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Upgrading the X-CANS amplifier... w/photos

post #1 of 43
10/8/01 at 2:40am
Thread Starter 
http://www.nikolai.org/misc/xcans/index.htm
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post #2 of 43
10/8/01 at 3:09am
Nikolai, I deleted your duplicate post in "General"
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post #3 of 43
10/8/01 at 3:47am
Nikolai, that is an interesting site. That is a nice tutorial there on how to upgrade the xcan amp. There is however something strange going on witht the links on my computer. I am using explorer 6. Somehow the hyperlinks from your navigation menu become mixed up after clicking the links in various different orders. Very strange.
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post #4 of 43
10/8/01 at 5:03am
YES!!! Finally, pics of the inside of X-Cans (v2 or not). Cool.
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post #5 of 43
10/8/01 at 1:20pm
Nikolai, was this done after the Dallas meet?
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post #6 of 43
10/8/01 at 2:30pm
Very helpful, Nikolai! I didn't realize there was so much (well, to me at least it looks like "so much") involved in tube changes with the X-CAN. Is it any easier with a v2 version?
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post #7 of 43
10/8/01 at 2:35pm
Ya, it was done after the dallas meet... he mentioned he was gonna do it that night. I'm interested to hear how much of an improvement the new tubes provided...
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post #8 of 43
10/8/01 at 2:42pm
Quote:
Is it any easier with a v2 version?
The board layout is the same for both models.
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post #9 of 43
10/8/01 at 4:39pm
Thread Starter 
Upgrading the tubes in the X-CANS amp may not be as simple as rolling the Earmax Pro, but any 6th grader could nevertheless do it with ease. Don't worry... it's a snap.

The X-CANS tube swap from the Jan/Philips tubes to Upscale's "Private Reserve" Russian 6H23's is a mixed bag. The good, the bad, and the ugly are all present. I let them burn-in for eight hours before writing this review. I do not believe further burn-in is likely to make any major differences... and I'm not going to wait and see, so there!

The Good:

The typical upper-end shrillness is gone.
Bass response is deeper.
*Some* instruments seem to have a bit more "air".

The Bad:

The midrange is more subdued with a definite flatness that is not at all pleasurable. The murk-factor has actually been upped a notch. This is bad, indeed.

The Ugly:

I bought the X-CANS amp for $150... a nice deal for the money. However, after adding $25 each for the two Russian 6922's the price/performance curve is shot considering that the tubes are still not the right ones for the job. The Russian 6922's would be better served in another amplifier. They do look very nice and have a superb bias match... so perhaps more testing is in order on other equipment.

I think I'm reaching the limit of "X-CANS technology". I suspect that even if I popped in a pair of vintage Amperexes the X-CANS may not be capable of delivering the full potential of the tubes, but I could be wrong. I'm not going to hunt them down, though.

End Result:

The stock tubes are going back in! I'm not giving up my midrange detail, no sir. The bass can wait.

I'll be putting the Russian 6922's on eBay soon. In the meantime, I'll be picking up a matched pair of Tesla's and Sovtek's just for the hell of it. Call me curious.

Further results to come. Many others have taken this journey before me. Tube Avenue is a well-worn path.

-Nikolai

P.S. Shame on you, Jude. Now what does the second line on my X-CANS upgrade page tell you?
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post #10 of 43
10/8/01 at 4:49pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Nikolai Dot Org
P.S. Shame on you, Jude. Now what does the second line on my X-CANS upgrade page tell you?
LOL! Whoops.

Quote:
(also applies to the X-CAN v2)
Yeah, well....I have a bit of a flu. Does that excuse me?
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post #11 of 43
10/8/01 at 5:11pm
Nikolai - is that you in the picture in your Pj's?
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post #12 of 43
10/8/01 at 7:52pm
Pyjamas? I dress like that all the time
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post #13 of 43
10/8/01 at 8:38pm
Thread Starter 
PJ's???!!!

Very funny.
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post #14 of 43
10/8/01 at 10:27pm
Thread Starter 
I just ordered two matched pairs from Triode... one Sovtek and one Tesla. I'll post how the rollings go.

In the meantime, I'm eBay-ing the Russian NOS tubes here if anyone would like to try them:

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI...tem=1016094936
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post #15 of 43
10/8/01 at 11:31pm
Don't tubes take upwards of 50 hours to burn-in?
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