[betula]

Betula. to answer your question. I have a Woo WA22 amp with upgraded tubes driving Sennheiser 800S headphones (dynamic drivers). I have been very happy with this setup. These headphones deliver an enormous soundstage. Highly recommend open-backed headphones for this reason. 800S is a must-have.

I guess its a matter of taste but I'm a fan of the tube amp mellow sound. Plus you get the ability to "roll" driver tubes, that all have different sound signatures.

I'd suggest a set of magnetic planar headphones as well. Such a different sound. I'm shopping HIFIMAN right now.

I edit this post to add this paragraph. I bought the ICan because it can drive planar headphones, which seem to require enormous amount of power. My normal setup is the WA22 tube amp. I will admit that my Senn 800's sound great thru the ICan.

DACs - no strong opinion. It's just a chip.

Good luck.

I appreciate the sharing and thanks for that, but my question was specifically aimed at @Slim1970 which he answered above.

 

[betula]

I put the WE 2C51/396A back into the unit. These tubes i bought previously as a matched pair are working absolutely flawless.

About the GE 5 stars i habe no idea how they measure. I don't cared that much, cause they are hard to get anyways at the moment. I was glad to get my hands on them.

I also reseated them and changed the channels. The iCAN goes into self protection either.

Just for clarity, did you buy unmatched GE 5 stars then?

 

[rab900]

Yes, the seller had no measurements.

 

[iFi audio]

Tubes must be closely matched, both ifi pro products are sensitive to mismatched tubes, but upgraded Tubes do make a noticeable difference in sound over the stock tubes.

Yup, there is still some room for improvements re tubes in our Pro range, but we're very pleased with GE JAN 5670 in general and we think they're great as a stock option

 

[BillinSF]

I appreciate the sharing and thanks for that, but my question was specifically aimed at @Slim1970 which he answered above.

me and my big mouth!

 

[chaz_flhr]

Yes, the seller had no measurements.

Don't buy tubes that aren't closely matched, it would be nice if we knew the allowed deviation between tubes.

 

[rab900]

Unfortunately I didn't know that the iCAN is so bitchy when it comes to deviation between tubes.

Does anyone have the ability to measure them? Just PM me.

 

[BillinSF]

Bought used 1 week ago. Just swapped in WE 396A tubes - so easy to do. Wow! Senn 800S are singing.

HFM Arya on the way and I just won an eBay auction on Susvara.

Liking this amp a lot.

 

[BillinSF]

I'm wondering if anyone has experience using the ICan solely as a preamp? I am loving the Susvaras I just purchased but want more power than the ICan delivers. So just ordered a Benchmark AHB2. That's a very neutral amp based upon reviews.

I like the "tube" setting on the ICan, which I guess passes through the XLR outputs on the back.

Any experiences with a setup something like this? Dac > ICan > speaker amp.

 

[BlueSkyHi]

I used the iCan Signature directly into my power amps for a while. It sounded just fine and, yes, the balanced outputs benefit from the tube function.

 

[BlueSkyHi]

DACs - no strong opinion. It's just a chip.

Not if your DAC is an R2R DAC like a Denafrips

 

[BillinSF]

DACs - no strong opinion. It's just a chip.

Not if your DAC is an R2R DAC like a Denafrips

I've been researching those. Tx for the note.

 

[Shane D]

I'm wondering if anyone has experience using the ICan solely as a preamp? I am loving the Susvaras I just purchased but want more power than the ICan delivers. So just ordered a Benchmark AHB2. That's a very neutral amp based upon reviews.

I like the "tube" setting on the ICan, which I guess passes through the XLR outputs on the back.

Any experiences with a setup something like this? Dac > ICan > speaker amp.

How loud do you listen? I have been listening to my HE6se V2's on my iFi Pro iCAN all week and the combo is awesome! With the laptop Windows volume at 100%, I can't even get out of low gain or go past 11:00. Of course I don't listen above 75Db's. And I am using balanced out.

Are the Susvara's really that much harder to drive or do you just listen really loudly?

 

[BillinSF]

How loud do you listen? I have been listening to my HE6se V2's on my iFi Pro iCAN all week and the combo is awesome! With the laptop Windows volume at 100%, I can't even get out of low gain or go past 11:00. Of course I don't listen above 75Db's. And I am using balanced out.

Are the Susvara's really that much harder to drive or do you just listen really loudly?

I'm using Amazon Music thru a desktop. Volume at Max. High Gain on Ican. It's not killing my eardrums but I can tell that the Susvaras want more. These headphones want crazy power.

As an old guy (I go back to the days of Carver amps and Bose 901's and Advent speakers), I just think there is better sound rendering ahead with a speaker amp. We'll see. Lots of internet chatter on this topic.

 

[dcguy73]

I'm using Amazon Music thru a desktop. Volume at Max. High Gain on Ican. It's not killing my eardrums but I can tell that the Susvaras want more. These headphones want crazy power.

As an old guy (I go back to the days of Carver amps and Bose 901's and Advent speakers), I just think there is better sound rendering ahead with a speaker amp. We'll see. Lots of internet chatter on this topic.

The iCan Pro works well as a preamp, and it still gives you access to tube modes, bass boost, and crossfeed functionality. I concur that the Susvara sounds better with more power than the iCan’s headphone out provides.