Musical Fidelity X-Can V2

[mrarroyo]

As some of you may know I am a big fan of the Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 specially after PinkFloyd modified it and I added a matched set of Russian 6H23-EB. For some unknown reason I started reading about the X-Can V2 and when an unit became available I picked it up.

Well that unit showed up yesterday and from the moment I fired it up my jaw dropped. I thought, this makes no sense! this little unpretentious and overlooked unit sounds so good. Thinking I was going crazy (those who know me can validate I am crazy

) I asked my wife to listen to a couple of tracks. To my surprise she said that the stock X-Can V2 sounded the same as my modified X-Can V3. Honestly I disagree, I think the V2 sounds better than the V3.

The bass is deeper/tighter on the V2, the highs are clearer and have more extension. I then sent a PM to PinkFloyd for his opinion and the short of it is that he thinks of them as both being excellent but of different flavors. He further stated that the V2 responds better to mods and tube changes.

Talking about tubes I opened the V2 to see what kind of tubes it has. Based on the sound I expected some very expensive tubes like Amperex, Mullard, Electro-Harmonix, or similar. Well I found a pair of 6DJ8/ECC88 without a manufacturers name. Talk about poetic justice, here is a picture of the tubes:



So as I sit here dumbfounded I am enjoying the heck of the V2. Over the next few days I will try other tubes from RCA, and the Russian 6H23-EB. I will also swap the 6DJ8/ECC88 to the V3 to see if it makes a difference.

For now all I can say is that if I had less than $200 and I wanted a tube amp the Musical Fidelity X-Can V2 would be it. Next to be tested is a pair of Tesla's E88CC with gold plated pins which I won on Ebay yesterday, here is a picture:



I hope to post on and off over the next few weeks on the V2, specially since I am hoping to send it to PinkFloyd for modifications. Heck I think I am getting some additional funds and I may be able to get new power supplies for both the V2 and V3.

I can't wait to see the changes the power supplies make.

 

[BennyBoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo As some of you may know I am a big fan of the Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 specially after PinkFloyd modified it and I added a matched set of Russian 6H23-EB. For some unknown reason I started reading about the X-Can V2 and when an unit became available I picked it up. Well that unit showed up yesterday and from the moment I fired it up my jaw dropped. I thought, this makes no sense! this little unpretentious and overlooked unit sounds so good. Thinking I was going crazy (those who know me can validate I am crazy ) I asked my wife to listen to a couple of tracks. To my surprise she said that the stock X-Can V2 sounded the same as my modified X-Can V3. Honestly I disagree, I think the V2 sounds better than the V3. The bass is deeper/tighter on the V2, the highs are clearer and have more extension. I then sent a PM to PinkFloyd for his opinion and the short of it is that he thinks of them as both being excellent but of different flavors. He further stated that the V2 responds better to mods and tube changes. Talking about tubes I opened the V2 to see what kind of tubes it has. Based on the sound I expected some very expensive tubes like Amperex, Mullard, Electro-Harmonix, or similar. Well I found a pair of 6DJ8/ECC88 without a manufacturers name. Talk about poetic justice, here is a picture of the tubes: So as I sit here dumbfounded I am enjoying the heck of the V2. Over the next few days I will try other tubes from RCA, and the Russian 6H23-EB. I will also swap the 6DJ8/ECC88 to the V3 to see if it makes a difference. For now all I can say is that if I had less than $200 and I wanted a tube amp the Musical Fidelity X-Can V2 would be it. Next to be tested is a pair of Tesla's E88CC with gold plated pins which I won on Ebay yesterday, here is a picture: I hope to post on and off over the next few weeks on the V2, specially since I am hoping to send it to PinkFloyd for modifications. Heck I think I am getting some additional funds and I may be able to get new power supplies for both the V2 and V3. I can't wait to see the changes the power supplies make.

Ya!, your nuts!! I owned a X-Can for three years(only using AKG280) and I've heard the can 2 next to the 3 and there not even close! the v2 is muddy and lacks detail and soundstage. I did AB testing on the v2~v3 for two days and found the v3 so much better, I passed up buying a v2 $150.
in the hopes of finding a v3. Three weeks later I got my v3.

If your going to AB these to amps, at least use the same tubes. The two I listened to both had the stock JAN tubes.

Dont get me wrong! I'm not saying your wrong. I'm only saying I did not hear that audio bliss in the V1 or V2. When I heard the V3 for the first time, my jaw did hit the floor!

 

[SK138]

Miguel...welcome to V2 club You are NOT going crazy. Wait until you perform the PinkFloyd mod on your stock V2. At one point, I loved X-Can V2 so much that I had two of these modded babies. I traded one extremely (blackgate caps) modded V2 with MS-Pro. My (remaining) modded V2 can compete very well with Mapletree Ear + Purist HD, plus it has great synergy with every can I through at it. My source is MF A3.24 DAC which is extremely "organic" and musical (IMO).

One of the simplest mod you can do is change the power supply that outputs 12vAC at 1000mA...and see what happens

How does (stock) V2 compare with CanAmp?

 

[BennyBoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SK138 Miguel...welcome to V2 club You are NOT going crazy. Wait until you perform the PinkFloyd mod on your stock V2. At one point, I loved X-Can V2 so much that I had two of these modded babies. I traded one extremely (blackgate caps) modded V2 with MS-Pro. My (remaining) modded V2 can compete very well with Mapletree Ear + Purist HD, plus it has great synergy with every can I through at it. My source is MF A3.24 DAC which is extremely "organic" and musical (IMO). One of the simplest mod you can do is change the power supply that outputs 12vAC at 1000mA...and see what happens How does (stock) V2 compare with CanAmp?

Did you feel the BlackGate caps were a waste of money or did they sound that much better? Where they grainy? how long was burn in?

Benny.

 

[SK138]

When they say BG takes time....they were not joking. To be honest, I lost count of how many hours it took to become fully burn in. At first, I thought I did something wrong with the modding because, as you stated, it sounded grainy, and bass extension was worse than stock V2. I would say it took almost 4 months before it improved dramatically. The the second unit, I only modded the output caps with BG...and I can't tell the difference with the first modded V2, which had all BG caps. What also helped was having a better power supply (12vAC@1000mA) for V2.

You can see the BG caps on the pictures blow (behind the volumne knob and headphone jack)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BennyBoy Did you feel the BlackGate caps were a waste of money or did they sound that much better? Where they grainy? how long was burn in? Benny.

 

[BennyBoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SK138 When they say BG takes time....they were not joking. To be honest, I lost count of how many hours it took to become fully burn in. At first, I thought I did something wrong with the modding because, as you stated, it sounded grainy, and bass extension was worse than stock V2. I would say it took almost 4 months before it improved dramatically. The the second unit, I only modded the output caps with BG...and I can't tell the difference with the first modded V2, which had all BG caps. What also helped was having a better power supply (12vAC@1000mA) for V2.

I only asked because I did the outputs of my v3 and they sound good at first and very good after a couple of weeks. Mr. Pink stated they were grainy but I never got that from mine.

 

[SK138]

All these talk about V2 and modding almost making me pickup another V2 and mod it The fun thing is...as PinkFloyd said, V2 responds very well to modding. I have no experience with V3 so my knowledge is only limited to V2.

 

[BennyBoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SK138 All these talk about V2 and modding almost making me pickup another V2 and mod it The fun thing is...as PinkFloyd said, V2 responds very well to modding. I have no experience with V3 so my knowledge is only limited to V2.

Whats the diff between the v1 & v2? Do you know what changes they made?

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SK138 Miguel...welcome to V2 club You are NOT going crazy. Wait until you perform the PinkFloyd mod on your stock V2. At one point, I loved X-Can V2 so much that I had two of these modded babies. I traded one extremely (blackgate caps) modded V2 with MS-Pro. My (remaining) modded V2 can compete very well with Mapletree Ear + Purist HD, plus it has great synergy with every can I through at it. My source is MF A3.24 DAC which is extremely "organic" and musical (IMO). One of the simplest mod you can do is change the power supply that outputs 12vAC at 1000mA...and see what happens How does (stock) V2 compare with CanAmp?

I am going to ask PinkFloyd to make me one of his regulated P/S for both of my X-Cans.

The V2 is closer IMO to the Heed than the V3. I still think the Heed is technically better (faster, cleaner, more extension, etc.) but the V2 is way cooler and brings an smile to my face.

Before you ask I think the Mapletre is better than the Heed , V3, or V2.

 

[SK138]

Actually I alreayd knew that...because i have one too

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo I am going to ask PinkFloyd to make me one of his regulated P/S for both of my X-Cans. The V2 is closer IMO to the Heed than the V3. I still think the Heed is technically better (faster, cleaner, more extension, etc.) but the V2 is way cooler and brings an smile to my face. Before you ask I think the Mapletre is better than the Heed , V3, or V2.

 

[SK138]

I think V1 used opamps and V2 uses discrete circuit.


Quote:

Originally Posted by BennyBoy Whats the diff between the v1 & v2? Do you know what changes they made?