Description: D/A processor with remote control of digital input and volume. Digital inputs (5): AES/EBU (XLR), S/PDIF (BNC, RCA, TosLink), USB. Sample rates handled: 32–96kHz (S/PDIF, AES/EBU), 32kHz–48kHz (USB). Analog outputs: RCA (1 pair), balanced XLR (1 pair). Maximum output levels: 4.5V RMS balanced, 2.25V RMS unbalanced. Output impedance: 200 ohms balanced, 500 ohms unbalanced. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.5dB (CD data). THD+N: <0.0005%, 1kHz at 0dBFS, balanced output. IMD (CCIF): 0.0005%, 19+20kHz. Output noise: 3µV RMS, A-weighted. Dynamic range…
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Sidebar 2 Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre C-5xe, Pioneer DV-578A universal players; Logitech (Slim Devices) Transporter & Squeezebox 3 WiFi network music players with Apple Mac mini running OSX for media storage; Mark Levinson No.30.6, Benchmark DAC1, Musical Fidelity X-DACV8 D/A processors.
Preamplifiers: Parasound Halo JC2, Ayre K-5xe.
Power Amplifiers: Mark Levinson No.33H, Parasound Halo JC1 monoblocks; Boulder 860.
Loudspeakers: Sonus Faber Cremona Elipsa, AAD Reference Silver-1, Monitor Audio Gold Signature GS10.
Cables: Digital: Kimber Illuminations…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Bel Canto e.One DAC3's S/PDIF and AES/EBU inputs successfully locked on to datastreams with sample rates varying from 32kHz to 96kHz. Feeding my Macintosh laptop to the DAC3's USB input resulted in the Bel Canto appearing in the computer's Sounds menu as "USB Audio Codec." The DAC3 is specified as being able to handle sample rates up to only 48kHz via its USB input. It did so without problem, though there were very slight changes in output level apparent when I fed it a continuous tone via USB. (This didn't happen with the other inputs.)
The DAC3's…
Specialization seems to be an inevitable consequence of progress: As the products of man and God become more and more complex, they're called on to do fewer things in more focused ways.
So it goes in domestic audio, however much we pretend otherwise. We buy an amplifier, bring it home, and give it a job to do—which, in terms of associated equipment, room size, music selection, and listening style, is very different from the job it will be called on to do elsewhere. Thus, direct comparisons often provide strangely little insight, and products that are truly universal are few.…
I used the X-T100 in two different systems. In my small-room system, it mostly drove the very sensitive Audio Note AN-E/Spe HE (for high efficiency), although it also spent some time driving the new DeVore Fidelity Gibbon Nines. In my large-room system, the Musical Fidelity amp drove my restored Quad ESL speakers. In all cases, the X-T100 required at least half an hour of warmup before sounding its best. It didn't appear to invert signal polarity.
Sound
Alrighty then: If recent press releases are any indication, Antony Michaelson and Musical Fidelity, Ltd. would be happy to see…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state integrated amplifier with tubed preamplifier stage and outboard power supply. Tube complement: two ECC 88. Phono inputs: 1. Line inputs: 3. Input impedances: 47k ohms phono, 220k ohms line. Outputs: one pair of speaker terminals; preamplifier and tape outputs on RCA jacks. Power output: 50Wpc into 8 ohms (17dBW, but see "Measurements" sidebar), 80Wpc into 4 ohms (16dBW). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, +0/–0.2dB. Preamplifier output impedance: 47 ohms. Damping factor: 80 (equivalent to an output impedance of 0.1 ohm).
Dimensions: 8.5…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn LP12 turntable with Linn Lingo, Linn Basik power supplies; Naim Aro tonearm; Miyabi 47, Koetsu Black cartridges.
Digital Sources: Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player, Musical Fidelity X-Ray CD player.
Preamplification: Koetsu, Audio Note AN-S8 step-up transformers; Shindo Masseto preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Quad II monoblocks, Shindo Cortese.
Loudspeakers: Quad ESL, DeVore Gibbon Nine, Audio Note AN-E/Spe HE.
Cables: Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx, Shindo silver. Speaker: Auditorium 23, Nordost Flatline Gold. AC: JPS Labs…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Before performing tests on an amplifier, I thermally stress it by running both channels for 60 minutes into 8 ohms at one-third the specified power—23Wpc, in the case of the Musical Fidelity X-T100 with its Triple-X power supply. With its limited heatsink area, I wasn't surprised that the X-T100 quickly got hot under these conditions. Its side-mounted heatsinks were too hot to touch after 15 minutes, with a hot spot at the rear of the baseplate. The distortion level didn't change during this period, beginning and ending at a low 0.0055%, but I ended the…
Sam Tellig wrote about Musical Fidelity's X-T100 in February 2007 (Vol.30 No.2):
The X-T100 integrated amplifier and matching X-RayV8 (no relation to the vegetable juice) CD player are both members of Musical Fidelity's new series of half-width X-series components.
The X-T100 updates two of the A1000's concepts: first, the notion that an integrated amplifier has certain advantages over separate pre- and power amps (less noise, less space, economy, no interconnects from pre- to power, and common grounding); and second, that there's a huge advantage in outboarding the power supply…
"All great editors are men able to see how stories, episodes, and personalities flow and merge one into the other to reproduce the pattern of a world that only their own inner eye perceives.—Henry Robinson Luce, Founder, Time and Life magazines
I fell over the Luce job description around the time I became Editor of the UK's Hi-Fi News & Record Review in 1982. But as true as I believe it to be (other than the dated sexism), to put together a publication is a team effort. The Stereophile you hold in your hand involved the joint efforts of almost 70 talented, hardworking people to…