mid-range is more dynamic and open

less transparent and loss of soundstage depth

I'm using Denon 3600 receiver, NHT Super2 speakers, and Sony DVD player. X10-D do make the sound more musical and dynamic. It adds warmth and soft vocal sound to my favor songs; however, the sound seems to be less transparent as before. It do take the load off my AC-3 amps w/ the low-end DVD player and give me slightly tubey sound. Highly recommend for those who want to upgrade their system w/ tight budget.

Similar Products Used:

none

Gives the sound a more warm and more comfortable listening quality, removes harshness and digital glare, makes the sound fuller

None that I have encountered yet

I have used the X-10D for almost two years now and I can honestly tell you that I am very satisfied with it.
I don't use it between my DAC and pre-amplifier but between my MD-player and pre-amp since I always felt my Sony MD-deck was a bit thin and lean sounding.

After I plugged in the X-10D, that radically changed. My MD-deck now has a big, full and inviting sound to which I can listen for hours without any listening fatigue.
This product is a real bargain and is truly recommended to everyone who would like to upgrade the sound of their more affordable digital equipment.

A piece of advice though: please use good quality interconnects to connect the X-10D between your digital gear and your pre-amplifier.
The cheap nasty freebies which are supplied in the box with your CD-player or MD-deck take away much of the improvement in sound quality which the X-10D can deliver.

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None as well. As Barry White would say: the X-10D is my first, my last, my everything! :-)

If ever all of the rave reviews about a product were true, these were. I bought this product after seeing it at the Audio Advisor website, and figured what did I have to lose for $200 bucks. THIS THING IS AMAZING!!!! I connected it to my Marantz CC 43 CD changer and magic happened - it turned into a $1500 Cal Audio labs tube cd player. The technology, as best I can understand it is this: This X-thing is a TUBE impedence buffer, which basically makes it easier for the line level output to drive/mate with the input in your preamp. It makes the CD player sound tubey - smoother, yet MUCH more dynamic and detailed. I can best describe it by saying that it sounds like the changer sounds like it doesn't have to work as hard and presents the sound with less effort and more ease, more musically. I also tried the X-thing between my Acurus ACT 1 S.S. processor/preamp and my Marantz Monoblocks and got even more dramatic results of the same nature: I think the Acurus had a weird impedence output out of the box - now cancelled, it sounds smoother, warmer, less clinical and there is NO MORE NOISE.
I am happier with this purchase than any I have made in the last 10 years.

Musical tube sound

None that I can detect

This is probably the most inexpensive way to get into tubes. However, I recommend using it between the preamp and the power amp, especially in inexpensive systems. In my case, the difference the X10-D made when I used it with my CD player (a CAL DX-1)was not nearly as great as when I put it after the the preamp of my NAD 314 amp. It rendered the music ever so much warmer, with more solid bass. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes the tube sound but can't afford it.

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None

After owning it for 1 year and upgrading the system. I've the following findings :-
1. Don't use it for a tube amplifier. It destroys your soundstage and makes your sound muddy
2. It is very good for "non-top-end" solid state amplifiers and "not-so-top-end" sound source. It elevates your sound from being "tired" to "lively" with much more details for budget CD players like mine.
3. It increases total cable length, which can be a grave problem. You should shorten the total cable length as much as possible

I have taken it offline after switching from Musical Fidelity A2 amplifier to a much cheaper but better tube amplifier. It has been a lovely interim addition to my system and after upgrades (ironically to cheaper equipment) I have decided to stop using it. If you want a one-step only upgrade for solid state amplifiers, it is good. If you think you will eventually end up changing the amp or even the CD player, you may have to consider the risk of this being an interim equipment to be taken away.

I used to give it a 4 or 5 a year ago but now I will give it a 2.

i bought a demo model of this piece from audio advisor ($170). i think this is a very good piece if you are wanting to get away from "digital sound". after putting it in i noticed immediately that the highs seemed slightly attenuated & the bass was more prominent. so i moved my speakers away from the back wall a bit & got a good balance. at first there seemed to be less details in the highs, but after a few moments i noticed the details were still there, just not in my face. also, there seems like there was a reduction is spurious high frequency "noise". the result was that my speakers sounded less hifi & much more natural. there was actually more details revealed in a more distinct fashion because the hf noise was not masking anything. but the best quality of this piece is it really brought out the emotion of the music. for the first time in my life an old, familiar piece which i had heard hundreds of times, actually brought tears to my eyes - i was shocked at my own reaction, that never happens to me. it was a piano & clarinet solo/duet off Holly Cole's Temptation cd. it sounded so achingly, heartbreakingly lonely. on another cd, b.b. king sounded more like a large & well travelled blues singer that's seen it all, and less like a raspy voice degraded from too many cigarettes. on brahm's piano concerto #1 (pollini on piano with boehm conducting) the piano sounded fuller & rounder, not tinny like before. and the violins were warmer also, they sounded a bit like steel before. this piece almost made my wife's Cher cd listenable (almost). all in all i am very happy with this purchase. but i do think this is very system dependent. i have very fast speakers (monitor audio silver 5's with metal/ceramic drivers), excellent amplification (bryson b60), but a cheap cd player (technics). i think the x10-d brings the cd player to a similar level of performance to the rest of my system. for someone with speakers that are already warm (ie, slow or rolled off), or already has an excellent cd player should not spend their money here. but for people with inexpensive cd players or fast speakers this will mate well with your gear & put the emotion back in you music. 5 stars.

Before buying X-10D I read quite a lot of reviews including some of those from you guys, and I can't stop thinking that regardless all of 'for' and 'against' that you point out one idea is common - system dependancy. So I'll tell you my story...I ve got full Rotel package including RCD-971 hooked to RC-971 and RB-971 with Audioquest Topaz interconnects, Tannoy 635 speakers and I was lacking some transparency of the system - sound seemed to be pretty flat if not dry. I auditioned X-10D in the shop with some of Rotel's cheaper models and difference of sound with MF upgrade was obvious - much reacher bass, improved imaging.. well, Oh Yeah ! was the impresion. Back to my system... Hooked between CD player and preamp with MF no nonsence cables it showed modest results which were, honestly, quite disappointing in the first approach. I think this contributes mainly to the player (5* Best Buy, HiFi Choice) which delivers impressive detail and load..... But, some of you guys said that you should be patient to see improvements. Yep ! I still don't regret this purchase. I can't tell you where exactly sound was improved (clearer bass ? sharper image ? higher detail ?), but what is obvious to me is that now my system plays relaxed. In other words, now it sounds really natural - bass became focussed and not spread wide as before, highs are delicate, penetrating but not boring, mids are same as before. Sitting in my listening chair became much more enjoyable and relaxing experience. Sound is now smoother and crystalised (ain't that fair enough for $170 investment ??!?!?!?!?!?) with more musical spirit. When hooked between preamp and Power amp results where less impressive although still remarkable.
Test this box on your sytem before buying !!!!! and definitely spend more than 5 minutes for auditioning with different sorts of music. If you are listening your disks from the kitchen, then forget it, otherwise this is the product to look at. Enjoy !

This is a cool budget upgrade for budget systems. It's not for everybody. I bought this used for $99 and would gladly pay full price if I had to. My thoughts on the product and the reviews thus far are:
1. If it isn't broken, you can't fix it. This is a buffer stage for lower priced cd players. I own an NAD 515 changer. The X10-D cured the brightness and harshness of the player, smoothed out the sound incredibly. As the dealer who sold it to me said, it will sound "funny" on a $2000 cd player. If brightness is not an issue, this probably won't do much for you. Even if you have some problem with brightness, it just may not work for you: it's a matter of synergy in the system and taste. Make sure you can return it.

2. Don't believe everything you read. Anyone with an ounce of sense knows that when the reviews say your $250 cd player will suddenly outperform a $2000 cd player through a $200 add-on, something's amiss. On whole, I think the X-10D improves the NAD far beyond its design limits, though the results vary considerably from cd to cd and song to song. The difference in about 40% of my cds was dramatic and unmistakable (my girlfriend is a professional singer who has very little patience for the technical side of my stereo and I use her reactions as a guage of my audio tweakings: her reaction - although the X10-D was hidden behind the stand and I hadn't discussed the purchase was "jesus what did you do to your speakers?" and when I explained the thing, she said "whatever you do, don't return it - it's the best thing you've ever bought for your stereo.") To compare it to a cd player that was better designed and constructed in the first place (at any price) probably isn't valid.

I've heard the z-man is a better quality product. Worth a listen as well - it sounds to me like the z-man reverse engineered the X-10D and put the money saved on development into some better tubes, which may be an improvement. On the other hand, maybe the raves the z-man product has received are subjective, based on its appealing underdog status.

As to interconnects, I talked the dealer into giving me a discount on some Audioquests ($40), and they worked pretty well. No sense in breaking the bank for a $200 attachment to my $500 cd changer. I don't have the patience to try a bunch of interconnects and speaker wire; it's just a level of obession to which I am currently unwilling to stoop. (As my girlfriend said when we were looking at some cables at an audio dealer: "if you ever spend $1000 on speaker wire, you better make sure it's not long enough for me to hang you with" - guess she'd rather me get her a tennis bracelett or something).

Widening of soundstage

none thus far

I purchased the X10-D online at E-Bay. I have always been skeptical of the wide difference of opinions on this item. I decided to take the plunge anyway and bought a used one on E-Bay. When I first hooked into my system my wife noticed the difference right away. A wider soundstage and a clearer sound. She rarely ever hears the differences when I purchase a new piece of equipment! I think it probably makes a big difference as to what sort of electronics you are using. The people who have a cheaper system probably won't hear that great a differnece in my view. I am using this box between a Yamaha RX-V-995 receiver that I use as my pre-amp and a Denon POA-2400 amplifier. Also in my chain is the MSB LINK III with upsampling and the Monarchy Dip II.

Similar Products Used:

MSB Link, Monarchy DIP

I have a pretty modest A/V system; Yamaha receiver, Sony CD player andNHT 2.1 speakers. I'll tell you this is a great product. It has added
about an octave of bass and warm smooth sound.

This product has saved me some money, I have put off purchasing a new
tube amp. I just purchased the Musical Fidelity X-Cans headphone amp.
And they have done it again!