X ray v8/x dac v8 combo revue (long)

[Bizzie]

My old Marantz Cd63 KI signature Cd player has been struggling to read some disc's lately and jumping on a few as well so I decided it was time for a new one as it is 8-9 years old I don't think that its worth trying to fix.

Although I have been happy with the sound I have had problems with Marantz gear the Cd had a dry joint on the right channel input which I found and fixed when out of warrantee. I have also had problems with a PM66se KI signature that I had before I got into valves something on the output kept tripping and one day didn't trip back this was repaired twice under warrantee but went again after it ran out. I also had a n Av amp that lost the rear left channel. I have a friend who owns a £2500 marantz amp and £200 marantz Cd and both have been back for repairs and both replaced in the end so I don't want anymore marantz gear.

I wanted an upgrade so after some research decided upon a Musical fidelity X ray v8 but found that they don't come with a power supply as they use either the power supply supplied with the amp or take the power from the X dac v8.

I found the CD and Dac being sold as a pair brand new by Lintone audio on ebay for £800 which is £1000 less than normal retail price so bought and paid for one on monday and it was delivered when he said on wednesday, why can't all ebay sellers do that.

I have read on another forum that this setup takes about two weeks to burn in properly so it was unpacked and setup and left with aCD on repeat while I got on with decorating the kitchen.

After a couple of hours I needed a break and the paint was drying (thats my excuse) so on went the amps for a quick listen first up was Prodigy's fat of the land and wow deep solid bass with loads of detail but a bit edgy sounding with some SSSSSSSibilance but the sound stage is so deep and wide that I could hear noises behind me almost like surround sound but loads better. Next was Roxy music for your pleasure and I've never heard Bogus man sound this good, I won't list every Cd played but it looks like I will be listening to some old music as I work my way though my collection.

I have left the combo on repeat all night and had a quick listen though headphones using my Aikido based headphone amp and cannot detect the sibilance I heard yesterday I will try though the speaker system later when SHMBO is at work.

One thing that I have found is that because my system sounds so much better I was playing at a higher volume without realising so I hope my nieghbour likes the new Cd player.

[Cressy Snr]

Hi Alec

I had a MF XRay CD player a couple of years ago and it sounded great.
If I hadn't discovered the Squeezebox, I would probably still be using it.

Steve

[Bizzie]

The thing with the v8 dac is that it has 3 digital inputs all coax unfortunately so I have tried my mk1 sqeezebox on it and it does sound rather good probably because it upsamples to 24bit 192khz and there is a tube buffer built in that can be switched in or out but I haven't made my mind up about whether I prefer that on or off been playing some more and its really starting to smooth out now sounding pretty good.