iFi Audio Pro iESL - The Official Thread

Would you buy our iESL now if it were still available?

  • Yes

    Votes: 87 77.0%
  • No

    Votes: 12 10.6%
  • I don't know

    Votes: 14 12.4%

  • Total voters
    113
Jan 24, 2019 at 3:33 AM Post #136 of 805
These two are very different in how they work and with what products. iESL is an energizer and very good at that, thus can drive electrostatic headphones, whereas Pro iCAN is a more regular (though still unusual!) headphone amplifier. iESL can drive these as well and we provided it with 4-pin XLR out for regular headphones because we could include this extra feature, but again... it's an energizer. Plus, you can't drive e-stats out of iESL's 4-pin XLR.



The so-called house sound is irrelevant here, on the contrary to functionality. iESL was designed to do things ouside of Pro iDSD's reach and these two aren't really comparable. Yes, they both are capable of driving regular headphones but in case of the iESL it's a side activity. E-stats are its main focus. Therefore for regular cans Pro iCAN is the way to go, but e-stats are iESL's turf.



Thanks, we won't disagree :ksc75smile:



Nope. As we've explained above, the two Pro range products differ in their main purpose, headphones they were meant to work with in the first place. But iESL able to drive headphones the Pro iCAN can happened just because we could iunclude this option in the former. It's an option one can investigate into if one wishes to.



They don't, their main functionality is different.



iESL has its own needs. It has to be biased either via a regular power amp, Pro iCAN or other amplifier with XLR outs juicy enough to provide 10V into 64 ohms.

-----------------------

One thing in one of our previous posts we got wrong, though. iESL is not just an extender for Pro iCAN. It allows one to fine tune regular headphones as well through impedance control which is active for them too. And the signal to 4-pin XLR passes through the transformer with either 1:1 or 2:1 stepdown, which impacts the sound.

Thanks for the informative post!
My opinion remains that it doesn't make much sense to have both the iESL and the I CAN in the same system if ones main purpose is driving planars+electrostatics. that idea is formed being fully aware that the iESL's main focus is electrostatics. It seems to me that the iESL is best served as a compliment to a receiver (preferably vintage) with a really good single-ended headphone out.
 
Jan 24, 2019 at 2:44 PM Post #137 of 805
My opinion remains that it doesn't make much sense to have both the iESL and the I CAN in the same system if ones main purpose is driving planars

Agreed, with such headphones Pro iCAN is all it takes.

+electrostatics

If one rolls with Pro iCAN already, to have iESL for electrostats is actually a good idea. I.e. space wise for example far better than a regular stereo power amp.

It seems to me that the iESL is best served as a compliment to a receiver

...or Pro iCAN. Our tech team tailored Pro iCAN and iESL to work together nicely.

(preferably vintage)

Why do you think so?
 
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Jan 24, 2019 at 9:23 PM Post #139 of 805
Why do you think so?

Generally better phono stages and overall better design than most commercially available amps today. My Kenwood KA-9100 cost me less than $650 (including restoration) and in design is superior to any headphone amp at a similar pricepoint and almost every sub $1,200 receiver currently in production. The headphone stage of the Kenny, plus an iESL and the ability to run a full size set of speakers seems to be the best of all worlds.
 
Jan 24, 2019 at 9:28 PM Post #140 of 805
Small follow up in regards to power requirements ,both amps picture below can push SR-207 or LCD-2 with ease ,I'm very pleased how transparent IESL sounds ,no hint of coloring as far as I can tell with a slight pinch of darkness,
Pairs well with brighter sounding (both my amps) source like Sabre gear ,very cool running unit just like THX 789 AAA
Well done iFi
Cheers

EDIT;almost forgot..there is one little thing that's a bit annoying,when you turn off the unit with Stax attached you can hear very faint sound of transformers discharging ?

 
Last edited:
Jan 25, 2019 at 5:26 PM Post #142 of 805
Generally better phono stages and overall better design than most commercially available amps today.

Although there are many fine products decades old, we can't agree with this one. But the most important thing here is that you're happy. Enjoy:dt880smile:
 
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Jan 25, 2019 at 5:30 PM Post #143 of 805
Now this is why i bought the whole PRO stack...

10232131.jpg
 
Mar 26, 2019 at 4:36 AM Post #148 of 805
greetings everyone, I got a stax 007 Mk2 and the SRM-007tII energizer

I would like to know please, would I benefit pairing the stax 007 with an ifi ican pro and ifi iesl more than using the SRM-007tII

I am not looking into buying a Woo audio energizer or Blue Hawaii, or other brands, as those are not available where I live , so I just need to know if adding the ifi iesl to ifi ican pro would be a better pairing than with SRM-007tII

best wishes
 
Mar 26, 2019 at 4:42 PM Post #149 of 805
greetings everyone, I got a stax 007 Mk2 and the SRM-007tII energizer

I would like to know please, would I benefit pairing the stax 007 with an ifi ican pro and ifi iesl more than using the SRM-007tII

I am not looking into buying a Woo audio energizer or Blue Hawaii, or other brands, as those are not available where I live , so I just need to know if adding the ifi iesl to ifi ican pro would be a better pairing than with SRM-007tII

best wishes

We'd suggest to contact your local iFi audio distributor and try iESL for yourself. If you don't like it, our return policy is generous and you'll be refunded.
 
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Mar 26, 2019 at 4:48 PM Post #150 of 805
We'd suggest to contact your local iFi audio distributor and try iESL for yourself. If you don't like it, our return policy is generous and you'll be refunded.

maybe its worth it if you can consider an iesl tour for stax / electorates and ifi ican pro owners and we write some impressions
 

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