[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by bootman That headphone(s) being the Senn 580/600.

The Senns are very good indeed...but I was thinking of the CD3K...I finally found the right amp for it sitting under my nose

 

[bootman]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hirsch The Senns are very good indeed...but I was thinking of the CD3K...I finally found the right amp for it sitting under my nose

Really? Nice.

I tried the x-cans with the CD-1700 and i didn't really like them as much as I did with the Senns. Grados were really bad.

I eventually got rid of them just for this reason since I'm a Grado fan at heart.

 

[Hirsch]

I had heard that Grados were bad with the X-Can, but it sounded OK to me. There was a harshness present that might go away as the RS-1's break in, but it's actually a pretty good sound. The Sony is a bit better though...as are the Sennheisers.

There's something really fun about the CD3K and the X-Can. The dynamics make Grados seem really polite and restrained.

 

[bootman]

Harshness, is exactly what I heard with the Grados.
(SR-60, SR-225, and HP-2 all well broken in)
The exact opposite was true with the Senns.
(580 and 600)
The CD1700 was somewhere in between.

This does bring up the importance of system matching.
The X-cans do get a lot of undeserved bashing from those that (IMHO) did not give the amp a chance to shine or did not have the right cans for it.
Is it as good as a Max, MicroZ, or EMP?
No I don't think so, but IMO it is much better than your DIY Cmoy.
(I have owned both but to be fair a Cmoy has different design objectives. ie. portability but a surprising amount of people do use them as primary amplification. IMO portable equipment, with the possible exception of the Cosmic, have no place in the home for serious listening.)
The X-can is a good (home) amp for the money and I would not hesitate to recommend someone to try it,especially if he/she has a pair of 580/600 since I am convinced that the X-cans were voiced for it, and now maybe the Sony 3K!

The upgrade path (although harder now) is also a good selling point.

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hirsch I had heard that Grados were bad with the X-Can, but it sounded OK to me

Grados are fine with the X-Cans. The X-Cans has a smooth, warm midrange, a particular sound, and the Grados highlight this. The headphones are telling you something about the amp. If the headphones sound horrible through the amp, there's something wrong with the amp. IMO a more neutral amp like the RA-1 will highlight the qualities of the headphones, since it is not putting as much of a particular stamp on the sound before sending it to the headphones. The X-Cans sort of "fills in" the upper bass/lower midrange area the same way the Grados do, so some might find a bit of a thickness there.

X-Cans is a nice musical amp, it has it's faults but you can sure enjoy listening to music with it.

 

[NoDigital]

I received my X-CanV2 a couple of days ago and its been burning in. Initial sounds are really good (First can amp). Having read all the comments about the PSU I wonder if mine is different. My delivery came from "a new batch of X-Can's from China" according to the dealer and M.F. have said to me that they don't carry stock in the UK, its manufactured, shipped and distributed. The PSU is of a reasonable size and runs cool - No searing heat. I wonder if they're shipping different PSU's now? Or the UK is different to the US in terms of PSU design?

Regarding the X-PSU, if it makes so much difference is it worth building one from a Mains filter and say 15VA torroidal transformer? Anything else required apart from a PSU to X-Can cable (Shielded and ferrite?)

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Beagle The headphones are telling you something about the amp.

Actually, I think bootman has it right. System matching is far more important than most people give it credit for. A quick example. The RS-1 has poor bass response on the ZOTL. The HP-1 does not. Switch to RA-1. The bass response to the RS-1 is back...and very satisfactory response it is indeed. However, plug the HP-1 into the RA-1, and the bass goes away again. The RS-1 is much more efficient than the HP-1, and the RA-1 may simply not have the power to drive it. But what about the reverse? The ZOTL has plenty of wattage...what happened to the RS-1's bass? It's not power. Is it an impedance issue? Damping factor? I have no idea.

I do, however, think that much more attention needs to be paid to systems, rather than the individual components. IMO that's where the real bargains are; finding components (sometimes relatively inexpensive ones) that work together will often sound better than much more expensive but poorly matched setups. There are times I wish I had a shortcut for determing which components work well together, rather than plodding empiricism, but so far there's simply no substitute.

 

[bootman]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hirsch I do, however, think that much more attention needs to be paid to systems, rather than the individual components. IMO that's where the real bargains are; finding components (sometimes relatively inexpensive ones) that work together will often sound better than much more expensive but poorly matched setups. There are times I wish I had a shortcut for determing which components work well together, rather than plodding empiricism, but so far there's simply no substitute.

For me this is a big part of the hobby.

For others it can get pretty frustrating especially when high price components turn out to be synergetic duds in their systems.
One thing I do tend to see is that the higher the price for a piece of equipment you spend the more it tends to run into synergy problems with other gear of high price.
In other words the more high end your system becomes the harder it is to find other components to sound good with it.
I strongly believe that it is easier to build a better sounding system with say all class C equipment, (to coin stereophile's term) than it is to build a great sounding Class A only system.