Mevunky Posted January 11, 2006 Posted January 11, 2006 Tell me what you have, after someting decent to drive my 650's etc...
Ayou21553552688 Posted January 11, 2006 Posted January 11, 2006 I don't own one ( I don't own a headphone set up full stop)but from my experience, the Musical Fidelity X3 is the best of the mainstream brands that i've heard. its got a much more lushed / warm and punchy sound than most, which makes it great for all kinds of music.
Cooksferry Posted January 11, 2006 Posted January 11, 2006 Hi Mevunky, I've been a dedicated headphone listener for many years now, a cheaper(?) way to get good hifi. The 650s are not the easiest headphone to run, I've had a loan of a couple of pairs now and tried them with several amps including X-Cans, Ray Samuels Raptor, Mapletree Purist and both versions of the Perreaux headamp. A visit to the site below may help or confuse, you'll find plenty of advice. http://www.head-fi.org/ If you're really serious about getting the best from the 650s be prepared to purchase something from overseas as the choice is fairly limited here There are alot of amps coming out of China now, most of them using valves and some getting very good reviews but just how good backup will be is anyones guess.Probably better to stick to one of the mainstream builders although there are some very good boutique manufacturers in north america like Singlepower, Ray Samuels and Mapletree all of whom supply world class products with excellent customer care. Some like Singlepower and Mapletree can design and build an amp around your personal needs. http://hollowstate.netfirms.com/ http://www.singlepower.com/ From my own experience the Perreauxs were ok(the 2nd versions is better) but nothing startling, they're a much better amp with Grados or Audio Technicas. The Ray Samuels Raptor was very good but at around $1400US it may be a bit pricey. Anoher good site to look at is Headroom who build a big range of amps and base alot of their designs on the HD650 which seems to be their default headphone. http://www.headphone.com/ Hope that is of some help..when you find the right setup a good headphone rig is very hard to beat.
Ayou21553552688 Posted January 11, 2006 Posted January 11, 2006 these guys come highly recommended by a work colleague in Perth. http://www.headphones.com.au/ seems they will ship FOC to NZ too.
Mevunky Posted January 12, 2006 Author Posted January 12, 2006 Ive owned some 650s since they were in NZ, was probably the first buyer from the NZ distributor. Ive always loved them but never got around to unleashing them. Soooo today 500 dollars later I have an X-Can v2 which I feel is driving them great. Will replace the tubes and upgrade the volume pot since its very average and change the volume knob and then it shall be ultimate
Owen Y Posted January 12, 2006 Posted January 12, 2006 Hi Mevunky, Quickly scanning on what some others have done.... looks to me like those electro caps are where I would start, esp the input coupling non-polar ones...replace with NX Black Gates, a good value USD9.00 spend I'd say. (Mind you, I haven't seen the circuit schematic of this device, so just my 0.02c) If you are concerned about Dc on inputs, use Standard Black Gates instead. Bypassing caps is to be avoided (this was an 80s fad)... fit a better cap instead of bypassing a rubbish one Regards, Owen
NeilNZ Posted January 12, 2006 Posted January 12, 2006 Originally posted by Mevunky Ive owned some 650s since they were in NZ, was probably the first buyer from the NZ distributor. Ive always loved them but never got around to unleashing them. Soooo today 500 dollars later I have an X-Can v2 which I feel is driving them great. Will replace the tubes and upgrade the volume pot since its very average and change the volume knob and then it shall be ultimate You can build a really nice power supply for these too, check out http://www.rock-grotto.co.uk/xcanpropage.htm for ideas.
Mevunky Posted January 12, 2006 Author Posted January 12, 2006 Originally posted by Owen Y Hi Mevunky, Quickly scanning on what some others have done.... looks to me like those electro caps are where I would start, esp the input coupling non-polar ones...replace with NX Black Gates, a good value USD9.00 spend I'd say. (Mind you, I haven't seen the circuit schematic of this device, so just my 0.02c) If you are concerned about Dc on inputs, use Standard Black Gates instead. Bypassing caps is to be avoided (this was an 80s fad)... fit a better cap instead of bypassing a rubbish one Regards, Owen Looks like rock grotto has stolen a lot of PinkFloyds stuff from headfi... Yer I have guides already so one step ahead of you http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=142614&highlight=x-can+v2
Owen Y Posted January 13, 2006 Posted January 13, 2006 Tubes for X-Can V2: On investigation, I see that MF use 2 half-sections of a 6922/ECC88 (a twin triode) for each channel & also these 2 halves are driven in parallel for the output. Those who have some understanding of this arrangement (paralleled tubes) will appreciate that this means that these 2 tube sections should be matched very well (some will say that this will never happen, but that's another argument, another day ). So, not only should the tubes be matched ch-to-ch, but, if the one tube is used for ea ch (as opposed to shared between ch's) more importantly.... ea tube should be selected with ea internal triode matched to the other half! Pretty demanding circuit, perhaps. Hope that makes some sense,...if you want to get the best out of these things. Regards, Owen
Mevunky Posted January 13, 2006 Author Posted January 13, 2006 Soo anyone know where I should take this baby to have the volume pot replaced and maybe a few caps? I upgraded the power supply to a 1mp 12v AC dick smith one, to replace the 500ma MF one...any better, still testing. Spose ill have to order the nice parts from US, unless anyone has anything in their city they recomend.
Owen Y Posted January 13, 2006 Posted January 13, 2006 I can recommend a tech in Akld, but not Palmy sorry. Overseas audio bits... I can recommend Michael Percy: www.percyaudio.com (Payment by Paypal) Regards, Owen
Mevunky Posted January 13, 2006 Author Posted January 13, 2006 How much do you think to have the POT replaced and maybe the headphone jack as its pretty average too. Labour costs that is...
Mevunky Posted January 13, 2006 Author Posted January 13, 2006 Right, sick of the POT and jack.... Solving the problem the quick and dirty way by just buying a V3 and maybe a supply later on. Anyone want a v2 ? heeeheee.
Cooksferry Posted January 13, 2006 Posted January 13, 2006 A friend purchased an original X Cans when he bought his HD650s, upgradded it with different valves and a better power supply and did get some improvement but there was always a veil over the sound. You just knew that there was alot more available from the headphones than the X-Can was letting out. The best sound we ever got from the 650s was with the Ray Samuel Raptor and replacing the stock headphone cable with a $300 aftermarket item. Still wasn't happy with that so has gone to a Stax SR007 setup. The HD650s seem to be tricky beasts to get right, I liked them best in singer/acoustic instrument setups but to me they always felt like a V8 running on 6 cylinders, just what the magic amp is I dont know but from what I've read the V3 is a definite improvement over the earlier models. Good Luck.
JamesB Posted January 14, 2006 Posted January 14, 2006 I'm using a David Berning MircoZOTL with HD650s - amazing sound IMO! http://www.davidberning.com
Mevunky Posted January 20, 2006 Author Posted January 20, 2006 Have the V3 in my hot hands now, very happy with the build etc, sounds like magic, not like the v2 didn't sound good enough. Happy camper here
Mevunky Posted January 20, 2006 Author Posted January 20, 2006 Originally posted by Mevunky Right, sick of the POT and jack.... Solving the problem the quick and dirty way by just buying a V3 and maybe a supply later on. Anyone want a v2 ? heeeheee. PM if anyone seriously wants a cheap v2 as I have bought a v3 now and its a pretty good opportunity to get a decent amp cheapies...
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