Work in progress

[mrarroyo]

Mike, I received an email from PayPal that you shipped the amp and the valves. Thanks.

[charlie]

Hi Mike

Re my modded X-can V3 + little Pinky

After about 25 hours the combination of all the new caps + new Russian 6H23N's was just a bit too bright/harsh through my rather clinical HD600's.

Popped the original 6922 valves back in last night and this brought the tonal balance back to where I need it to be (ie. similar to my Mission 781 speakers. With the HD600's I think I clearly need to trade off absolute clarity/dynamics for a little extra body/warmth to the sound ie. almost the opposite of the HD580's I used to have

Clarity and detail are excellent from double base notes to cymbals but still a little short of body/warmth which I assume from your earlier post should come as I get nearer 200 hours.

Not wanting to tinker too much my gut feel is that I will stick with the stock valves, unless you have something perhaps even warmer in sound. Do you have a new or used set of Philpis 6922's I could exchange the Russians for, to keep as spares?

[mrarroyo]

Just picked up the package, will put it together and more to come! Thanks.

[mrarroyo]

Yesterday as stated above the modded X10-D board arrived w/ a bunch of other goodies (tubes), thanks Mike. Anyways I put it together but first I added some dynamat to the inside bottom of the case, later I will get a set of tube dampers from Herbie's Halos and a ferrite bead for the power cord from the Little Pinkie PSU V3i. For the 200 hour burn-in I am using a pair of Russian 6H23-EB.

Well the unit has about 8 hours of burn in and it is being fed via the tube dac output of a Monarch NM24. For interconnects I am using two pairs of SILVER SONIC BL-1 by DH Labs.





For music I chose Diana Krall as Apple Lossless files in my PC fed via a Blue Jean Cable high-performance Plastic Optical Fiber (POF), Mitsubishi's ESKA Fiber to the Monarchy NM24.



Once the 200 hours of burn-in is achieved I will be changing the valves to JAN NOS tubes I procured from Mike. For now I can say that the sound using a pair of Sennheiser HD580 w/ the cable from an HD650 is very smooth and sweet, not a hit of harshness. I also find the sound to be very musical and engaging. The bass needs to cook a bit to tighten it and improve its punch, but it goes deeeeep!

[Deleted]

Looks as though it's going to sound good Miguel. I regret throwing my HD580'a away.

I got totally fed up with the nasty connection to the cups breaking down. Three times in all and I had to keep opening them up so in frustration, I chucked them and replaced them with the HD600, which I prefer to the HD650.

Do you use the 580 as a standard listening type headphone?

Ian

[mrarroyo]

Ian, the HD580 and the HD600 have been a PIA for me. Before this pair of HD580 I owned the HD600 twice and the HD580 once before and sold all three because they sounded horrible. This after trying different cables (over 10) and replacing the foam in front of the drivers w/ a piece of thin stocking.

Anyway, I saw an used pair for $125 and picked it up about 3 months ago and this time I seem to like them a lot but they are not my primary can. I use the K1000, RS-1, K501, HE-5, or highly modded Denon AH-D2000 way more often.

What has me baffled is that all of a sudden I am enjoying the HD580 as much as I am. Maybe this pair is "special" or with age comes wisdom. Although in all honestly I still prefer the other cans previously mentioned, but the gap is much smaller and at times with certain songs/amps it disappears.

[mrarroyo]

BTW, forgot to mention that currently I am using a modded Grado SR80 and it sounds very mellow and forgiving. Next week or so I will re-cable this SR80 with a silver plated copper in 24 gage which I hope improves the sound by tightening the bass and mellowing the top end a bit. Yes Alex in my experience a silver plated copper mellows the top end while improving the extension. BTW, by mellowing I mean removing some of the harshness present in some lower end Grados (SR60, SR80, SR125, and SR225).

[Deleted]

I wondered because I have an on/off relationship with the 650 and 600.

I move on to something else and end up going back for the lush bass before losing interest again because of what I perceive as something wrong in the mid to top end.

The feel tonally unbalanced to me and I haven't yet found a headphone that gives the bass warmth of the 600 series and say, the clarity of the K701 top. Maybe it's a Denon for me too then?

Ian

[Deleted]

Mar 14, 2010 20:59:48 GMT mrarroyo said:

BTW, forgot to mention that currently I am using a modded Grado SR80 and it sounds very mellow and forgiving. Next week or so I will re-cable this SR80 with a silver plated copper in 24 gage which I hope improves the sound by tightening the bass and mellowing the top end a bit. Yes Alex in my experience a silver plated copper mellows the top end while improving the extension. BTW, by mellowing I mean removing some of the harshness present in some lower end Grados (SR60, SR80, SR125, and SR225).

Miguel
You better hope that Frans doesn't read this ! He will tell you that it is impossible, and it's all in your mind .
Alex

[Deleted]

Exactly Alex. I'm keeping my trap shut. ;D

For me Miguel, I use the HD600 as a 'mid' point, a 650 if I want a heavier sound and the K701 for a 'toppier' sound.

The D2000 looks interesting. Quite a few varied reports on them.

What has me baffled is that all of a sudden I am enjoying the HD580 as much as I am.


Same for me. I revisit old stuff and realise that it wasn't as bad as my memory seems to think!

With headphones, I find the volume I listen at to be the most crucial part of enjoyment of them. They seem to 'focus' at different volumes which is perhaps why I hop from one to another myself.

Ian

[bullpup]

Been reading this thread with interest since I really like my 580s but then they are well run in - until the damn cable went they were playing for at least 8 hours a day every day for the last 2/3 years.

Miguel I am intrigued that your re-cabled grados has the cable running over the transducer?

[mrarroyo]

bullpup he did so to give a bit more "relief" Personally I do not care for it but it does not hurt.

[mrarroyo]

Mike, the X10-D runs much cooler than the X-Can V2. Is that the norm? Thanks.

[PinkFloyd]

Mar 16, 2010 0:40:46 GMT mrarroyo said:

Mike, the X10-D runs much cooler than the X-Can V2. Is that the norm? Thanks.

Yes, they run a lot cooler, perfectly normal Miguel.

[mrarroyo]

BTW, I am using the 07/84 Russian 6H8C you sent me in the driver position of the Singlepower MPX3 Slam and it has an earthy tone with excellent detail, long decay, and incredible microdynamics. There are layers to the music which in my opinion is better than the NOS Tungsol or Brimar I was using. Thanks my friend.

[PinkFloyd]

Mar 20, 2010 15:07:24 GMT mrarroyo said:

BTW, I am using the 07/84 Russian 6H8C you sent me in the driver position of the Singlepower MPX3 Slam and it has an earthy tone with excellent detail, long decay, and incredible microdynamics. There are layers to the music which in my opinion is better than the NOS Tungsol or Brimar I was using. Thanks my friend.

Yes, they are nice valves.... the Russians sure do know how to build them.... if you ever run out just give me the nod Miguel I've got a good few of those left.

Mike.

[mrarroyo]

Mike, I have been using the X10-D feeding the X-Can V2 to amp an AKG K1000 using a 1/4" to 4-prong AKG plug adapter and boy the K1000 sound so sweet! The detail, extension, and soundstage is all there but the most important elements of musicality, tone, and involment is what makes the combo a killer. Thanks.

[Acoquiner]

I'm a newbie, so I hope I'm not interrupting a thread inappropriately, in addition to asking a very naive question. I have had the pleasure of the enormous improvement in the sound of my system by the addition of a little Pinkie V3i to my MF V-Dac. The V-Dac is downstream of a Sagem cablebox, which receives digital signals from Numericable here in France. My very naive question is this: since the cablebox has a pretty cheap looking Chinese benchtop 12VDC/2amp PSU, would my system sound be improved by the addition of a little Pinkie or other good regulated source? Would I hear the difference of an improvement in power for the digital source?

The rest of my system (Cyrus CD 8 SE + PSX-R ->Audiomat Arpège ->Dynaudio Focus 140) already sounds great, but I am open to suggestions. I am using Cyrus interconnects and French speaker cables (Puretrans)

[PinkFloyd]

25th March 2010 - Kei's V-CAN

OPA4132 on SOIC to DIP convertor, input caps removed, reverse polarity protection diode removed, 1000uF non polar output caps. Jamicon caps replaced with a selection of Nichicon fine gold / OSCON / Rubycon / WIMA and Samwha VA series (2200uF replacing 1000uF) + gain mods:

[charlie]

Feedback on my modded X-Can V3

Mike my V3 is now settling in nicely after some 200 hours but I have stayed with the original JP valves as the 1976 Russians are a little hard/bright (not harsh) in my set up with HD600's. The JP's provide a closer/warmer sound with more bass although not as clear as the Russians.

Do have you an alternative to the 1976 vintage 6H23N Russians that will keep the JP's warmth but add a little more transparency and detail?

[Defecitve Audio Component]

Apr 8, 2010 14:28:49 GMT charlie said:

Feedback on my modded X-Can V3

Mike my V3 is now settling in nicely after some 200 hours but I have stayed with the original JP valves as the 1976 Russians are a little hard/bright (not harsh) in my set up with HD600's. The JP's provide a closer/warmer sound with more bass although not as clear as the Russians.

Do have you an alternative to the 1976 vintage 6H23N Russians that will keep the JP's warmth but add a little more transparency and detail?

Do you thinkt that bass extension of the xcan was affected by the mods you made?

[charlie]

I only had the V3 for a few weeks and what with the long burn in period before the modded amp sounded at its best, I cannot really be too specific. I do however think Mike's CAPS mods definietly improved the BASS, but then I also bought a Little Pinkie at the same time which is also supposed to boost bass extension.

[PinkFloyd]

17th April 2010 - MaN227's HEED Canamp.

Before:



After:



The secret with the HEED CanAmp is not over egging your pudding. The tonal character is beautiful and I didn't want to change that, I attempted to "enhance" what is already there and it has paid off.

A brief outline of what I did.....

First off I fitted 1uF WIMA film caps in place of the small value metallised polyester types:



Removed the 1N4002 diodes and replaced them with UF4007 types fitted with Mylar snubber caps:

Snubber caps fitted to the UF4007


In position


Next I replaced the 100uF Jamicon capacitors with high temp 100uF SAMWHA VA series caps:



The 4700uF Jamicon caps were replaced by 105C SAMWHA 10,000uF types:

Jamicon compared to the SAMWHA


In situ




Next up I replaced the ceramic 100 ohm resistors with vintage Sprague "koolohm" types (of the same value) these are non inductive and a VERY audible upgrade.



I had to remove those glued on heatsinks to accomodate the Koolohms and replaced them with a more "conventional" heatsink..... thing is, the transistors don't get that hot so I don't see the point in the heatsinks HEED fitted.... a little TO220 heatsink is all that's required. Now, the resistors DO get hot





That's it..... I decided to leave the NE5532 in place as it contributes to the lovely tone that is the CanAmp.... I feel that replacing it with something else is unnecessary as it is inherently part and parcel of what makes the CanAmp sound so good in the first place.

The extra capacitance, The ultrafast diodes, The Koolohms and the bigger film caps really bring the amp into focus BIG TIME..... I seriously regret selling my CanAmp after listening to this one.... it's gorgeous

Chaz, I will put a few hours on her over the weekend so she will semi cooked and ready to go when she returns to the USA...... I am confident you will cream your knickers

Mike.

[PinkFloyd]

.... And another one today.... 17th April 2010 - HeliHarris's V-CAN

Before:



After:



After much experimenting with the V-CAN this is what I am now including with my upgrade kit..... I will update my website soon..... I call these mods the X-CAP mods (X-CAP standing for extra capacitance)......

Basically, there is a much larger "pool" of available energy available across the board and this improves sound quality no end.... it transforms the V-CAN from small scale to large scale soundscapes.... IMO, the stock V-CAN is compromised and utilises "absolute minimum" components..... ie "the minimum they can get away with and still have a half decent sounding amp"..... of COURSE it is "compromised"..... it has a retail price of £99, you can't blame the company, they are doing their best to punt out quality sounding gear on a "cost" budget and the V-CAN (without mods) affords the owner an insight into where a headphone amp can take you (sonically).

My ears like the stock V-CAN but I find it a bit rough around the edges.... the X-Tra capacitance really does take it into another league. The stock opamp is also far from ideal "sonically".... the Burr Brown OPA4134, again, "upps" the performance to new heights.

Anyways... back to the "tweaks" I have removed the 1N4001 reverse polarity protection diode and replaced with a Ferrite inductor (belt and braces just in case anyone decides to use a SMPS power suppy)..... I have removed the input coupling caps and jumpered over the pads with copper links.

I have chosen the SAMWHA VA series capacitors for 2 reasons.... firstly, they are 135C rated so will last FOREVER...... secondly, they are one of the nicest caps I have heard, or should I say "haven't heard"..... they were designed for use in stressful apps (such as car engines) but I have, increasingly, found them to be superb audio caps......

We all know that a passive component has a "house sound".... the SAMWHA VA really is as "low insertion loss" as you can get.... it's sonic signature is "invisible" in the majority of applications I have tried it in and that is a GOOD thing

I am confident that I have selected the best parts to make the V-CAN really sing...... Mick, your "warts and all / honest" feedback will be most appreciated..... I know you will say it as it actually is and not brown-nose.

Mike.

[Deleted]

I have removed the 1N4001 reverse polarity protection diode and replaced with a Ferrite inductor (belt and braces just in case anyone decides to use a SMPS power suppy).....

Mike
Care to be a little more explicit about that ?
Most people do not realise that high frequency crap from an SMPS can sail straight through a typical internal voltage regulator without being attenuated much at all.
Alex