Cause us Aussies have so few choices I listened to both these two amps. The Xcans3 was "sweet" it made Diana Krall sound great... smooth mid range, very tubey and a nice sound. My wife may have even preferred this amp. But I bought the Perreaux (only to return it ten listening hours later). The Perreaux definitely had better upper treble, which was in my view rolled off in the Music Fidelity amp.
The Perreaux didn't have that magic tube musicality but it had loads of tight accuracy. In my view a nice amp. But, I'd been spoilt by a better bass slam out of my NAD amp. And bass slam is, well, essential to me as long as it isn't boomy or bloated.
Plus the Perreaux has a line out and dual headphone plugs as a bonus.
I believe if you bought the Xcan3 you might want more detail after prolonged listening... you might feel differently, but for me the detail was well below what I require and certainly the Perreaux was quite detailed enough for me.
That said, I did agonise between the two in multiple auditioning sessions 'cause that Xcans3 is just so musical and well, fun.
I'll post my impressions of some other amps available in Australia as I travel to Snufkins in Perth in a month.
Cheers,
TonyAAA
