[Ken]

I Live down under while i nice place to live we have sfa headphone amp's to see and listen to. Headphone amps are as rare as rockin horse **** around these parts


So until a week ago i had not heard the tubes sound , enter xcans which i purchased from a fellow Head-Fier here in Aus. Well i like the tubes and in fact like them alot. BUT opertunity knocks , Ross another fellow Head-Fier from aus is now selling his EarmaxPro amp. So i ask fellow Head-Fiers to let me audition the earmaxpro thru your experienced words.

My X-Cans is V2 with e88cc tubes. with larger than normal wall wart [ his one wont fry eggs ]

 

[joelongwood]

Hi Ken.......I've never heard the X-Cans, but from what I've gathered from around here, to some ears, it does not exhibit the classic tube sound that is so sought after. I have the Earmax Pro and the MG Head DT...........the Earmax is much "tubier" sounding.........a very lush midrange that makes vocals, particularly female ones, magical. The bass is also excellent.......deeper and more controlled than the MG Head. The high-end, while not as extended as some SS amps, is still extremely smooth and quite detailed. As I said, I've never heard the X-Cans, so I can't compare directly. And of course, all of this is just my opinion, from hearing things with my 54 year-old ears.

 

[markjia]

The X-Cans are not like most tube amps in that it is a sort of hybrid between tube and SS. I can't remember for sure, but I think it uses tube for its pre stage and SS for the rest.
The EarMax Pro is really in a different class, and cost more than twice as much. So i would think they are signifantly better.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

From everything that I have read, the EarMax Pro is a huge step forward.

 

[BenG]

X-Can is a hybrid(SS inputs, Tube outputs)

 

[Hirsch]

I haven't heard the Earmax. The X-Can is an odd beast. It's very finicky, and can sound rotten in the wrong setup. With a decent source, good cables, good tubes, and the right headphone, it can be an amazingly good amp that can hold its own with much more expensive equipment.

 

[Ross]

Quote:

I haven't heard the Earmax. The X-Can is an odd beast. It's very finicky, and can sound rotten in the wrong setup. With a decent source, good cables, good tubes, and the right headphone, it can be an amazingly good amp that can hold its own with much more expensive equipment.

Not in my experience. Admittedly, I used the stock tubes, but connected to a Meridian CD player, using the best cables I had available (and I have lots of expensive cables), and the X-PSU, it still sounded like **** on a stick. I don't say this because I want to sell Ken my Earmax Pro (which I am still in half a mind to keep), but the EMP is in a class way above anything the X-Cans could ever hope to achieve.

Ross

 

[Hirsch]

As I said, finicky. It's easy for the X-Can to sound bad. However, I've also got mine to sound good enough so that I don't experience a sense of missing anything, even with a ZOTL and a SHA-1 available. I'm using RCA 6922's (OEM Siemens tubes), Silver Sonic BL-1 cabling. Main source is Apex AD600A DVD player into modded ART DI/O into Adcom GFP-565 preamp (X-Can hooks to tape out...this is the external monitoring system for my computer). I'm using the Sony MDR-CD3000, which seems to fit perfectly with the X-Can (CD3K is overly bright with either the Melos or the Berning, but approaches neutrality with the X-Can)