Core Infinity listening impressions and comparisons

[Jean-Marie]

The AES/EBU (and S/P-DIF) inputs use Manchester coding, meaning that a single input signal carries both data and clock information from the source.  The input circuitry on the Devialet has to "recover" the clock from the input and use the recovered clock to extract the data (audio bits). The clock is usually recovered from the input by using a phase-locked loop (PLL) based on a reference clock internal to the Devialet.  The quality of the clock recovered by the Devialet will depend to some degree on both the quality of the input, which in turn depends on the source's clock, and the quality of its own reference clock.

So I'd interpret the information that "all sources get their clock from the CI board" to mean that the PLL's reference clock now comes from the CI, which might mean it is a higher-quality reference than in the non-CI case.  This could result in a more stable/accurate recovered clock, and wouldn't necessarily negate the value of a well-clocked source such as a Mutec.  That would be my thinking based on first principles - what it sounds like in practice is of course another matter entirely

Yes, you are probably more correct than my over simplification.

Jean-Marie