[yakbob]

The more I listen to my XTC 2.5s the more they are ruining my opinion of my 2-channel speaker system that I’ve held in high regard.
My first foray into “serious” headphones was plugging my Denon ah-9200 into the face of my pre-amp, for the purposes of listening when my wife is banging away in the kitchen. The sound was fine, and the closed design was a means to an end with decent isolation.

By moving to John’s XTC 2.5s and paring them with a Cayin HA-3A, I find I’m reaching for the headphones more often than not, and my “system” is seeing less time. First world problem for sure, but these 2.5s are amazing, and I’m surprised they’re not getting more attention.

 

[oldson]

i have the XTC open and find myself doing the same

The more I listen to my XTC 2.5s the more they are ruining my opinion of my 2-channel speaker system that I’ve held in high regard.
My first foray into “serious” headphones was plugging my Denon ah-9200 into the face of my pre-amp, for the purposes of listening when my wife is banging away in the kitchen. The sound was fine, and the closed design was a means to an end with decent isolation.

By moving to John’s XTC 2.5s and paring them with a Cayin HA-3A, I find I’m reaching for the headphones more often than not, and my “system” is seeing less time. First world problem for sure, but these 2.5s are amazing, and I’m surprised they’re not getting more attention.

i have the open XTC and find myself doing the same

 

[John Massaria]

You’d have to ask John that one.

One is matte finish with bees wax coating and the other is poly clear coat similar to a car finish

 

[Ace Bee]

Needed an info. My primary on the go sources are Tempotec V6 and several dongles, Moonriver2 Ti, KA5, Colorfly M2 etc. And my most powerful sources being iFi XDSD Gryphon and Shanling M7.

Now, I know proper desktop full size dac and amp stack will be the optimal source to drive the XTC Closed to their full potential... But I do not have that provision now. So can my sources drive the XTC closed sufficiently if I choose 32 ohm Beryllium driver?

 

[andrewchoppa]

Needed an info. My primary on the go sources are Tempotec V6 and several dongles, Moonriver2 Ti, KA5, Colorfly M2 etc. And my most powerful sources being iFi XDSD Gryphon and Shanling M7.

Now, I know proper desktop full size dac and amp stack will be the optimal source to drive the XTC Closed to their full potential... But I do not have that provision now. So can my sources drive the XTC closed sufficiently if I choose 32 ohm Beryllium driver?

Absolutely. Of course they sound magnificient on decent solid states and otc tube amps too!! But I use my Ifi GoBlu for on the go and it is magnificent with them!!!! Plenty of power and sounds great imo!!!!

 

[rlawry]

I even drove my XTC-Closed (64 ohms) with my laptop and my old iPhone 6. No, it didn't sound anywhere near as glorious as with my Bricasti M1SE DAC and Benchmark HPA4 Amp, but on the go it was still satisfying.

 

[phoneslave86]

Needed an info. My primary on the go sources are Tempotec V6 and several dongles, Moonriver2 Ti, KA5, Colorfly M2 etc. And my most powerful sources being iFi XDSD Gryphon and Shanling M7.

Now, I know proper desktop full size dac and amp stack will be the optimal source to drive the XTC Closed to their full potential... But I do not have that provision now. So can my sources drive the XTC closed sufficiently if I choose 32 ohm Beryllium driver?

The 2^5 32 Ohm 114.5 Db extreme trip is a simply phenomenal choice for stuff like this. It takes this kinda stuff and makes it better for sure! If you can't afford that at the time tell JM you want a 1.0 or 1.5 closed back in the closest form to the extreme trip you can get! You will be doing just fine like that too. The 32 Ohm Beryl is transparent as crap and a boon in many cases. Hearing an iphone 14 pro with beryllium liquid smoothness and resolution off of a $5 3.5 mm lightening converter adds some depth and sounds like it added some tubes versus other things. I can actually enjoy it after stepping down from a desktop system. This is a feat to extract from a lesser source and do what it does. I've been breaking in a Gryphon this week and the 2^5 has plenty of headroom and always pairs up.

 

[Ace Bee]

The 2^5 32 Ohm 114.5 Db extreme trip is a simply phenomenal choice for stuff like this. It takes this kinda stuff and makes it better for sure! If you can't afford that at the time tell JM you want a 1.0 or 1.5 closed back in the closest form to the extreme trip you can get! You will be doing just fine like that too. The 32 Ohm Beryl is transparent as crap and a boon in many cases. Hearing an iphone 14 pro with beryllium liquid smoothness and resolution off of a $5 3.5 mm lightening converter adds some depth and sounds like it added some tubes versus other things. I can actually enjoy it after stepping down from a desktop system. This is a feat to extract from a lesser source and do what it does. I've been breaking in a Gryphon this week and the 2^5 has plenty of headroom and always pairs up.

I am looking to get the 32ohm Be XTC-C 1.0 with Warm But Detailed tuning. Is their a tuning style Warm But Very Detailed? What is the tuning style of the 2.5?

 

[phoneslave86]

I am looking to get the 32ohm Be XTC-C 1.0 with Warm But Detailed tuning. Is their a tuning style Warm But Very Detailed? What is the tuning style of the 2.5?

The Extreme Trip have to stay within a certain range of tuning I believe only 'warm and detailed' from what I understand but can be personalized some. I'm not sure about this but when I got mine I was expecting to personalize them but they were already done basically and it sounded like they just came out best the way he had tuned them. And they are perfect. I've had warm and very detailed with regular XTC which are more flexible in tuning options and it is noticeably more revealing but you will uncover poor recordings more so in revealing system. I was using tubes that roll off some detail to use them in my system and then they were pretty perfect. All of my XTC are warm and detailed these days. It's a nice versatile tuning. There is still a fair range of detail and bass extension you can choose in the warm and detailed range. If you want max bass, warm level with max bass is much more than warm level with the least bass you can order up. If your a little worried about too much detail its good to mention that too. You can get your starting point and then send them back to get them perfect later. It's amazing how he will get them perfect at some point for you if your specific enough to your preferences.

 

[bencha]

I am looking to get the 32ohm Be XTC-C 1.0 with Warm But Detailed tuning. Is their a tuning style Warm But Very Detailed? What is the tuning style of the 2.5?

Yes there is ; after "Warm very detailled" there is "near scalpel" and "scalpel". I have an Open "tight bass very detailled " and a 1.5 closed "near scalpel". I find the latter on the brink of sbilance with some pads, so unless you know its what you want , I would not advise scalpel at first IMO.
My preferences for a closed is "tight bass very detailed" as you can change much of the bass tuning with the pads and covering the holes in the cups. The closed has the avantages of being very tunable by the user with the port holes. It sounds very good and wide also; alrhought the open is the most open sounding of the two of course.

Oh and lastly; you cannot go wrong with John- the quality and service and value is unrivaled . Highly recommended !!

 

[andrewchoppa]

I am looking to get the 32ohm Be XTC-C 1.0 with Warm But Detailed tuning. Is their a tuning style Warm But Very Detailed? What is the tuning style of the 2.5?

I got John to do my 2.5s in warm but elevated detail. Means extra treble which when done well, is awesome (and this is done very well by John).

 

[Aeonfire]

I'm ready to order an XTC2 open back. Any opinions on driver type and tuning? Using it as a daily driver so I can sell my Edition XS, Focal Clears and maybe even my hard to find HarmonicDyne Zeuses.

I listen to a very wide range of music, but mostly female vocals in JPop/rock and orchestral video game music like in Final Fantasy. I also want to watch action movies like Pacific Rim and play cinematic games and feel like I'm there, so maybe a V shape or harmon tuning is what I'm looking for.

 

[bencha]

I'm ready to order an XTC2 open back. Any opinions on driver type and tuning? Using it as a daily driver so I can sell my Edition XS, Focal Clears and maybe even my hard to find HarmonicDyne Zeuses.

I listen to a very wide range of music, but mostly female vocals in JPop/rock and orchestral video game music like in Final Fantasy. I also want to watch action movies like Pacific Rim and play cinematic games and feel like I'm there, so maybe a V shape or harmon tuning is what I'm looking for.

Difficult to say as every person is different...I found berrylium to be a bit less bass foundation than biowool...and maybe more spatially wide...but that's with XTC, not XTC2.
But biowool certainly best for lusher midrange...tough choice! Surely John will advise you !

 

[Aeonfire]

Difficult to say as every person is different...I found berrylium to be a bit less bass foundation than biowool...and maybe more spatially wide...but that's with XTC, not XTC2.
But biowool certainly best for lusher midrange...tough choice! Surely John will advise you !

“Lush midrange” is a new one for me haha. Can you clarify that one?

I do like bass rumble. I was actually playing around with my zeus, clears and Edition XS last night and while the Clears were more punchy, the Edition XS actually had more rumble at similar listening levels. I almost wonder if I should just get TH900/909s.

 

[MakeItWain]

“Lush midrange” is a new one for me haha. Can you clarify that one?

I do like bass rumble. I was actually playing around with my zeus, clears and Edition XS last night and while the Clears were more punchy, the Edition XS actually had more rumble at similar listening levels. I almost wonder if I should just get TH900/909s.

I think you should consider messaging John or email him for thoughts on tuning.