JM Audio Editions XTC Headphones

Mar 6, 2025 at 11:46 AM Post #2,236 of 2,264
Best move I made was to put both of mine on tubes. Running the ZMF Pendant SE at the home office but thinking about picking up the Woo Audio WA6 SE for the office.
Either that or move the Pendant to the work office. I listen there around 6+ hours a day whereas at home, I don't have much listening time.

Edit: Purchased the WA6 SE this evening but it won't be here for a couple weeks. Really looking forward to hearing how the XTC2.5s sound on it!
 
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Mar 7, 2025 at 7:58 AM Post #2,237 of 2,264
Best move I made was to put both of mine on tubes. Running the ZMF Pendant SE at the home office but thinking about picking up the Woo Audio WA6 SE for the office.
Either that or move the Pendant to the work office. I listen there around 6+ hours a day whereas at home, I don't have much listening time.

Edit: Purchased the WA6 SE this evening but it won't be here for a couple weeks. Really looking forward to hearing how the XTC2.5s sound on it!
WA6 SE is really good with the 2^5 32 ohm closed back for sure to me, likely my favorite amp for it so far! Also noticed the 32 ohm beryl 2.0 near scalpel open back good there too.
 
Mar 7, 2025 at 9:54 AM Post #2,238 of 2,264
WA6 SE is really good with the 2^5 32 ohm closed back for sure to me, likely my favorite amp for it so far! Also noticed the 32 ohm beryl 2.0 near scalpel open back good there too.

I use my WA6 with my 64ohm beryl all the time. That’s my favorite combo with them. I use my WA2 with the 300ohm beryl and it’s SUPER amazing. But I 2x the price of the WA2 with upgraded tubes so it’s already swinging at a level way outside of what the stock WA2 does.
 
Mar 7, 2025 at 11:41 AM Post #2,239 of 2,264
What tubes are you guys running? Mine is coming with a good number of tubes but I heard the best power tubes to run are the 13EM7s and the USAF596 for the rectifier.
 
Mar 8, 2025 at 3:59 PM Post #2,240 of 2,264
Good lord he’s got some new Gold w/forged carbon fiber cups!


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Mar 8, 2025 at 4:11 PM Post #2,241 of 2,264
Mar 9, 2025 at 9:20 AM Post #2,242 of 2,264
What tubes are you guys running? Mine is coming with a good number of tubes but I heard the best power tubes to run are the 13EM7s and the USAF596 for the rectifier.

I've wanted to share more along the way about these tubes so here you go a bit, I'm gonna put this into a spoiler just click on it to read my reply, I'm just trying to keep the flow of the thread easy on the eyes as possible.

I've wanted to share some of this infromation for the last couple of years. I like all the tubes when they are nice and warmed up and run in they are all decent. 13DE7 gives lots of volume headroom and lower noise floor making managing the volume pot much easier. 13EM7 has to be just right with the 32 ohm and the 32 ohm does love power, just must get volume just so right!!

If 13DE7 is warm and opened up recently and a good pair of them they can sound decent and it's nice having twice the range on the volume pot for the sensitive headphone. 13EM7 was my choice the first year but eventually I figured out 13DE7 is capable it took a number of things to get 13DE7 there as they were weak and lackluster and tend to be at least my very cheap pairs that only cost a few dollars. But 13EM7 matched pair from woo is my best drivers hard to beat overall but also intense. They will put out the most punch and resolution overdriving the amp. If things arn't right electrically it is more aggressive so it can be more difficult to use when things arn't settled, when things are right there is no fatigue and very good I do like them the best. The volume is sensitive and tight so have to carefully adjust volume precisely and it's good. 13DE7 is just much easier to avoid fatigue with in those less than ideal scenarios so it feels safe to use those for these headphones. The first year I did not find satisfaction with those but I did the second year.

Recti, power cables and where you plug in the amp in can have a big effect on the WA6 SE which helped me to learn it makes it obvious with the XTC. Just dang the varience in sound from this thing from even the power cable. Other amps not as much so. I upgraded the power cable 3 times, the power cable upgrades where EPIC to me. I was using a $4000 or so clock system and I would put the power cable upgrade up there equal to that at one point. I was laughing for a couple of weeks about how good it was. Much larger and deeper soundstage and resolution, just an incredible upgrade for $250. The final cable upgrade I got was an IceAge OCC cryo treated large gauge copper ended cable and it transformed the entire amp completely and all of the tubes became much more equalized. It's like it just flowed the juice 50 percent more efficiently the amp transformed for sure! This might not be others experiences though with better AC power and it tends to all sound closer to the same at night when the power is good around here. 13DE7 and the rectis all much more on par after this. I have bad power around here so you'll get what you do out of tubes in your own situation has to be figured out and can't really be answered. If I had good AC power wow it would be less need to spend so much and make it very easy to be 100 percent satisfied if the power was like it was at night I'm not sure I'd even use an expensive clock or power conditioner, really not a need honestly I think to very much enjoy the music but this stuff helps a bunch during the day around here for me

I love warm ended rectifier the most and eventually I came to love sophia 274b which is more neutral. U52 is my best tube so far, it has notable extra dynamic and wild soundstage with power/potency, it can be harder to manage. Bass slam and punch with 13EM7 on a dedicated line is quite epic for a bass head with these headphones, huge body and lush just love it, totally engaging stuff. For slap and go zero fatigue and ease it may not be the first choice if you just unplugged your source or haven't worked out your AC power yet using a sensitive headphone to top it off on the end of the chain. It is an upgrade to the sound vs the others in a full blown setup that is stable and settled unlocking more resolution but most of the recti I've used do pretty good with various levels of roll off compared to something like the silver fox. I dont mind less resolution at all just want it sounding nice. The lesser tubes are just great for the money and I use them all and don't mind going to a less recti, in fact some of them are a go-to for some things at times and I like their rolled off darker nature (the U52 is also dark and rolled off compared to something like a silver fox at times) I use them all and love them all, they all have strengths and unique traights so I think all the tubes are good for sure besides a few really crappy cheapos! My two favorite zero fatigue safety types of tubes for the 32 ohm would be CV1863 5Z4G and an STC 5R4GY made in england for $50 and $120. These tubes are really dang good for some music listenin. CV1863 nice airy stage and maybe #1 euphonic tone, it has less resolution and just makes things easy, even if the source is struggling it makes listening to music easy. 5R4GY is more refined and elegant sounding, some just awesome midbass imaging and resolution it is the most buttery smooth tube I've seen epically good buttery factor. It does roll off the top end which can be nice for higher volume listening and I enjoy it in WA22 as well. Both of these tubes are warm tubes and darker. It's good to have a few tubes. Sophia 274b + 13DE7 is a very safe and balanced more neutral take after power cable upgrade. I liked it the least for about a year and it can be go-to now (also with 13EM7 very good). Mullard GZ34 (find a grey plate fat black base where the base sticks out 1950s also a nice tube I could work with for around $200, plump lush airy bass and imaging and low fatigue :)_

*Edit* PS I think the tubes you have are a great start should be good to go to a nice feel on things and keep you plenty busy for a while and no need to buy anything unless you want to :)
 
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Mar 9, 2025 at 12:28 PM Post #2,243 of 2,264
I've wanted to share more along the way about these tubes so here you go a bit, I'm gonna put this into a spoiler just click on it to read my reply, I'm just trying to keep the flow of the thread easy on the eyes as possible.

I've wanted to share some of this infromation for the last couple of years. I like all the tubes when they are nice and warmed up and run in they are all decent. 13DE7 gives lots of volume headroom and lower noise floor making managing the volume pot much easier. 13EM7 has to be just right with the 32 ohm and the 32 ohm does love power, just must get volume just so right!!

If 13DE7 is warm and opened up recently and a good pair of them they can sound decent and it's nice having twice the range on the volume pot for the sensitive headphone. 13EM7 was my choice the first year but eventually I figured out 13DE7 is capable it took a number of things to get 13DE7 there as they were weak and lackluster and tend to be at least my very cheap pairs that only cost a few dollars. But 13EM7 matched pair from woo is my best drivers hard to beat overall but also intense. They will put out the most punch and resolution overdriving the amp. If things arn't right electrically it is more aggressive so it can be more difficult to use when things arn't settled, when things are right there is no fatigue and very good I do like them the best. The volume is sensitive and tight so have to carefully adjust volume precisely and it's good. 13DE7 is just much easier to avoid fatigue with in those less than ideal scenarios so it feels safe to use those for these headphones. The first year I did not find satisfaction with those but I did the second year.

Recti, power cables and where you plug in the amp in can have a big effect on the WA6 SE which helped me to learn it makes it obvious with the XTC. Just dang the varience in sound from this thing from even the power cable. Other amps not as much so. I upgraded the power cable 3 times, the power cable upgrades where EPIC to me. I was using a $4000 or so clock system and I would put the power cable upgrade up there equal to that at one point. I was laughing for a couple of weeks about how good it was. Much larger and deeper soundstage and resolution, just an incredible upgrade for $250. The final cable upgrade I got was an IceAge OCC cryo treated large gauge copper ended cable and it transformed the entire amp completely and all of the tubes became much more equalized. It's like it just flowed the juice 50 percent more efficiently the amp transformed for sure! This might not be others experiences though with better AC power and it tends to all sound closer to the same at night when the power is good around here. 13DE7 and the rectis all much more on par after this. I have bad power around here so you'll get what you do out of tubes in your own situation has to be figured out and can't really be answered. If I had good AC power wow it would be less need to spend so much and make it very easy to be 100 percent satisfied if the power was like it was at night I'm not sure I'd even use an expensive clock or power conditioner, really not a need honestly I think to very much enjoy the music but this stuff helps a bunch during the day around here for me

I love warm ended rectifier the most and eventually I came to love sophia 274b which is more neutral. U52 is my best tube so far, it has notable extra dynamic and wild soundstage with power/potency, it can be harder to manage. Bass slam and punch with 13EM7 on a dedicated line is quite epic for a bass head with these headphones, huge body and lush just love it, totally engaging stuff. For slap and go zero fatigue and ease it may not be the first choice if you just unplugged your source or haven't worked out your AC power yet using a sensitive headphone to top it off on the end of the chain. It is an upgrade to the sound vs the others in a full blown setup that is stable and settled unlocking more resolution but most of the recti I've used do pretty good with various levels of roll off compared to something like the silver fox. I dont mind less resolution at all just want it sounding nice. The lesser tubes are just great for the money and I use them all and don't mind going to a less recti, in fact some of them are a go-to for some things at times and I like their rolled off darker nature (the U52 is also dark and rolled off compared to something like a silver fox at times) I use them all and love them all, they all have strengths and unique traights so I think all the tubes are good for sure besides a few really crappy cheapos! My two favorite zero fatigue safety types of tubes for the 32 ohm would be CV1863 5Z4G and an STC 5R4GY made in england for $50 and $120. These tubes are really dang good for some music listenin. CV1863 nice airy stage and maybe #1 euphonic tone, it has less resolution and just makes things easy, even if the source is struggling it makes listening to music easy. 5R4GY is more refined and elegant sounding, some just awesome midbass imaging and resolution it is the most buttery smooth tube I've seen epically good buttery factor. It does roll off the top end which can be nice for higher volume listening and I enjoy it in WA22 as well. Both of these tubes are warm tubes and darker. It's good to have a few tubes. Sophia 274b + 13DE7 is a very safe and balanced more neutral take after power cable upgrade. I liked it the least for about a year and it can be go-to now (also with 13EM7 very good). Mullard GZ34 (find a grey plate fat black base where the base sticks out 1950s also a nice tube I could work with for around $200, plump lush airy bass and imaging and low fatigue :)_

*Edit* PS I think the tubes you have are a great start should be good to go to a nice feel on things and keep you plenty busy for a while and no need to buy anything unless you want to :)
Thanks for all the info. I did order my usual heavy duty power cable to run with it and will be running the 596 with a matched pair of 13EM7 NOS GE coin getters. I'll share my impressions listening on the 32ohm and 300ohm XTCs, when everything arrives in a couple weeks.
 
Mar 9, 2025 at 1:24 PM Post #2,244 of 2,264
Thanks for all the info. I did order my usual heavy duty power cable to run with it and will be running the 596 with a matched pair of 13EM7 NOS GE coin getters. I'll share my impressions listening on the 32ohm and 300ohm XTCs, when everything arrives in a couple weeks.

If you can get that 300ohm on a good kick ass otl tube amp. It’ll take it to a whole other realm. I use my Woo Wa2 for my xtc2 300ohm and it’s a whole extra level for me than my WA6 is with them. That said i have never heard my xtc2 64ohm beryllium sound better than on the WA6
 
Mar 9, 2025 at 1:32 PM Post #2,245 of 2,264
If you can get that 300ohm on a good kick ass otl tube amp. It’ll take it to a whole other realm. I use my Woo Wa2 for my xtc2 300ohm and it’s a whole extra level for me than my WA6 is with them. That said i have never heard my xtc2 64ohm beryllium sound better than on the WA6
You think an OTL amp is better suited for the 300ohm cans than an SET amp? If that's the case, I'll keep the WA6 SE at the home office and take the Pendant SE to the work office, as I use the 32ohm XTC2.5s mostly at work and the 300ohm XTC2s at home.
 
Mar 9, 2025 at 2:36 PM Post #2,246 of 2,264
Mar 9, 2025 at 4:52 PM Post #2,247 of 2,264
You think an OTL amp is better suited for the 300ohm cans than an SET amp? If that's the case, I'll keep the WA6 SE at the home office and take the Pendant SE to the work office, as I use the 32ohm XTC2.5s mostly at work and the 300ohm XTC2s at home.
OTL amps synergise particularly well with high impedance headphones.

Here is a great article that goes deep in depth with impedance in headphones and sensitivity and what it actually means... https://www.headphonesty.com/2019/04/headphone-impedance-demystified/

Here is a pretty okay article that covers the basics with matching tube amps with headphones... https://hifigo.com/blogs/guide/how-to-choose-the-right-tube-amp

Here is a Reddit convo that might help a bunch too... https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/4qzs2c/what_is_an_otl_amp/

The basic thing is that this is the fun part of headphones and speakers and amps. This is the game of finding what different headphones react differently to both different kinds of power and different amounts of power and finding what you personally like.

My personal preference is I almost always only listen to my high impedance headphones, basically headphones with 150ish ohms or above on tube amps and specifically OTL tube amps or class A solid state amps with huge amounts of both power and drive. A good example of why this is important is with a lot of very well regarded class D headphones amps you'll see crazy amounts of watts listed as the power, like 8-15 watts of power, but with harder to drive dynamic driver headphones and planar headphones they can still sound thin and lack texture in the low mids and bass while a class A amp or tube amp with like 2-5 watts of power will make the heaphones or speakers sound like magic. On many 300 ohm and higher impedance dynamic driver headphones those amps may play music and get loud but when I get my hands on a headphone amp that has both power and also a lot of drive I hear much deeper amounts of texture in the lows and low mids because that is the part of the music that is harder to drive on headphones, the soundstage a lot of the time will open up, way more holography and natural placement of sounds, when it sounds outside it will really sound outside. Stuff like that.

A great example of this is I have a great little collection of headphones. My OG origional do all love the music headphones is my Sennheiser HD600. It just sounds nice on everything. Love it. Lovely. Nothing wild and amazing, nothing mind bending, Soundstage is ok, highs are ok, bass is accurate but nor great, nothing too impressicve, nothing like that. Worth its price, not punching above its weight. Swiss army knife type thing. Then when I play it on a great tube amp, especially an OTL amp, because of BOTH its sensitivity rating as well as its high impedance of 300ohm, it will soak up and react incredibly well to the specific tube characterists and it shoots up to doing what heaphones well within the $1000-$2000 realm can do. It's a really wild experince. So to me, with John's 300ohm XTC, what I get specifically on the OTL amps is everything I LOVE about the XTC2 300 ohm tuning just way enhancd with the tube sound stignature because the higher impedance and sentitivity causes the headphone to really react to the characteristcs of the OTL amp in ways that the lower impedance XTC2 models I have do not and in ways that it does not react to any other amp I have.

When I connect the 300ohm XTC2 to the WA6 with the high impedance switch engaged, it sounds wonderful but not nearly what the proper OTL amp does to it. That said, OTL is not always best for all headphones. Low impednace headphones that are easier to drive tend to break up and the bass gets less deatialed and smooth and gets mushy and incorrect. IEMs are usually a catastrophic mess on common OTL amps. Common planar headphones also don't react super well to most OTL amps. My 64ohm XTC2 headphones may sound nice on the WA2 with the crazy tubes on it with certain music that does not have huge swaths of bass, but those headphones, IEMs and other sensitive headphones sound MAGICAL on the WA6 with the 8-99 ohm impedance switch engaged. To my ears headphones that are less sensitive and have higher impedance may sound good on lots of things but are far more particular and react to changes in the music chain where sensitive headphones still to react to changes but react less.
 
Mar 9, 2025 at 9:15 PM Post #2,248 of 2,264
Great bit of information, thank you for that! I had to look at the amp design of both the Pendant SE and WA6 SE and I somehow was mistaken that the WA6 is a OTL. Both of them are actually SET amps. I will have a better part of a week on PTO, to A/B both headphones on both amps at the home office the week after next, when hopefully everything arrives. Just looking at published specs:

Pendant SE:
  • 3 Watts @ 8Ω and 2.5 Watts @ 300Ω
  • 8ohm and 100ohm taps.
  • Couldn't find specs on voltage or current output.
WA6 SE:
  • 2 Watts @ 32Ω and 1.3 Watts @ 300Ω.
  • Low and high impedance taps. (couldn't find specs)
  • Couldn't find specs on voltage or current output.

With those specs missing, I guess it is a bit more difficult to tell on paper what amp would be a better fit as high impedance headphones want higher voltage, whereas low impedance headphones want higher current.
 
Mar 11, 2025 at 4:25 PM Post #2,249 of 2,264
Great bit of information, thank you for that! I had to look at the amp design of both the Pendant SE and WA6 SE and I somehow was mistaken that the WA6 is a OTL. Both of them are actually SET amps. I will have a better part of a week on PTO, to A/B both headphones on both amps at the home office the week after next, when hopefully everything arrives. Just looking at published specs:

Pendant SE:
  • 3 Watts @ 8Ω and 2.5 Watts @ 300Ω
  • 8ohm and 100ohm taps.
  • Couldn't find specs on voltage or current output.
WA6 SE:
  • 2 Watts @ 32Ω and 1.3 Watts @ 300Ω.
  • Low and high impedance taps. (couldn't find specs)
  • Couldn't find specs on voltage or current output.

With those specs missing, I guess it is a bit more difficult to tell on paper what amp would be a better fit as high impedance headphones want higher voltage, whereas low impedance headphones want higher current.
Really it's all very subjective. Two different SET amps can sound totally different than each other, even from the same company. It's not only about the type of amp, OTL vs SET vs any other type, it's all about the topology and engineering intentionality. I have 4 pairs of JM Audio cans and they all synergize very differently on different set ups, even if the setup is all solid state, solid state and tube, vinyl and tube, on and on. Different amp and dac makers have their own way of creating their desires sonic experience within the same type of amp. There are some OTL amps that work well with hard to drive planars even. This to me is sort of the fun of the whole hifi game. Finding what combo works specifically for me. I have a headphone that is infer $200 and on the right amp with the right dac it sounds better than a $1500 pair of headphones on the same amp with the same dac while on other amps and dacs it sounds like it's actual proce.

I great gateway drug into OTL amps is the Bottlehead Crack. You can DIY build one if you want but you can also get them used for cheap. Here's one I just saw...
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/pd-bottlehead-crack.84247/
-A note about the Bottlehead Crack. This is an AMAZING headphone amp to pair with Sennheiser HD600 and HD650 or the Beyerdynamic DT880 600ohm. If you have not heard that combo you could get this amp, a pair of those headphones, and you'll see how a good OTL amp can enhance the value of headphones that are in the lower-mid tier of the hobby. The 300ohm XTC are alreay up there with the best headphones I have heard so to me they don't sound bad really on anything.

Lots of super helpful Crack lovers can help you even sup it up even more on these threads...
https://forum.bottlehead.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=ve7n8niu8c5nckspr1gpvfu71m&board=24.0

There's a Headfi for the Crack that's like 15 years deep. It is very upgradable if you want to climb that ladder. It's a legendary amp not the best, not the worst but it'll show you how OTL amps behave and you won't have the sell your car to afford it...

Also Xduoo makes a common and descent OTL amp that is another great entry way into the OTL world that apprently responds very well to tube rolling...
https://apos.audio/products/xduoo-ta-66-tube-amplifier

Another idea is wait for the new Schiit Valhallah3 to come out. Should be out soon. It will be another great option.

OTL is not necessary. I hope I'm not coming across as saying that you need need need an OTL amp for your 300ohm or else. That's nonsense. I hear and rad that madness a lot and its whack elitest garbage. A lot of ZMF and Sennheiser fanboys love to cry to the heavens that you NEED an OTL tube amp for the headphones or you're not listning right. Nonsense garbage. I listen to my XTC2 300ohm on everything and it sounds great. What the OTL amps do, because of the way they react to high impedance headphones, they offer a sonic expeince that they do not offer with other lower impedance headphones, and on the flip side of the coin, high impedance headphones like your 300ohm XTC cans should sound a way on OTL amps that they do not sound on other amps.
 
Mar 13, 2025 at 11:15 PM Post #2,250 of 2,264

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