Vinyl Asylum: REVIEW: Musical Fidelity X-LP Phono Preamp by Kun Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ.

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Appearance & Construction
The Musical Fidelity X-LP is one strange looking phono stage. It resembles a device of mass destruction from a James Bond movie: cylindrical shape, thick brushed aluminum faceplate, red indicator light, semi-gloss black chassis, heavy duty rolled steel body and integral cradle/stand (if you value your freedom, don’t take this thing through airport security). I especially like the two Allen wrench sockets on the faceplate. She weights the same as your average brick and is the size of a large can of Boston Baked Beans. The fit and finish are excellent. The X-LP is by far the best looking, built and sounding of the three budget phono stages I have used during the past 2 months (i.e., the Creek OBH-8 and NAD PP-1). With its hospital-grade look it ain’t your father’s little black box.

Did I mention this thing is sturdy? You could stand on it without fear of damage. Furthermore, you can bring on your tightest RCA interconnects, the X-LP’s back panel will not bend no matter what. The 2 pairs of RCA inputs are gold plated and may be switched between the appropriate sensitivity for a moving coil or moving magnet cartridge. She sports a ground terminal but, unfortunately, lacks a power switch. You’ll have to buy the look-alike X-PSU power supply ($200) if you want a power switch.

Power Supply
There is one thing totally out of character for this quality British phono stage: wallwart! Wallwart, wallwart, a cheap little 12-volt made-in-China wallwart. However, as much as I despise wallwarts, as least this one does its job well, i.e., it supplies power and nothing else to the X-LP. In contrast, the NAD PP-1 and Creek OBH-8 sport wallwarts that are excellent radio receivers and, subsequently, will propel inner city dwellers straight into RFI hell (see my reviews of these 2 units on this site). Thank you Musical Fidelity for spending a little more time and money for shielding and/or filter circuits to keep that classic rock station and hum out of my phono stage!!!

Sound
Right out of the box, this unit sounded a little bright and irritating. It took over a week of large doses of daily vinyl for the X-LP to develop a balanced tone and full soundstage. The Creek seemed to burn-in only after a few days. Amazingly, the NAD didn’t need any burn in as it sounded the same all the time (maybe my dealer sold me a demo or return as the box looked beat).

Although both the NAD and Creek sounded good, the X-LP is much better. First, it is RFI FREE!!! This is a big deal as my 31st floor condo is less than 2 blocks away from a transmitting tower. I live with a low hum and classic rock in my telephones, guitar amps and cheap unshielded stereo components.

The X-LP’s main attributes are its transparency, detail, smoothness and balanced sound. I hardly noticed that it was there, it merely reproduced the source with clarity and truth. I listened to it for hours without fatigue, unlike a certain Sony CD player I once owned.

Chick Corea’s “Return to Forever” sounded wonderfully natural and full bodied . Unfortunately, the X-LP’s increased detail and resolution over the other phono stages can be a little irritating if your source is poor. A recording I knew to unusually bright, Julian Bream’s “Music of Spain, Lute, vol. 1” (RCA, ARL1-3435), sounded edgy but just bearable on the NAD and Creek. However, the X-LP rendered it uncomfortably bright. On the other hand, the X-LP served up Andrés Segovia’s “The Castles of Spain” (Mecca DL710171) as one of the most beautiful classical guitar tones I have ever heard: rich, full, round, balanced and not a hint of edginess. The same recording on the NAD and Creek was ok but a bit dull or flat sounding. Yes, rolling off upper frequencies makes bright recordings and surface noise more bearable. However, the downside is that good recordings lose upper frequency detail and sound a little flat. The X-LP gives you the whole deal, i.e., the good, bad and the ugly.

The X-LP is has a wide, deep soundstage. Chick Corea’s “Return to Forever”sounded huge compared to the other phono stages. I could shift around on the couch much more and still remain in the “sweetspot” and hear the position of each instrument in the ensemble.

Snappy dynamics were no problem for the X-LP. The NAD and Creek both compressed the signal a little during sforzandos in symphonic recordings or sudden percussion accents. The X-LP let me feel every whack of the conga drum when Irakere (Columbia 35655) played Misa Negra. The X-LP seems to have plenty of headroom and thus accurately rendered perky and pounding dynamics without smashing the sound.

If you give the X-LP a good recording on a clean record the detail and beauty of the music are astounding for this side of $250 (only $50 more than the Creek OBH-8). The X-LP is good looking, built like a tank, well shielded and sounds excellent. What a bargain for the demanding music lover on a budget. I returned the NAD and Creek but the X-LP is a keeper. Maybe I’ll lose the ‘wart and buy that cute little matching power supply later.

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