[FJ12]

Hi all, I have been into headphone listening for just over a year now after being sick to the back teeth of noise complaints from the neighbours, anyway I started off by buying a pair of sennheiser HD555 to accompany my NADC320BEE intergrated amp, anyway just latley i upgrade to a Musical Fidelity X-DAC and X-CANS V1, now i think it was an upgrade, the thing is the music seems clearer and seems to somehow float and don't really know how to explain it but anyway, it also seems abit thin compared to the old nad, now the question is what would be my best way to go ditch the x-cans or change the tubes or try some different phones, thanks for any help.

Sam

 

[IronLion]

Personally I would say ditch the X-Cans. Tweaking is good I think if you find a general sonic signature that you already like and then want to improve upon, but if you don't like how it sounds from the start I think you'll never really be satisfied with it anyways and will therefore be wasting money trying to tweak it to sound "right" to you.

 

[Glod]

Yes, this might get trickier than you had expected.

I say that because I recognize my own path a bit in what you are describing: Having something one is quite content with, upgrading and finding the sound to have improved overall - but - there is something missing or emphasised as well.

I don't know you particular system and setup but it seems to me you have just embarked on the Head-Fi journey.

[size=x-small]Welcome to Head-Fi.org, we're sorry about your wallet.[/size]

Seriously, if you add a quality item to your system, chances are that it will expose weaknesses in the rest of the system. The question is then, how to go about the issue; where to begin the troubleshooting? Depending on the severness of your Hi-Fi perfectionism and the size of your wallet, there are different approaches I think.

IronLion had a down to earth and sane recommendation IMO. Really, if you found the sound to be better without the X-DAC, by all means remove it! On the other hand, you could ask your self: why was there a difference, and actually an improvement. You have been warned. Persuing this might break your budget.

If you ask me, I'd say, the source is paramount in the sound, provided you have - not necessarily top high-end - but at least "good" headphones. Amplification then soon gets important. In a sub $1000 headphone system, I would say that this is the order of importance.

1. Headphones
2. Source
3. Amplification (on this rank because of the major influence Solid State or Tube circuits can have on the sound)
4. Ancillaries (cables, racks, tweaks, etc)

Happy listening.

 

[Glod]

Sorry. Double post.

 

[FJ12]

It's not that I dont't like the x-cans, it is so easy to listen to, and the midrange blows the nad away, it just seems to lack a little weight, were as the NAD is dark and rich.

Thank you for the comments

Sam

 

[PinkFloyd]

Please do try some of the tweaks listed on my site, they work wonders. http://www.rock-grotto.co.uk/xcanpropage.htm If you need any help just search round the site there are loads of X-Can users on board to help you

The V1 has opamps (NE5532 from memory) replacing these with OPA2134 will give you a richer sound (velvety) replacing the valves also changes the amps character and you can do a LOT better than the stock JAN philips 6922, it may be worth replacing these "anyway" considering the age of the amp. You can also recap the beast with some low impedance caps (again, probably worth doing considering the vintage of the amp) this brings about a pretty pronounced improvement and will really inject some grunt into the old girl.

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IronLion Personally I would say ditch the X-Cans.

Why oh why would he want to "ditch" a perfectly good amplifier thats sonic signature can be easily tweaked very cheaply?

 

[FJ12]

Hi pink floyd, I will be doing some upgrades, well not me but I have someone who knows how to handle a soldering iron, Would you mind having a look at this link, i live in the UK and I don't know where to buy tubes etc from, I have trauled ebay to no avail, are these awful:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NOS-Matched-Pa...QQcmdZViewItem

If so could you point me in the right direction, cheers Sam.

 

[FJ12]

sorry to sound abit thick but would these suit the x-cans more than the others, they just seem quite cheep so don't want to end up with rubbish.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NOS-Matched-Pa...QQcmdZViewItem

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FJ12 Hi pink floyd, I will be doing some upgrades, well not me but I have someone who knows how to handle a soldering iron, Would you mind having a look at this link, i live in the UK and I don't know where to buy tubes etc from, I have trauled ebay to no avail, are these awful: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NOS-Matched-Pa...QQcmdZViewItem If so could you point me in the right direction, cheers Sam.

Actually they are very good. Slightly different specs to the 6922 and the heaters don't glow very bright in the X-Can application but they sound very good indeed, buy them with total confidence and don't tell everybody or Tony "will" up his price from a fiver a pair to £30 a pair as he did with the 6N23 which were also a fiver a pair until I said "they sound good in an x-can" and now he's taking the piss and charging 6 times more and cashing in big time. buy with confidence but DONT tell Tony they sound good in the X-can or the next customer who buys them will be forking out £30 a pair if they're stupid enough to entertain it.

By the way, you don't need an engineer to put them in, a 4 year old child could do it blindfolded.

Mike.

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FJ12 sorry to sound abit thick but would these suit the x-cans more than the others, they just seem quite cheep so don't want to end up with rubbish. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NOS-Matched-Pa...QQcmdZViewItem

They are the ones that were a fiver (£5) but suddenly shot up to £30 after I said they sounded good in the X-Can. you "will" get them for less than a fiver a pair if you buy direct from Russia but you'll have to buy in quantity.. no, I will not tell you where to get them in Russia

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PinkFloyd Please do try some of the tweaks listed on my site, they work wonders. http://www.rock-grotto.co.uk/xcanpropage.htm If you need any help just search round the site there are loads of X-Can users on board to help you The V1 has opamps (NE5532 from memory) replacing these with OPA2134 will give you a richer sound (velvety) replacing the valves also changes the amps character and you can do a LOT better than the stock JAN philips 6922, it may be worth replacing these "anyway" considering the age of the amp. You can also recap the beast with some low impedance caps (again, probably worth doing considering the vintage of the amp) this brings about a pretty pronounced improvement and will really inject some grunt into the old girl.

I wholeheartedly recomend you incorporate the mods in PinkFloyd's website. Your amp will sound amazing afterwards. My X-Can V3 received the full treatment and I am in heaven.

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo I wholeheartedly recomend you incorporate the mods in PinkFloyd's website. Your amp will sound amazing afterwards. My X-Can V3 received the full treatment and I am in heaven.

Glad you like it Miguel! How many hours have you put on her now and did you ever get around to swapping the valves for other types?

Mike.

 

[FJ12]

Ordered the e88cc valves, so will be slotting them in when they come, I plan to let them run in for a few hundred hours, then get started on some other upgrades, will be drilling some holes in the case whilst I'm at it.

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FJ12 Ordered the e88cc valves, so will be slotting them in when they come, I plan to let them run in for a few hundred hours, then get started on some other upgrades, will be drilling some holes in the case whilst I'm at it.

Go for it! The main areas of heat are around the transistors it's worth replacing all of the caps with high tempretature (105c) low ESR types such as the Panasonic FC. Hundreds of people have used them and I've yet to hear one person say they "don't" make a huge improvement across the board.... this is probably the most cost effective upgrade you can make to the X-Can and it can transform it from OK to fantastic for about £20.

Good luck and if you need any advice then don't hesitate to ask.

Mike.