[Beagle]

Quote:

The highs of this thing are boosted to match the roll-off in the highs of the 580 and 600s. The X-Can also emphasizes the mids to make up for the slight mid-range recession in the Senns

Rolled highs and midrange recession in HD600????

 

[Hirsch]

In further experimentation last night, I ran the 501's with the X-Cans for a couple of hours and then listened again. The sound, compared to the HD-600/Clou was very detailed, but had a very thin midrange. Bass was lean, but very controlled and went very deep. The thin midrange bothered me, but then I had an idea. I had the TDS passive audiophile on bypass, as it had produced too much midrange with the Senns/X-Cans/JJs. However, the type of changes it makes in sound would complement the weakest area of the AKG...and so it was. With the TDS in the system, the sound of the 501 filled out nicely. I'm not going to say either can is better, but I can find plenty to like with either of these setups (HD-600/Clou/X-Can/JJs/X-PSU or K-501/X-Can/JJs/TDS/X-PSU). The TDS is turning out to be one of the better speculative purchases I have made. Now if there was a way to upgrade the interconnect on the K-501...

 

[BenG]

Quote:

Originally posted by Beagle Rolled highs and midrange recession in HD600????

Look at the Headroom graphs. It's also clearly audible.

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

Look at the Headroom graphs. It's also clearly audible

Before or after you look at the graph?

 

[steelyglint]

I am just entering good-headphone-world, and the x-cansv2 is the only amp I can get here.

What headphones work well with this? HD600 too expensive. I hear the 580's are good with it - how do the HD 570's compare? Are the 580's worth twice the price?

Thanks

 

[KR...]

well, if you can ONLY get the X-Cans V2, then get the 580 if the 600 cost too much money for you.

forget about those 570

 

[Kim Hardee]

I would like to resond to BenG's comment that the XCans frequency response is not flat. I have measured the response of an XCansV2 with both 300 ohm and 32 ohm loads and it is in fact very flat (within 1db from 20Hz to 20KHz). If you look at the frequency response curves for the Grado phones at www.headphone.com you can easily see why Grado phones sound too bright with this amp (boosted highs).

 

[carlosgp]

I'm starting to test my new X-can with K501 after break-in. What can I say... I can see why some people says this combo sounds ugly - with some CDs! You can hear all the crap from a bad recording, and there are many out there. But if your source is a good one, this combo sounds really beautiful to me.

 

[Hirsch]

I've been splitting my listening time with the X-Can between the Senn HD-600 and the K-501. As time passes, I'm drifting back to the HD-600 more and more. The K-501 just doesn't get the midrange with this amp, even enhanced by the TDS. I'm considering going back to the stock tubes, but subtracting even more midrange isn't likely to help anything. On another note, the RA-1 is back in the running. I've been able to get some pretty nice sounds out of the K-501 using it. As a bonus, you don't have to worry about it playing it too loud

Actually, the hot output of the ART DI/O adds enough gain so that the RA-1 drives the K-501 quite nicely. However, even a normal line level signal gives enough gain for the Grado to work. I'm not quite sure why I wrote it off earlier...my first try seemed to indicate insufficient gain, but later attempts were fine. And so it goes.

Next up is the Creek OBH-11se. I've been putting off hooking the AKG up to this one...of the three amps I've got, this one moves the sound in the same direction as the K-501...lots of detail, but very lean and analytical. I'm almost afraid of putting the two together again...