I tend to agree, Wes, that sacrificing a small amount of detail in favor of tonality is a good trade. That's approximately what I (and, I think, a bunch of others) did when I added the MF X10v3 between the X-Ray and the preamp. Give it a try. You might like it too. I hear Stereophile considers it a Class A component, and at today's prices, you can buy the X-Ray and the X-10 for what the Quad 99 CDP-2 costs. Of course, you don't get that variable output feature.
I tend to agree, Wes, that sacrificing a small amount of detail in favor of tonality is a good trade. That's approximately what I (and, I think, a bunch of others) did when I added the MF X10v3 between the X-Ray and the preamp. Give it a try. You might like it too. I hear Stereophile considers it a Class A component, and at today's prices, you can buy the X-Ray and the X-10 for what the Quad 99 CDP-2 costs. Of course, you don't get that variable output feature.