[zool]

I've replaced the stock valves in my x-can v2 with JJ Electronic ones. Only listen to them for like 4h, so their not fully burnt in yet. Even so I find them to be a great improvement. But not everyone agrees that a pair of E88CC JJ Electronic is the right valves for x-can. I've read some reviews and found that ppl tend to have very different opinions on what sounds good and not. The Mullard valves seems to be really popular, only problem is that I can't find a singel matched pair anywhere.. I've been told that Mullard valves are not made anymore and only a limited supply is available from older batch (anyone know if this is true or not?). Anyway I'd like to hear peoples thoughts on this. I know that the JJ valves are favored by many and so are Sovtek. Some like JJ Electronic, some like Sovtek. I've heard that Mullard is supose to be the best for x-can amps though

.

Two reviews with very different opinions:

http://www.nickdangerous.com/misc/xcans/
http://freespace.virgin.net/rock.grotto/valvetest.htm

P.S. Anyone know the exact difference between x-cans and x-can v2? They sure do look the same (except one is labeled x-cans and the other x-can v2

). No doubt they probably made some minor improvements to v2..

 

[elrod-tom]

I like the JJ's...having said that, I'm going to have to do a bit of tuberolling myself. I've been shopping for some Mullards, but haven't taken the plunge just yet. Pinkie seems pretty hot on those Amperex Bugle Boys, but they may be out of the range of my allowance for such things. Ah well....

 

[jeftsang]

I'll be ordering the sovtek 6922's based on pink floyd's reccomendations. I certainly can't afford 85 dollars a tube for the mullards. I'll keep you guys posted as to how they sound. Right now, the x-cans are fatiguing after several hours of listening. Hopefully the sovteks will improve them.

 

[elrod-tom]

Quote:

Originally posted by jeftsang I'll be ordering the sovtek 6922's based on pink floyd's reccomendations. I certainly can't afford 85 dollars a tube for the mullards. I'll keep you guys posted as to how they sound. Right now, the x-cans are fatiguing after several hours of listening. Hopefully the sovteks will improve them.

jeftsang:

What cans are you using?

 

[Nick Dangerous]

Vintage tubes usually sound better than new manufacture (unfortunately). Of the ones I tested, I found the JJ's to be preferable to the others... certainly better than the shrill stock Philips valves.

Mike's (PinkFloyd) low opinion of the JJ's probably stems from the fact that he may have received a different 'vintage' than I did, as well as having some very nice Mullard and Amperex tubes on hand to compare them with.

 

[peter braun]

How long does it take the JJs to break-in? Do the headphones you are using effect which tubes will work best?

 

[Nick Dangerous]

Shouldn't take that long at all. I noticed a difference immediately.

 

[PinkFloyd]

Hi,

Sean at Highendaudio http://www.highendaudio.co.uk/spares.htm has quite a large batch of Mullard E88CC NOS valves (tubes) and they cost £30 per pair which is "considerably" less than $80 EACH!!!! If you e-mail him he will sort you out a close matched pair and will tell you the cost of postage.

I found the JJ's to sound pretty distant and uninvolving but maybe that's something to do with the X-Can V2 or, as Nick says, newer batch tubes. I'm glad I had the opportunity to listen to them instead of just buying them and wasting £18.

I had a very brief audition of the Amperex Bugle boys and they really did sound Goooooood! Sean is trying to source a pair for me, as we speak, so I will upload my findings to http://freespace.virgin.net/rock.grotto/index2.htm when / if they arrive. (these are even harder to find than the Mullards)

The siemens E88CC is another tube which is highly acclaimed but its price really is a "bit" over the top for me. The sovtek is a great tube for £20 and is certainly a pretty vast improvement over the JAN Philips 6922's that come with the X-Can.

Another tube I wouldn't ignore is the Sylvania 6922 gold pin. I got a pair of used ones from ebay for £5 for the pair and they are very Mullard like in sound... I'd imagine "new" ones would sound even better.

As it stands, I have the Mullards inside the V2 and find the sound very easy to listen to. "effortless" and full of detail with no hint of fatigue, you can listen for hours with these in the circuit.

Another improvement to the sound can be gained by replacing the capacitors with something a bit better and you can read about this at my site also. I am currently designing a crossfeed circuit to compliment the V2 and things are progressing very nicely indeed! I've just got to do a few final tests and will then case it up and upload pictures to my website over the next few days. I was sceptical, at first, but the crossfeed makes the listening even less fatiguing and I think it will be permanently connected to the X-Can in future!

I'll be fitting the first one in a standard aluminium box but will also be building one into a groovy case which is more inkeeping with the look of the X-Can.

All the best.

Mike

 

[zool]

I think I might have been a little hasty in saying that JJ Electronic was a "great" improvement from the stock valves. The JJ's should now be burnt in enough and I have carefully compared them with the stock valves.. over and over again. Yes JJ's are a "great" improvement when it comes to curing the ear-bleeding brightness from the stock valves, but they lack in other more important places. The bass is very tame and the highs are very "messy"? (don't know how else to describe it)... While the mids and lows are very distant. I now get what Mike meant in his review when he said it was like having a carpet between your ears and the headphone. I was expecting that this would some how be cured after burning them in for about 30-40 hours.. But as Mike told me, they almost seem to get worse with time if anything. The strange thing is how many people actually recommend these valves. Maybe they sound better in x-cans then they do in x-can v2.. I've noticed that almost everyone who recommends JJ seems to have x-cans. Well, in my x-can v2 they don't quite sound good enough to replace the stock valves and they sure as hell aren't worth $22

. I admit that I was wrong in my statement before, when I said that the JJ's were a great improvement. I am not willing to exchange the stock valves for something that does not outperform them in nearly every aspect. I have now ordered a pair of Mullards from Sean at Highendaudio and hopefully they will give me what the JJ Electronic valves did not

.

Oh, and I just want to thank Sean for giving me a great deal on the Mullards. Mike for helping me out with all my questions and Nick for making a awesome tube changing guide for the x-can amps. Respect to all of you!

 

[PinkFloyd]

Hi Zool!,

Welcome to Head-Fi. I'm sure you'll enjoy the Mullards and thanks for your comments re: the JJ's.. they really don't make music in the V2 do they?

Let me know how you get on with the Mullards mcg@vipnet.co.uk I'm sure you'll be totally impressed with the sound.

Mike (Pinkie)

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally posted by zool P.S. Anyone know the exact difference between x-cans and x-can v2? They sure do look the same (except one is labeled x-cans and the other x-can v2 ). No doubt they probably made some minor improvements to v2..

Yes. mcg@vipnet.co.uk

Mike

 

[zool]

Quote:

Originally posted by PinkFloyd Hi Zool!, Welcome to Head-Fi. I'm sure you'll enjoy the Mullards and thanks for your comments re: the JJ's.. they really don't make music in the V2 do they? Let me know how you get on with the Mullards mcg@vipnet.co.uk I'm sure you'll be totally impressed with the sound. Mike (Pinkie)

Hiya Mike!

No they don't.. You have to turn the volume way up high to hear the details you hear with JAN Philips at lower volumes. So if anything, I'd say they produce headaches

.. I'd rather listen to the (some times) overly bright stock valves then the "messy" JJ's.

Oh, and btw.. I noticed something the other day when I was exchanging valves in my x-can. The Stock valves are smaller then the JJ Electronic ones. And I noticed that the second JJ valve had some contact with the "upper" circuit board, which the smaller JAN Philips valve does not. Could this effect the sound quality?

I'm sure the Mullards will sound great. I have enough trust in your opinion to belive that. But you never know.. I was almost sure that the JJ Electronic valves were going to be at least good enough to replace the stock valves, after all the positive recommendations I had seen. At the moment, I think the JAN Philips valves actually sound pretty damn good (even though everyone says they are crap). I just cant wait to start comparing them with the Mullard valves. I hope Sean sends them today!

 

[PinkFloyd]

Be "sure" to post back your review on the Mullards! In the meantime have a look at the new additions at http://freespace.virgin.net/rock.grotto/index2.htm on the X-Can page, I'm sure you'll like.

Mike

 

[Tube_Pete]

I have now replaced the tubes in my X-can V2 with a pair of NOS Mullard E88CC (made in Great Britain with gold pins). I bought them from Edgar Audio (www.edgaraudio.se) here in Sweden. Unfortunately the front and rear tubes aren't perfectly matched pairwise. However, the triodes (halves) internally are well matched. Anyone know how important it is for the front and rear tubes to be matched? I guess it depends on the circuit solution used in X-can V2.

Soundwise compared to my prior Ruby Tubes E88CC (think they are Sovtek E88CC's perfectly matched in Germany where they put on the Ruby label, www.rubytubes.de):
Vocals not as upfront as with the Rubys, but perhaps the higher frequencies are a bit rolled off with Mullards. Very natural sound. Hopefully when I get the Equinox I have ordered, it will result in wider soundstage, higher resolution and deeper bass.

Regarding some other tweaks. I tried connecting a RCA contact with a 75 ohm resistor soldered to it to the digital output of my cd player. Soundstaging got more precise and bass sounds deeper and tighter. So if you have a digital output which can't be switched off you might as well try this tweak. It worked for me!

I also think about buying a cd mat to put on the cd (Tjoeb De Mat) for less vibration. These are designed for philips based transports, my Marantz uses a Philips VAM1201 mechanism. Anyone tried these cd mats?

 

[Tube_Pete]

I forgot two things.

1) This natural X-feed you have started to build pinkie, would it be possible to buy one from you later if it works well? If you have a bank account I could transfer money to your account and you send it via mail to me. I would appreciate it very much! I don't have the guts trying to do it myself, since my soldering skills are non-zero!

email address: peake15@hotmail.com

2) I will probably have a friend replace the caps on the mother board with Elna Starget. I got a bit confused looking at your homepage. It seems you haven't changed the two caps close to the headphone output. If I remember correctly they were Jamicon NP caps (two 220 uF, 6.3 V). At least I think they are electrolytic capacitors. Any reason why you didn't change these?

Creds to Nick Dangerous, and pinkie for the valuable info!