[klipschter]

Hey, what do you think of the Musical Fidelity X - Can V2 Headphone Amp? They are tube amps right? I LOVE the sound of tube amps. If I could get one for <@180 would that be a good deal? Working and all. How would you compare it?

 

[Nick Dangerous]

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/search.php?s=

$180 is a reasonable deal.

 

[Hirsch]

The X-Can v2 is a hybrid, with both tube and solid state components. The lowest new price I've seen is $269, so $180 for one in very good condition is a good deal. This amp is improved by upgrading the tubes and power supply. IMO a great amp for the price.

 

[klipschter]

sounds good then. this one has new upgraded tubes in it allready

this amp was replaced by the headroom max i think, at stereophile. is that correct?

 

[Beagle]

Great midrange and highs, but if you like low bass, forget it. The X-Cans has none. Even with the JJ tube upgrade.

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Beagle Great midrange and highs, but if you like low bass, forget it. The X-Cans has none. Even with the JJ tube upgrade.

The power supply upgrade takes care of this. Used X-PSU can be expensive, but Hosfelt has an adapter for $20 that reportedly produces the same effect. JJ tubes are OK, but not great IMO. I use Siemens 6922's.

I've also replaced the op amps, but this affected overall smoothness. Bass extension was fine before that.

The X-Can can produce very deep and satisfying bass.

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hirsch The power supply upgrade takes care of this. Used X-PSU can be expensive, but Hosfelt has an adapter for $20 that reportedly produces the same effect. JJ tubes are OK, but not great IMO. I use Siemens 6922's. I've also replaced the op amps, but this affected overall smoothness. Bass extension was fine before that. The X-Can can produce very deep and satisfying bass.

Must be something awry with my unit. I get no hint of the lowest octaves. The overall bass is soggy, indistinct and wooley. Even using a 2.5 amp power supply. The midrange is glorious though. I must check into this.

BTW what kind of op-amps did you substitute? Sounds like they improved things in the smoothness dept.

 

[Hirsch]

Interesting. Even before the op amp substitution, the X-Can with Sony CD3000 went deeper than just about anything else I've got. The Siemens tubes may be a large part of this. I'm using Burr Brown OPA2228 op amps (I put in a couple of sockets, so op amp substitution is easy right now). There's a thread from a few weeks back that has more information on this.

 

[Beagle]

Thanks Hirsch.

That Sony CD3000 is supposed to be a nice phone. I will dig out some specific music sources of good low bass content and re-evaluate my X-Cans this weekend. I just found the RA-1 to be more transparent and revealing with tighter, deeper information in the lower registers.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hirsch The power supply upgrade takes care of this. Used X-PSU can be expensive, but Hosfelt has an adapter for $20 that reportedly produces the same effect...Bass extension was fine before that...The X-Can can produce very deep and satisfying bass.

I can vouch for that. I had a bass-off between my favourite cans, the DT770, and Hirsch's CD3K w/X-CANs, and ...erm... I would like to declare it a tie until I can have some more listening time.

 

[elrod-tom]

I would tend to agree that I'm not getting skull-cracking bass from my X-Cans V2. However...I'm using the (easy now folks...you know who you are) the AKG K501's with them!!

The JJ tubes have helped some. I'm thinking different headphones might help more with the bass. However, I love the highs and mids from the 501's.

 

[elrod-tom]

Quote:

Originally posted by elrod-tom I would tend to agree that I'm not getting skull-cracking bass from my X-Cans V2. However...I'm using the (easy now folks...you know who you are) the AKG K501's with them!! The JJ tubes have helped some. I'm thinking different headphones might help more with the bass. However, I love the highs and mids from the 501's.

UPDATE:

The tubes are breaking in now. Bass has definately improved. Not just a little...a significant improvement. I would now recommend the JJ tubes to anyone who wants to smooth out the highs and enhance the bass of the X-Cans V2.

I'm even starting to think that I need to retract what I just said about bass extension on the AKG K501's