Which Hi-MD Bookshelf?

[Neffi]

I'm looking into importing an Onkyo Hi-MD bookshelf unit; but struggling to decide which one! The more reviews and mech translations of Japanese pages I look at the more confused I get.

The specs for the X-B7/8 and X-n7/9 look very similar although there's an obvious cosmetic difference between the two. I gather the B8 and N9 have an optical output (for cd only) which distinguishes them from the B7/N7. The X-N series also have a much higher price tag - what am I missing?

I've also come across the FR-N9 (with a review on these forums) - is this the same thing as the X-N9 with a different model number?

Then there's the newer generation X-N7TX and X-N9TX in various colours, but I'm not sure what the difference between these and the older ones is! These newer ones apparently don't have world band FM (this doesn't greatly bother me).

Any tips from owners of these systems, or just clarifications from those in the know would be much appreciated!

[Neffi]

Thanks for the tips Wizard. I've decided to leave the mysteries of the X-N series for another time and ordered an X-B8. I've opted for the white version for a change of scene, and since there's a black pictorial on the forums already! No chance of me developing an interest in white headphones though.

[Neffi]

Somewhere called OutletPlaza, via Kakaku.com, via PriceJapan.com! They actually mentioned in the email that it was the last one. Still, searching on Rakuten and Kakaku did yield a few other results, but it's not always easy to tell which colour they're actually selling (without being able to read Japanese anyway). Searching for the colour as model number eg X-B8( B ) tends to be less productive than just searching for X-B8.

Edited August 15, 2008 by Neffi