Musical Fidelity X-Can V8P Headphone Amp

[jdandy]

I just purchased a Musical Fidelity X-Can V8P headphone amplifier. It is in mint condition, bought from the original owner. I am excited to see how it sounds compared to my solid state Class A HeadAmp Gilmore Lite headphone amplifier.

The X-Can V8P is also a Class A dual mono headphone amp that uses a hybrid circuit, with a pair of ECC88 twin-triode tubes to drive a solid-state output stage. The V8P supports two pairs of headphones and also features a USB input and Burr-Brown DAC. The power supply is external, and feeds the V8P through a 3 pin DIN plug.

The "P" in the V8P model number means this headphone amplifier can also be used as a tube preamplifier through the additional set of variable line outputs on the rear. I will not be using the preamp feature, although you never know.

The USB input to the DAC is only 16Bit/44.1 as I understand it, but I am good with that. The X-Can V8P will sit on the desk in my office, and this will give me the opportunity to experiment with digital downloads, which up until now I have not done. The V8P will primarily be used as my headphone amp in the office.

Musical Fidelity designs their products in England, and they are manufactured in Taiwan to their exacting standards. From all that I have read, the X-Can V8P is a high quality product with a big base of very satisfied users, so I am expecting great performance. I may do some tube rolling with the headphone amp, maybe slip a pair of Genalex Gold Lion ECC88 / 6922 tubes into it. The specidications are impressive:

Power 1.3 Watts per channel into 32 Ohms
Output devices 2 per channel
Output impedance 2 Ohms
Line output: THD + N > 0.008% typical 20Hz to 20 kHz
Signal / noise ratio > 100dB unweighted, > 109dB ‘A’ weighted
Input impedance 22 k Ohms
Frequency response 20Hz to 70 kHz, +0, -1dB

Now that I am enjoying my Sennheiser HD600's with the Stefen AudioArt Equinox cable, I am ready to see what a tube headphone amp can do. I should have the Musical Fidelity X-Can V8P next Wednesday.

[cmalak]

Congrats Dan. My first set of high-end electronics some 6-7 years ago were the Musical Fidelity A5 integrtaed amp and CD player. I drove my current Thiel 2.4s with them very nicely. Enjoy the new head amp.

[jdandy]

Cyril.......Thanks. It will be interesting to do a shootout with the Music Fidelity X-Can V8P against the HeadAmp Gilmore Lite. The Gilmore Lite is a very clean and powerful headphone amp. I am curious to hear what tubes do to the headphone audio signal.

[jdandy]

The Musical Fidelity X-Can V8P isn't here yet, but that didn't stop me from ordering a new pair of Gold Lion ECC88/6922 dual triode tubes from our sponsor Analog Tubes. Michael has the tubes in stock, so I should see them here about the time the X-Can V8P headphone amp arrives. The original owner never opened the X-Can V8P, so the stock tubes are still in place. I plan to audition the amp with the stock tubes to get a benchmark for performance before installing the Gold Lion tubes. I will then allow 50 hours of burn in time before doing any serious auditioning against the stock tubes. I have no idea whose tubes are in the X-Can, but I can almost guarantee you they are not Gold Lions.

[Alberto]

Nice one Dan. You are certainly getting into headphones big-time these days.

Good move with the tubes - I look forward to hearing your impressions.

Alberto

[jdandy]

Alberto.......I have always enjoyed headphones, all the way back to my Koss Pro4AA's. I have owned a number of different headphones, even some old Pioneers and Sony's, but once I discovered Sennheiser I stuck with them. I have owned the HD580, which is an excellent headphone, and I now listen to the Sennheiser HD600. It is very comfortable to use, highly revealing, and very musical. Headphones can be quite enjoyable once you find one you really like the sound of, and even more so when using a high quality outboard headphone amplifier. I am rediscovering how much I enjoy listening to headphones.

The HeadAmp Gilmore Lite headphone amp is the first outboard headphone amp I have owned. I am not positive the Musical Fidelity X-Can V8P will outperform it, be it's equal or maybe less. We shall see, or hear as the case may be. I am most curious how the ECC88/6922 tubes in the X-Can V8P will influence the sound. I'm thinking it is going to be a good thing.

[Alberto]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Alberto.......I have always enjoyed headphones, all the way back to my Koss Pro4AA's. I have owned a number of different headphones, even some old Pioneers and Sony's, but once I discovered Sennheiser I stuck with them. I have owned the HD580, which is an excellent headphone, and I now listen to the Sennheiser HD600. It is very comfortable to use, highly revealing, and very musical. Headphones can be quite enjoyable once you find one you really like the sound of, and even more so when using a high quality outboard headphone amplifier. I am rediscovering how much I enjoy listening to headphones.

The HeadAmp Gilmore Lite headphone amp is the first outboard headphone amp I have owned. I am not positive the Musical Fidelity X-Can V8P will outperform it, be it's equal or maybe less. We shall see, or hear as the case may be. I am most curious how the ECC88/6922 tubes in the X-Can V8P will influence the sound. I'm thinking it is going to be a good thing.

I still have my Sennheiser HD580 Jubilee Edition (whatever that means) and it's my favorite. I also have an AKG K1000, but I rarely listen to it. It's very accurate, but by now you know that I prefer warm and inviting to cold and analytic.

I am looking forward to hearing what the headphone amp on the C50 sounds like. My favorite headphone setup is my hand-build Bottlehead SEX (Single Ended Experimenter kit) and Senn HD580.

Alberto

[jdandy]

Alberto.......The Sennheiser HD580 Jubilee's were a limited edition headphone, manufactured by Sennheiser as a commemorative product to celebrate their 50th anniversary in 1995. Only 4000 pairs were manufactured.

The Jubilee Edition was based on the highly acclaimed HD580. The Jubilee's improved on the HD580's by having the entire body molded of thermoplastic carbon fiber to help keep resonance to a minimum and improve structural integrity of the headphone. The drivers of the Jubilee Edition were computer tuned and matched, and steel grills were used in place of the original HD580's plastic grills. Once the 4000 Jubilee Edition headphone supply was sold the improved design gave birth to the Sennheiser HD600.

[Alberto]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Alberto.......The Sennheiser HD580 Jubilee's were a "limited edition" headphone, manufactured by Sennheiser as a commemorative product to celebrate their 50th anniversary in 1995. Only 4000 pairs were manufactured.

The Jubilee Edition was based on the highly acclaimed HD580. The Jubilee's improved on the HD580's by having the entire body molded of thermoplastic carbon fiber to keep help resonance to an absolute minimum. The drivers of the Jubilee Edition were computer tuned, and steel grills were used in place of the original HD580's plastic grills. Once the 4000 Jubilee Edition headphone supply was sold the improved design gave birth to the Sennheiser HD600.

You know your Sennheisers .

I can't believe I've had these headphones since 1995 (or perhaps 96) but it sounds about right - they must be the piece of equipment that has stayed with me the longest.

Alberto

[jdandy]

The Musical Fidelity X-Can V8P arrived today. It's a good looking amp, but more importantly a very good sounding single ended, Class A triode headphone amplifier. I have been listening now for about eight hours. I am impressed with the richer, deeper bass and a more organic texture to the sound as compared to the Gilmore Lite I have been using for a few years. The sound stage created between my ears seems deeper front to back, more 3 dimensional. The Gilmore Lite is a bit more in your face with its presentation. After eight hours I sense zero listener fatigue, in fact I just want to keep listening. I am very impressed with the X-Can V8P's performance. The fit and finish are high quality, and the Alps volume control with that big volume knob operates as smooth as silk. I believe I prefer the infinite adjustment capability of the Alps control versus a stepped attenuator like the one used in the Burson HA160 headphone amplifier.

I have already opened up the V8P, looking to see who manufactures the tubes. No luck. The only markings on the two tubes were ECC88, and in small screening that I could just barely make out 1ABR near the base. No origin markings at all. I put the X-Can back together, and have been listening to it all evening. The stock tubes sound quite nice, although I still plan to install a pair of Genelex Gold Lion ECC88's that I ordered. They should arrive by the end of the week if I am lucky.

I really like what I am hearing with the dual triodes in the circuits. There is a new smoothness coming from my HD600's, an enhancement to the music's texture, a thicker texture to the bass, and a quiet noise floor. The V8P will be replacing my Gilmore Lite, which will be going up for sale. I'll have more to say once I get the Gold Lion ECC88's installed and put some hours on them.