[Review] Musical Fidelity X Series V3 Review

Discussion in 'Hi-Fi and General Audio' started by STELLABAGPUSS, Jan 26, 2005.

  1. STELLABAGPUSS

    STELLABAGPUSS Happy Chappy

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    Musical Fidelity X Series V3 Review

    Having just browsed though this months HI-FI CHOICE, I noticed that they gave a brief review on some the MF X Series V3 Components. Having just purchased the X-10v3,X-DAC-v3, and X-PSUv3.I thought my view may help others interested in it.

    The X10v3 and X DACv3 have been reviewed by a few magazines now, and just to echo X10v3 is a superb little box, bringing life to all DVD players,and a lot of CD players. In Short, it adds extra space to recordings,you can hear the end of any reverb being used.It also gives you that classic valve sound,with improved Bass.

    X-DACv3 is really something special, the amount of detail that it will dig out of your CD's is amazing.The Midrange is really clear,and thankfully not harsh, I guess sweet is the correct phrase.Again you would expect this, as MF claim it to be technically superior to there Famous Tri Vista DAC.

    I must admit that I would compare the X-DACv3 & X10Dv3 Combo as the same as many £1000 players. But before you switch off, here comes the X-PSUv3 . I can honestly say that the difference made by adding the X-PSU to both the other units is hugh !!, to be frank a Night & Day difference. The Noise floor becomes lower, and the Bass, well... yes the Bass is amazing, for the first time the Bass had a Dynamics, and I'm not talking of the usual thud, just the sheer resolution you get by adding all 3 Units together is fantastic, you really are getting a great chance to get a True HI End Sound that will play ball with the £3000 park, at a discount price. When you consider I was running this off a £120 DVD Player Pioneer DV 575A it does give you food for thought, granted having the player fitted with Trichord Clock 4 does make a difference, know doubt you you probably know what a bargain the "575A" is as a transport already.

    If I can offer any advice to anybody to anyone going for a audition, make sure that you hear it with the X-PSUv3 fitted, as the difference is hugh, it's a shame HI-FI Choice didn't review it as well. And I also had another eye opener, for the very first time I managed to hear a audible difference when using my home made Passive Mains RFI Filter (The Same as Russ Andrews ), I believe this is due to the noise floor being lower,so they do work after all, but it seems to depend how bad your mains is at the time and can your set-up dig deep enough to hear the lower level detail !

    I hope this was of some use to someone

    MY SET UP

    PIONEER DV 575A(CLOCK4 MOD), MF X-DACV3,MF X10V3,X-PSUV3
    PIONEER A300R PRECISON (TOM EVANS FULL MONTY MOD),MONITOR AUDIO SEC 20 CELEBRATION, QED BI WIRE SILVER SPEAKER CABLE, VAN DEN HULL D102 MKIII INTERCONNECTS. MAINS CABLES & POWER BLOCK FROM EBAY ID corry25.
     
    STELLABAGPUSS, Jan 26, 2005
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  2. STELLABAGPUSS

    Ken

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    Stellabagpuss,

    You should know better than to come on this board and praise Musical Fidelity :eek: (or any mainline UK manufacturer for that matter), you will now have the ZG Police after you. :p
     
    Ken, Jan 26, 2005
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  3. STELLABAGPUSS

    michaelab desafinado

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    No such thing as ZG police. Some here don't like MF stuff - it's good to hear positive views aswell :)

    Michael.
     
    michaelab, Jan 26, 2005
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  4. STELLABAGPUSS

    Ken

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    Michael,

    Just my opinion, I think that there are a lot of over the top comments against 'good' quality UK gear.

    MF, B&W, Naim, Linn etc all cop a fair amount of criticism, IMO unfair criticism. Seems that any make that is successfull in the mainstream is automatically classed as 'poor' sounding.

    I say this and at the moment I don't even own any UK gear in my main system.

    (Except Alphason and Mission Arms)
     
    Ken, Jan 26, 2005
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  5. STELLABAGPUSS

    barcrawler

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    Well I have just bought the x-dav v3 and I am well impressed with it. has added better sound stage, added a lot of detail. Bargain piece of kit!

    Dont care if others want to flame me for owning MF kit, I like so who cares! :p :JPS:
     
    barcrawler, Jan 29, 2005
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  6. STELLABAGPUSS

    ErikfH

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    Agree. Always wondered why the British seem to have a weak spot for throwing money at pricey import, while there's all the quality stuff at home to choose from. Like ignoring the Beatles and the Stones as being to obvious to give them attention. :confused:

    Happy listening Stellabagpuss!
     
    ErikfH, Jan 31, 2005
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  7. STELLABAGPUSS

    JackOTrades

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    well, I own an MF amp and I love it. To my ears, and in my system, it creates a lovely soundstage and a very textured sound, which is what I want.

    i agree that there's been perhaps some over-the-top harsh criticism to MF by some, but everyone is entitled to their opinion. i have my own, and as always, opinions are great things but you have to trust your ears first and foremost.

    to be fair, a lot of what has been said against MF has been about their fickle marketing campaigns and their constant release of new models. this is a concern as most of the time these claims are quite over the top, which is annoying, but most imporantly, because this can cause a real depreciation issue to those who own MF gear.

    however, as sound goes, they have some craking stuff, imho.

    just my 2p.
    Jack
     
    JackOTrades, Jan 31, 2005
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  8. STELLABAGPUSS

    ErikfH

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    ErikfH, Jan 31, 2005
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  9. STELLABAGPUSS

    STELLABAGPUSS Happy Chappy

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    Firstly thanks to everyone who has taken the time to post there opinion. I must admit to not being much of a fan of MF equipment in the past, mostly due to the high costs. The funny thing is that it was after reading a lot of praise about the Tri-vista DAC on this Forum, after all thats how I discovered the X Series after a visit to the MF website. Simply £1200 was and is to much money, I must admit that MF claims did suck me in, claiming that the X-DACv3 had better spec's than the Tri-Vista. So I decided to have a listen, and let my ears be the judge. Of course you can tell that I am more than happy. I even managed to purchase the X-DACv3 & X-10v3 2nd hand on ebay. Total cost was £889.00 inc X-PSUv3. A big saving on £1200 for the Tri-vista !! Prior to my purchase, I was using a Pioneer Precision (upgraded to a £900 Player by Tom Evans, next step is the Eikos),I also had a short use of the Fantastic VFM M Audio 24/96 Superdac,the deal breaker personally for me , was that both the Superdac & Pioneer Precision simply didn't have that ability to dig up the fine detail. And that was before I even purchased the X-PSUv3. Again, you are only getting half the picture, add the X-PSUv3 and you will have a hugh smile.

    Again Thanks For all the comments and I hope you enjoyed the little review, hopefully it encourage other users to write some. When I get the time,I will post a review of the Bargain DVD Player the Pioneer DV 575a.
    Regards To All
     
    STELLABAGPUSS, Jan 31, 2005
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  10. STELLABAGPUSS

    Josey

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    Well, I most say that I am sometimes confused by certain comments about Musical Fidelity. I too understand that their marketing speeches are , usually over the top, and that the release of new products constantly is a down size to the value of their products, but a true fact is that Musical Fidelity makes terrific products at a great value for their performance. I myself have built my system out of MF products. I own the Nuvista M3 Int. amp along with the Nuvista 3D cd . Also, I have the Trivista Dac hooked to two Denon Jukeboxes, the 5000-5001 series, with a capacity of 200 cds. The whole thing is AC filtered with , first, from the wall to a PS-Audio Ultimate Outlet High Current 15 amps, and then to a PS-Audio PS-600 power conditioner , and finally to a PS-Audio PS-300 power conditioner. Cables are from PS-Audio for the power, and the interconnects are all Musical Fidelity Nuvista RCAs, different lenghts. All this sounds thru my Electa- Amator II Sonus Faber speakers with the original adjustable Iron stands, along with 2 Gravis Subs , also Sonus Faber. This is to say that the sound I am getting is fantastic, lush, detailed, warm, luxurius(in a way), and the bass is so magnificent , controlled, perfect almost.(Of course, the Gravis subs, being so musical, are a great match ). Having no background noise at all because of the filtration, is a big help also. Any way, my point is that I have a system that delivers a fabulous hi-end sound , very reliable, and , for a comparative small amount of money if you will, according to the performance I get with it. Soon, maybe this coming year I will get a M1 turntable . Well see. Josey :eek: :eek:
     
    Josey, Jan 31, 2005
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  11. STELLABAGPUSS

    kajak12

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    if any one is intrested you can get an upgrade for your xpsu power leads on ebay.custom made for a xpsu you will be amazed at the diffrence it makes :)
     
    kajak12, Dec 28, 2005
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  12. STELLABAGPUSS

    kajak12

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    i came very close to selling x-dac,x-psu,x-10(v3).then i woke up where else can i get this kind of music for this amount of money.it makes my speakers dissapear.love the little silver boxes more than my wife.(i hope she never logs on here) :D we enjoy mf gear downunder(australia)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 28, 2005
    kajak12, Dec 28, 2005
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  13. STELLABAGPUSS

    STELLABAGPUSS Happy Chappy

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    I would 2nd that Kajak12, you would be hard pressed to improve the sound for the money, no doubt others would disagree.For me once the XPSUV3 is connected,the sound really improves. What Transport do you use?
    I have to ask....what type of improvement does this xpsuv3 lead make ? I believe that there is 2 types this ebayer offers, anyway I would love to hear your views,as I've tried contacting past buyers on ebay, and none of them got back to me, so your comments would be of great help
    Regards & Happy New Year
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 30, 2005
    STELLABAGPUSS, Dec 30, 2005
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