hide your power amp - just get a look at their faces when you whack up the volume. Ah .. I think one can also use this unit as an addon for more inputs to an amp since it is mainly a switching unit.

The Negs
Switching between input sources #1-4 does produce scratchy sounds - ie. the switching is not electronic in nature with relays etc. I guess you will NOT expect it to be at the price. I wished the feet has rubber stuff as it is light and moving todays heavy gauge cables can actually move the unit! Given that diff power amps have different gain levels, maybe having such a switch to set gain levels would bring about improvements?

Ummm ... thats all. I'm tired. Any questions feel free to email. This is after all not a full featured review.

I,ve eventually found some 103.3 KEF monitors (in my opion the best monitors KEF has ever produced-need good amplification though) in perfect shape, I drive them with a QUAD 606 series II, I have an Arcam Delta 270 CD player and as a preamp I use ...... the X-pre from Musical Fidelity.
I have had a Marantz preamp for many years and also tried several others like QUAD 34, 66, Adcom, NAD, Luxman, Naim!, etc.

But the X-pre has lifted my setup to genuine highend performance. Man, this sounds gooooooood!
In the future I will definately purchase a good valve poweramp; until than I am greatful that in this pricerange there is available -for the first time- a preamp of unsurpassed quality.
I've auditioned -in comparison- to the X-pre, an Audio Note preamp which sounded superb also. But, I can't say which one was better. The Audio Note was 10 times more expensive and the only advantage for the extra money is that you can see the valves....

Pure high end for little money; highly recommended!

This is a stone cold bargain. It's disgusting how good this thing sounds! I bought one as a gift for someone, and after hearing it, replaced my own newish 600-dollar preamp with it, because the sound quality was that much better!
of course, it's ugly, lacks any sort of features and the power jack is kind of crummy, but it really does sound like a 1000-1500 dollar amp for only 300 bucks!

Smooth, Tonal Richness,Clarity with a warm touch and punchy.

None - Unless you favour modern digital sound and hard metal rocks type of musical tastes.

After some extensive usesage and hard listening and experimenting with various components which I owned, these are my comments about the X-Pre. 1. This is a pre-amp that needs careful partnering of components in order to bring out its full potential. ( For those 100% tubes fanatics look elsewhere. 2. The X-Pre needs fast dynamic speakers with clarity. 3. CD players with good open sound and refinements. 4. Fast dynamic power amps preferably with more power and transparency. 5. Good interconnects that can help boosting bass and dynamics, that are punchy and smooth. Lacking any of the above the X-Pre will sound slow with muddiness and even bright and harsh in the tweeters. Lack of details in the mid to lows with hollow bass. On conclusion, I am very please with my set-ups which is tonally rich with a touch of warm, good tight solid bass, high frequencies decay of instruments sounds tube-like. overall midrange is sweet with refinement and smooth good open sound. Vocals are natural and transparency is superb. It suits me in all kind of musics especially pops, as for classiclal it is average ( crank up the volume ). A superb Pre-Amp that can excels with high end performents! My configurations are as follows: Pre: Musical Fidelity X-Pre. ( With X-psu and X-10D ). Power Amps: MF XA-50 x2, NAD 216THX ( Bi-Amping) CD: Marantz CD6000 OSE. Speaker: Monitor Audio Silver 4i. Interconnects: Goertz micro purl copper ( tweeters). Goertz micro purl silver ( Mid-Bass). Cables: QED Qudos. Enjoy!

Similar Products Used:

Nad Pre-Amps. Classic series.

tubes, baby, tubes. under 200 bucks for a 'b' stock which had no blemishes at all i could find anywhere. all the positive attributes associated with tube hardware-transparency, liquidity, 'air', definition. sounds like 'music', not a preamp.

for the price i paid, quibbling. but you asked. not a whole lot of gain, slightly soft on some tracks of modern electronic/techno music. harmonic bliss on blues however. some people like to see the tubes glow. i like the aluminum cylindar myself. i've heard it may be out of production.

my dream since teenhood has been an all tube system. i purchased a x-10d to insert into my all solid state yamaha system. i was so impressed with the improvement ie. 'warmth' that i saved up for the x-pre. i'm glad i did. coupled with the audiosource amp 2 it makes a simply sweet sounding system for 500 bucks or so. i'm still saving for that final tube power amp, but the results with the audiosource are so good that that has been relegated to the back burner. the creek integrated may give this combo a run for the money but it gives up 30-40 watts, depending on model. and it's not tubes, baby, tubes. gotta have them tubes. unfortunately this model may or may not still be commercially available. i've heard conflicting answers.

Similar Products Used:

musical fidelity x-10d

This is a small, cylindrical, unconventional valve preamp. It works best with Musical Fidelity's upgrade power supply X-PSU, which I also use for their extraordinary X-DAC
Pros: Very transparent sound, High-end machines should be scared. Price is ridiculus for something that sounds as good as this.

Cons: Minimal controls (only volume and source select) No remote. No tape loop. No LP input. No nothing, really.

Verdict: If you can live with the spartan facilities (I can) you get £1000 sound for a fifth of the price. Terrific value! Five stars

This is a small, cylindrical, unconventional valve preamp. It works best with Musical Fidelity's upgrade power supply X-PSU, which I also use for their extraordinary X-DAC
Pros: Very transparent sound, High-end machines should be scared. Price is ridiculus for something that sounds as good as this.

Cons: Minimal controls (only volume and source select) No remote. No tape loop. No LP input. No nothing, really.

Verdict: If you can live with the spartan facilities (I can) you get £1000 sound for a fifth of the price. Terrific value! Five stars

This pre-amp starts properly sounding after one week of full burn-in. It is a good pre-amp while comparing to it's price but it is definetely not a high end pre-amp at all. Yes it has the natural tube sound, but lack of transparency, details, and warmt. Especially bass is very moody and wide.
My electronician checked inside and told me that it is not a real tube pre amplifier, just two tubes added to the output stage in order to make the amp tube sounding, thats all.
I compared it with Sumo Elekra pre, Mark Levinson ML 6 pre and Electracompaniet EC 4,5 pre, X-Pre is not at the same class with the others.

Pretty good imaging and excellent sound for a preamp that retails in the $250 range here in the Philippines (brand new). I own one and have compared it against more expensive Conrad Johnson and Anthem pre-amps and it pretty much holds it own.
Like what the others said, it is pretty spartan...just the volume control and input selector at the face and no remote... but the sound more than makes up for the cons.

Check out eBay once in a while, you may be able to get it there really cheap.

Oh...use it with the X-PSU, a line conditioner, and the X-10D connected to your CD player and the only time you'll want to get off your couch is when you have to change CD's.