MF Upgrade for X-CAN v2 £169

[pcourtney1]

When MF introduced the X-CAN in 1995 they were snapped up by many, including myself, I think I paid £125 or so for the amp, obviously it was built to a price point that MF thought would stand up to a certain amount of scrutiny in the Hi-Fi press at the time, and while most of the reviews were positive, it was quite clear that improvements could be made, and many like Sid (with Mike's help) proved that better sq could be had with a little hard work.

imageevent.com/sidandcoke/musicalfidelityxcanv1mods

and how some good quality part replacements, the V1 could sound as good as the V2

www.rock-grotto.co.uk/Neilxcan2.htm

The V2 arrived on the scene in 2000

www.rock-grotto.co.uk/xreviews.htm

Not too long after many were tube rolling their V2's

www.rock-grotto.co.uk/valvetest.htm

and even Antony Michaelson at MF was getting asked about how the stock X-CAN could be improved, and they sat down and came up with the £169 upgrade offer

X-CAN upgrade schedule

Realign volume control
Replace all audio path electrolytics with low ESR, high temp. type
Replace bypass caps from ceramic to polycarbonate/polyester
Pure copper noise nulling screen fitted to PSU caps
Bypass PSU electrolytics with polycarbonate/polyester type
Replace ceramic bypass caps with polycarbonate/polyester type
Replace regulators with selected premium types
Precision re-bias
Replace PSU caps with low ESR high temp type
Replace 2x ECC88 tubes with precision matched pairs
Heater current, audio characteristics and transconductance matched
Replace 4x medium power output transistors with precision matched pairs
Log owner name, model and serial number in Musical Fidelity archives & Issue certificate signed by Antony Michaelson
Soak test for 48 hours Cost; £169 inc VAT


So what do you get for your money, let's see :

The published specs for my stock V2 are -

Output Power 1W into 32 ohms
Input Impedance 47KOhms
THD <0.015% 20Hz-20kHz unweighted
THD <0.005% 20Hz-20kHz A Weighted
S/N Ratio >96dB unweighted ref. full output
S/N Ration >108dB A Weighted ref. ful output
Freq Response 30Hz to 75kHz <+/- 1.0dB


The upgrade certificate signed by Antony Michaelson for my upgraded V2 states :

Output Power greater than 1.5W into 32 ohms
Input Impedance 47KOhms
THD <0.008% 20Hz-20kHz unweighted
THD <0.003% 20Hz-20kHz A Weighted
S/N Ratio >99dB unweighted ref. full output
S/N Ration >112dB A Weighted ref. ful output
Freq Response 10Hz to 100kHz <+/- 3.0dB
Matched Pair of 6922EH Tubes electro-harmonix

so some worthy and measurable performance improvements !


So I set about comparing a stock V1 and stock V2 with the upgraded V2, the headphones I used for most of this testing were the AKG K-340 (400ohm) , they just sound nice on my bonce, and it has been difficult to replace them, that said in the last 48 hours I have also been using the Superlux HD-661 and whilst they do not give me that bigger jazz club sound, the 661's do provide a more "Recording Studio" sound, smaller room sound, but pleasant enough all the same, if you catch my drift.

Well, I can report that (as expected) , the upgraded V2 sounds better than the stock V2, and the stock V2 sounds a lot better than the stock V1

What I was surprised with however, is that the upgraded V2 did not (to my ears) sound that much better than the stock V2, well not £169 quids worth anyway, you would be better off buying a second V2 on ebay, and have some change to boot.

I am looking forward to sending one of my stock V2's to Mike, and kindly asking him to upgrade the hell out of it for me according to the tried an tested RG Recipe, then I will be able to A/B both upgraded V2 amps, I cannot wait to hear them both and report back.


some pictures of the PCB hosted on Photobucket
s1133.photobucket.com/albums/m595/Peter_Cix/MF%20X-CAN%20V2/

I need a better macro zoom camera, that's for sure, so apologies for the pics

[PinkFloyd]

That looks absolutely unbelievable! Those are not high temp. / low ESR caps, they are standard Panasonic general purpose types (85C) and they have bypassed the non polar electrolytic output caps with film types.

OH MY GOD! They are charging £169 for this??!!!!!

[pcourtney1]

yes Mike, that is why I wanted to start a thread on this rip off, I am sure people like my Dad just think that MF can be trusted to make significant sq improvements for their own kit, and you would hope what they provide for 169 quid would stand up to a certain amount of scrutiny, but you and I both know that they are taking the piss somewhat, and describing parts on their website which do not reflect accurately what the punter ends up with is a bit naughty in this day and age !

[PinkFloyd]

Sept 3, 2011 18:51:34 GMT pcourtney1 said:

yes Mike, that is why I wanted to start a thread on this rip off, I am sure people like my Dad just think that MF can be trusted to make significant sq improvements for their own kit, and you would hope what they provide for 169 quid would stand up to a certain amount of scrutiny, but you and I both know that they are taking the piss somewhat, and describing parts on their website which do not reflect accurately what the punter ends up with is a bit naughty in this day and age !

It's a scandal, they must think their customers are idiots and never take the lid off. Can you tell if the transistors have been changed? One guy marked his with little scratches and, guess what.... yep, the amp returned with the same transistors... MF reckoned they must have "overlooked" them

I cannot understand how the specifications have changed either

BEFORE they swap out a few capacitors the specs are:

Output Power 1W into 32 ohms
Input Impedance 47KOhms
THD <0.015% 20Hz-20kHz unweighted
THD <0.005% 20Hz-20kHz A Weighted
S/N Ratio >96dB unweighted ref. full output
S/N Ration >108dB A Weighted ref. ful output
Freq Response 30Hz to 75kHz <+/- 1.0dB

After they swap out the caps "etc." the specs (as if by magic) improve dramatically:

Output Power greater than 1.5W into 32 ohms
Input Impedance 47KOhms
THD <0.008% 20Hz-20kHz unweighted
THD <0.003% 20Hz-20kHz A Weighted
S/N Ratio >99dB unweighted ref. full output
S/N Ration >112dB A Weighted ref. ful output
Freq Response 10Hz to 100kHz <+/- 3.0dB

This is just pure FANTASY! the frequency response has changed, the output power has increased the S/N ratio has improved.... erm.... "HOW"?!! Not only is the output power now "1.5 watts" but it is claimed to be "greater" than 1.5 watts.... eh?

You get a "signed" certificate from Anthony, if it were me I would prove that every last thing on that "certificate" was a crock of shite! This is not good at all

[pcourtney1]

it's called marketing hype I suppose, but they get away with it, so now it is fraud, not good for a supposedly rock solid British audio company to be so easily caught out by something so blatant as this, I mean it is pretty easy to measure these things on the bench, and then question the validity of a signed frikking certificate ( in red ink ) by the man himself !

[PinkFloyd]

Sept 3, 2011 19:14:20 GMT pcourtney1 said:

it's called marketing hype I suppose, but they get away with it, so now it is fraud, not good for a supposedly rock solid British audio company to be so easily caught out by something so blatant as this, I mean it is pretty easy to measure these things on the bench, and then question the validity of a signed frikking certificate ( in red ink ) by the man himself !

I don't understand it because the mods they propose doing are almost identical to mine (which have been on the go for about TEN years ) and there is no reason why they shouldn't do what they say they are going to do?

If I tell my customer he will get a gold carrot and a silver apple inside the box then that is what he will receive.... not a plastic lemon and a wax banana

The improved "specs" are just PURE BS but that's not the part I would worry about so much.... the clearly state what they will "do" to the amp and what they will fit into it but they do something totally different (cheaper) and, to my eyes, it is piss poor.

£169 is a LOT of money to a company who can bulk buy components and they will be earning a LOT more out of these "mods" than they will selling ENTIRE amps to their distributors.

Sorry, but the Americans would probably call this GOOD business practice.... people who "profit" are generally considered role models.... I call it a con job when people capitalise from others by telling lies / not delivering what they promised.

I used to really respect MF as a company but recent events have put me right off them... it all started when they outsourced to Taiwan but no point dwelling on that, seems everybody has outsourced there these days

Thing is, look at it as an experience, no point losing sleep over it.... the parts are all new and you have a signed certificate to hang on your wall.... you are essentially "paying" for that certificate, it's almost as if Anthony is charging £169 for his autograph which is quite reasonable if you are a Michaelson "fanboy"

Let's put it this way.... you have a Rolling Stones album and all the members of the band say they will sign the cover for £10,000.... some people would go for it.... it's the same record but you value it more as your favourite band has "signed" it......

If I thought that way I would have to charge £6,789.99 to mod a V2 and I would also sign the PCB!

[Deleted]

Reading this does make you lose faith in them doesn't it. How long before an M2 or another upgrade kit.

It's like they've lost their original mission and become like any other greedy firm. Result - plenty of lost customers and out of business.

I was always curious about a power amp they produced that you connect directly to the speaker out of the amplifier, and this thing provides enormous power to drive speakers properly.

Apparently, it was supposed to supply huge dynamics. There was a big poof and the start and it kind of fizzled out.

Ian

[Deleted]

Ian, do you mean the MF Superchargers?

www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=5&sqi=2&ved=0CDgQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.whathifi.com%2Freview%2Fmusical-fidelity-550k-supercharger&ei=P5ZiTtufK4zKsgbNyPiPCg&usg=AFQjCNFMCi5SCfKcklyJulVJOoH30AjArQ

I always thought these were a rip-off but everyone seemed to go mad for them at the time, and now they've just kind of disappeared. They don't appear on MF's website - just checked.

Jeff

[Deleted]

That's them Jeff. After discovering the effect of power from the Little Pinkies, I was reminded of these things that MF produced in an attemp to make cheap amps powerful.

I always wondered what the Market for them would be- if you have a cheap little NAD 3020, would it be a good idea to amplify the noise etc by tagging on something like that on the speaker wire for extra dynamics at that price.

My feeling was that if you're going to spend that kind of money, you might as well get a decent amp in the first place!!

That kind of put me off MF since up until then, I had associated them with good solid value for money. Their old solid state amp was great for the money.

Once again, can't remember the model number (was it A1?) but I remember that it sounded (and looked) really good. It wasn't very high powered but had a lovely sound.

This monstrosity power amp idea put me off the company because of the adverts that they put out in hi fi mags with a 'wheel' that tried to prove that every other amplifier was underpowered.

I thought trashing the competition was a poor move and made them look bad.

It was basically a graph that worked out the power needed for different ohm speakers and told you what power you should have in order to get proper dynamics,

It was a horrible marketing ploy and I thought they were above that.

Also, going from a base of good, cheap tube amps into the M1 seems to be saying that they'd sold all the tube stuff now and were moving on to better things.

Them charging that amount to upgrade their old amps is outrageous.

You can't trust a company like that. I have more faith in NAD who stick to their guns and provide excellent value and don't trash everyone else.

Tony's made a bad move and this could mean he'll have to start busking on the clarinet!!

Ian

[Deleted]

Sept 3, 2011 22:20:41 GMT @iancraig10 said:

My feeling was that if you're going to spend that kind of money, you might as well get a decent amp in the first place!!



Ian

My feelings exactly.

[Deleted]

Sept 3, 2011 22:20:41 GMT @iancraig10 said:

Once again, can't remember the model number (was it A1?) but I remember that it sounded (and looked) really good. It wasn't very high powered but had a lovely sound.


Ian

Yes Ian it was an A1, and the reason it sounded good was because it was class A. Low powered though. I ran one years ago with Mission 752's which were quite sensitive and it sounded absolutely gorgeous.

www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=16&sqi=2&ved=0CKQBEBYwDw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.praudio.co.uk%2Fmusical_fidelity_a1.htm&ei=xKpiTv2kKY3dsgadpIzCCg&usg=AFQjCNGdxZ5atG05Bp-oG6MxVpr2xIklLA

They made an updated one a couple of years ago I think. I'm sure I saw an article in Hi-Fi World about it at the time, but again, it doesn't appear on M.F.'s website!

[Deleted]

Ahhhhhhhh the A1.

Or should that be Aghhhhh the A1!, as my introduction to the little bar steward was leaning over the back of some kit to check a connection (I was set up as a newbie) and placed my hand square on the "griddle" for leaning purposes

I never forgave it and I never recommended it! Grudge city

Several of their products I loved, A1000 integrated amp-I'd still buy one now if at a bargain price, original X-series, F series amps, with the right amp the original version of the MC-2 loudspeakers, the Digilog DAC, E- hundred series.

They used to make some damn fine stuff, a few duffers too but nobody's perfect!

I've only heard odds and sods of their later offerings (post x-ray etc) and not in comparison to anything else.

They've always been a painful company to deal with though.

[Deleted]

Yes Chris, you could just about fry an egg on mine once it had been on for a couple of hours or more.

I remember the salesman telling me that since it was Class A it would run hot, but I called back a week or so later after my first long session to ask if it should run burny fingers hot!!

[PinkFloyd]

The A1 is / was a cracker of an amp and designed by Tim De Paravicini for Musical Fidelity...... www.mhennessy1.f9.co.uk/mf_a1/index.htm

[Deleted]

That's the one. It was a lovely amp and you could cook your breakfast on it.

On that link, Mike, there is a section for modding which is rather nice but the fella that designed it wrote (even then) a funny line:

I know of people who have gone to town with their A1, replacing components with exotic variations. Apart from using low-ESR 105°C replacement capacitors, I personally wouldn't bother - but do bear in mind that I'm an engineer.

Lovely attitude. I like that. I was such a mug. I had one of these and got rid of it for the next, then the next etc., and it goes on and and on when in fact, that MF amp was good all along!!

Ian

[PinkFloyd]

Tim is quite a funny man, he also designed this ugly thing (which I still have) www.head-fi.org/t/155990/the-ugliest-headphone-amp-on-the-planet

[PinkFloyd]

Skip a few pages and there is an "interview" with Tim.... I love the bit where he says to me "Everybody thinks they know more than me but reinventing the wheel is tough"

www.head-fi.org/t/155990/the-ugliest-headphone-amp-on-the-planet/75

[Deleted]

He's a character alright!!

I like these unassuming guys who really know their stuff but leave a bit of space for others to have their say. ie; he knows he's right really, but he'll adjust his thinking/building to suit what others think.

Gawd knows what he was thinking when he made that slab of an amp though. It is rather funny.

Ian

[joethearachnid]

That was a great thread, Mike! Good to see that you were tearing hapless amps apart and re-jiggering them into masterpieces even then! It's sad though, all those old threads make me feel sad that I've missed the 'glory days' of Head-Fi. Why couldn't I have decided to go into hifi headphones at the age of 8 instead of 17?

How does the Headcase compare to more recent ventures like the Panda and PJ Sunrise, I wonder?

-JoetheArachnid