Musical Fidelity X-T100 amplifier, $2999 (including PSU). X-Ray v8 CD player, $2499 (excluding PSU). Triple-X PSU $899 if purchased separately.
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| Musical Fidelity's X-series CD player, amplifier and power supply unit (click for larger image) |
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| Musical Fidelity X-Ray CD player |
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| Musical Fidelity X-T100 amplifier |
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| Musical Fidelity Triple-X PSU |
“Do you think you could make this one a bit less… ambivalent.” It’s shocking, I know, but that’s exactly what the editor said to me when he handed over the equipment for this month’s review.
Ambivalent? Me? Never! Well, maybe a bit. Sometimes.
I suppose he may have a point though. I mean, who needs ambivalence in a review? Surely what’s required is clear and unambiguous information. The unadulterated truth, with no place for wishy-washy vacillation.
In deference to the editor’s authority, I shall try to make this as unambiguous as I can. So, on to the new X-T100 amplifier and X-Ray v8 CD player from Musical Fidelity.
Rampant uncertainty
First impressions of the new X-series are bad, but in a good way. Oops, fence-sitting again. The packaging and documentation are distinctly homespun with cheaply photocopied manuals and plain boxes. Certainly, little money was wasted, but that’s oddly reassuring too. The money clearly went on the contents. Did I pull that one back from the brink, ed?
Build quality is on the sturdy side of solid. Unfortunately, the styling resembles an old Denon DM7 micro system. Particularly ironic given Musical Fidelity’s current advertising asks “Do you have a hi-fi system or just an overpriced music centre?”
Bring back the interesting and different look of the original X-series, I say. Quite unequivocally, as it happens.
On the other hand
What has been retained from those earlier X-series components is an external power supply designed to keep the big transformer away from sensitive audio stages. Definitely good.
Internally, the X-T100 has a valve-based pre-amp and solid state power stage that are closely related to Musical Fidelity’s expensive KW500 amplifier.
Ambiguously, the X-T100 amplifier is rated at both 50 and 80w per channel (depending on whether you’re reading the manual or Musical Fidelity’s website). However, I can say with complete certainty that it includes a pretty good phono stage as well as the usual line level inputs and tape loop.
Sitting on the fence
The X-Ray CD player is, well, a CD player. It has coax and optical digital outputs. But why would you bother since its finest feature is the classy on-board DAC? Certainly you’d be unwise choose it as a transport only, unless you happen to be looking for a transport with particularly slow disc initialisation.
There’s a system remote too, a rather plasticky affair that controls the amplifier, CD and a tuner. For added entertainment value the volume control is motorised, so you can watch it rotating as if my magic. Trivial, but fun.
Definitely in two minds
So what does it sound like? Here, I should make a confession. I’m going to be a bit, well, vague. Because I don’t really have much to go on.
Usually when reviewing use the equipment for a couple of weeks before sitting down for an organised listening session in which I take detailed notes about a wide range of music. As a result, I can tell you that I listened to two versions of the Messiah, Mahler’s second symphony and a bit of Vivaldi. There was definitely KT Tunstall on the list as well as Jose Gonzales… and the Gotan Project. Not to mention Elvis Costello, Adam and the Ants, The Specials and a few others from the same period.
Can I tell you much about them? No, I’m afraid I can’t. You see, after a few seconds I’d just get so absorbed by the music that I’d forget to write anything down.
Blowing hot and cold
I can tell you that my initial note says “50w????? never” because the amplifier really doesn’t sound like a 50w amplifier, it sounds much, much more powerful. I can also tell you that there’s a note about the CD player “++detail” because it just hoovers stuff off the disc.
Oddly, there’s no note that says “rhythm ++++” though there really should be. Similarly, I completely failed to make any note about the infectious energy that comes across.
I can also tell you that although the X-Series work well as a system, it’s the X-T100 that’s the real star. There’s nothing wrong with the X-Ray, it’s a fine CD player, but it’s the amplifier that makes this system sing.
And that’s the clear, unambiguous truth. I found myself getting completely carried away with the music. Not because I was analysing detail or image (though both are there in shovelfuls), but because I felt I had a direct connection to whatever it was the artists were going on about.
