John Massaria
Member of the Trade: JM Audio Editions/Headphone Modifications
each set are custom tuned so measurements will be based on that
JM Audio Editions XTC Headphones
- Thread starter rlawry
- Start date
Yes, I could be wrong but I dont think there is such thing as a “stock” XTC. They are all custom.
vikinguy
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2008
- Posts
- 514
- Likes
- 2,181
He’s got some sweet XTC 1’s on n sale today looks like!
https://www.jmaudioeditions.com/product-page/new-inventory-xtc
https://www.jmaudioeditions.com/product-page/new-inventory-xtc
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I just ordered mine. John said the price is good till Jan 1st!
Yeah that is a heck of a deal
phoneslave86
100+ Head-Fier
The beryl open back is very lightweight. The biowool open back is heavier than the beryl.
Very nice!
Thanks! I love that color!
ozz007
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2012
- Posts
- 588
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- 400
Enjoy ing my XTC 2.5 love them finally my wife don't complains about she can still hear them
:-D same here... closed backs only !!
phoneslave86
100+ Head-Fier
Have had 3 rounds of the Biowool warm and detailed back to JM so far.
1st version: Very good overall would choose it over many headphones and has always been the best for extreme all day long listening. It put the soundstage out farther with massive bass more than a Z1R in quantity overall. Never thought the bass was too much, but certainly at the very limit. Unique timbre/texture and an ability to make huge dynamic shifts instantly in tones ect.
2nd version: Sent it back for a retune. After a while of experiencing different tunings/2^5 magic/setups made one wonder if it could be improved. It came back noticeably more lush in the mids, an improvement for me overall for sure. Stayed non-fatiguing as heck just simply better overall. Bass remained massive but at some point noticed when using the leather pads bass could be a bit boomy. Fuzzy pads easily disspelled this. Love how the mids sound with leather pads, sometimes it sound like listening through a tube with those a little bit but can also be very good.
3rd version: Dropped the headphone from about counter height onto carpet. The wood cracked on the left cup and the headphone still worked. At a certain point the right connection quit working. The headphone had travelled quite a lot and been abused no doubt. Off to the headphone doctor it went. JM for a very nice price completely replaced both entire cups with choice of wood (got amazing new version of red wood) and re-measured the drivers, turns out one was somewhat mismatched or damaged and he found a donor driver right away and got a spectacular match, tweaked the bass and tuning accordingly. JM was saying the match and quality was EXCELLENT and improved in transparency from before so I was excited knowing without a doubt these would be amazing.
First impressions: Off the bat physically speaking it's like having a brand new headphone. I was disappointed initially sound-wise though with the leather pads it was still too boomy on some songs to use the leather pads (I'm sensitive to boominess, others would not necessarily mind). I'm very used to my 2^5 (it's also unacceptably boomy to me with too many ports open) and must note I'm also experimenting with a new DAC so I was a bit thrown off at first but I could see some nice pieces of cleanness and transparency in there. It sounded like listening through a tunnel a bit which I've seen with these pads before (the imaging is so precise it will show you what pads are doing). I swapped out to fuzzy cutout and the headphones absolutely popped and melded to perfection like I've never heard them before (they were also not boomy at all with fuzzy in #2 version). THIS biowool is SO GOOD now. It's the first time something has me swapping out the 2^5 easily since I got the 2^5. Imaging is clean, precise and transparent zero boominess with bass at the perfect level of controlled but massive. SO transparent, just liquid sound while revealing even the finest textures with the R2R DAC + jot 2 and digital (weiss DAC204) with tube amp. More 3D and realistic than before and these headphones are certainly well into the next level, couldn't be happier. I am jealous I have to share these with my dad already.
**Edit** I must add these things are PERFECT. The swap to fuzzy cutout is a MIRACLE level pad swap in this case.
**Edit #2** After a few hours later of listening. I must say my system has a part to play in my awe lately as it’s tuned better than before as well. But these things are no doubt phenomenal, what am I listening to, these are blowing me away. Equal in magic to the 2^5 in a completely different way and are as unbelievably special to me already. I could pretty much tell this fairly quickly after I swapped pads. Biowool will forever be considered a truly special thing to me. I truly appreciated it before but this is different now. These are worth without a doubt much more than their cost to me and are simply irreplaceable.
1st version: Very good overall would choose it over many headphones and has always been the best for extreme all day long listening. It put the soundstage out farther with massive bass more than a Z1R in quantity overall. Never thought the bass was too much, but certainly at the very limit. Unique timbre/texture and an ability to make huge dynamic shifts instantly in tones ect.
2nd version: Sent it back for a retune. After a while of experiencing different tunings/2^5 magic/setups made one wonder if it could be improved. It came back noticeably more lush in the mids, an improvement for me overall for sure. Stayed non-fatiguing as heck just simply better overall. Bass remained massive but at some point noticed when using the leather pads bass could be a bit boomy. Fuzzy pads easily disspelled this. Love how the mids sound with leather pads, sometimes it sound like listening through a tube with those a little bit but can also be very good.
3rd version: Dropped the headphone from about counter height onto carpet. The wood cracked on the left cup and the headphone still worked. At a certain point the right connection quit working. The headphone had travelled quite a lot and been abused no doubt. Off to the headphone doctor it went. JM for a very nice price completely replaced both entire cups with choice of wood (got amazing new version of red wood) and re-measured the drivers, turns out one was somewhat mismatched or damaged and he found a donor driver right away and got a spectacular match, tweaked the bass and tuning accordingly. JM was saying the match and quality was EXCELLENT and improved in transparency from before so I was excited knowing without a doubt these would be amazing.
First impressions: Off the bat physically speaking it's like having a brand new headphone. I was disappointed initially sound-wise though with the leather pads it was still too boomy on some songs to use the leather pads (I'm sensitive to boominess, others would not necessarily mind). I'm very used to my 2^5 (it's also unacceptably boomy to me with too many ports open) and must note I'm also experimenting with a new DAC so I was a bit thrown off at first but I could see some nice pieces of cleanness and transparency in there. It sounded like listening through a tunnel a bit which I've seen with these pads before (the imaging is so precise it will show you what pads are doing). I swapped out to fuzzy cutout and the headphones absolutely popped and melded to perfection like I've never heard them before (they were also not boomy at all with fuzzy in #2 version). THIS biowool is SO GOOD now. It's the first time something has me swapping out the 2^5 easily since I got the 2^5. Imaging is clean, precise and transparent zero boominess with bass at the perfect level of controlled but massive. SO transparent, just liquid sound while revealing even the finest textures with the R2R DAC + jot 2 and digital (weiss DAC204) with tube amp. More 3D and realistic than before and these headphones are certainly well into the next level, couldn't be happier. I am jealous I have to share these with my dad already.
**Edit** I must add these things are PERFECT. The swap to fuzzy cutout is a MIRACLE level pad swap in this case.
**Edit #2** After a few hours later of listening. I must say my system has a part to play in my awe lately as it’s tuned better than before as well. But these things are no doubt phenomenal, what am I listening to, these are blowing me away. Equal in magic to the 2^5 in a completely different way and are as unbelievably special to me already. I could pretty much tell this fairly quickly after I swapped pads. Biowool will forever be considered a truly special thing to me. I truly appreciated it before but this is different now. These are worth without a doubt much more than their cost to me and are simply irreplaceable.
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eugene2
100+ Head-Fier
While we all realize this is one man's opinion, it's pretty cool for JM Audio brand.
nv333
New Head-Fier
Just recieved my open back xtc and I’m very happy with them. I am not an audiophile and il new to the headphone game I’ve always used buds and iems.
Someone in one of the forums recommended audio to tune the headphones to my liking which is bass heavy and after talking to them back and forth I pulled the trigger and am happy with what he put together
Someone in one of the forums recommended audio to tune the headphones to my liking which is bass heavy and after talking to them back and forth I pulled the trigger and am happy with what he put together
