Musical Fidelity X10-D clone as DAC analogue stage?

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#2
Ian Greenhalgh said:
Hi folks

Has anyone usedo ne of these boards?
X10Db Tube preamp board base on X-10D Musical Fidelity ( no tubes) | eBay

Is it really a clone of the X10-D? Would it make a good analogue output stage for a homebuilt DAC?
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I haven't had the opportunity to use neither the original nor any of its clones but I remember that at the time of the release of the MF XD10-D different testers found that it brought a real improvement using it between good CD players and the power amp but made no difference when used with higher end CD players.

Probably a DAC with a good I/V implementation will make the use of a X10-D irrelevant. However the low price outlay for the clone ($40) plus some $15 transformer may also be an encouragement to go ahead with a purchase. One should allow for at least a couple of pairs of quality valves and a number of quality replacement capacitors.

Here are some pictures, two of the original and one of 'your' board:
 

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#3
Cheers Mike. it does look like they've made a clone, judging by the looks of the thing. Good valves and some cap upgrades seems easy enough, what do you recommend for good valves - some old NOS like Mullard or Brimar, or NOS Russian/Soviet ones?

What I read was that the X-10D seemed to give best results in systems that had impedance matching issues between source and amp, with the X-10D being an effective buffer that smoothed out impedance issues and that was largely why it helped some people's setups.

At the price, I suppose it's worth trying one, certainly preferable to a built-in opamp driven analogue stage of a DAC board.
 
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