[andrewchoppa]

Thanks John- I’ll have crack at this!!

 

[andrewchoppa]

Do these burgers come with a line in? I tried plugging an aux cable into the patty of a recent burger I purchased, but I think they needed more “charge” in order to get sound from the burger. The patty may have been overcooked.

something/someone definitely overcooked

 

[krenky]

Love the eq too!!! What’s the track please?

I think its Yello - Out Of Dawn

 

[LostnAmerica]

Greetings all. I have a question to everyone (esp. John M.). What would I need or be recommended for the power/voltage requirements for the XTC Legend 300 ohm beryllium driver if anything special is needed? I hope I phrased the question correctly. Thank you for your help and insight.

 

[rlawry]

I am not sure exactly what the XTC legend driver is but would need to know what the sensitivity of the driver is. Usually this figure is enumerated in the number of decibels achieved for a given power input, i.e. 114 dB for 1 mW of power input from the amp. Since you have a preference for 300 ohm drivers, which due to the increased impedance requires almost 10X the power needed for a 32 ohm driver, I am guessing you plan to pair the phones with an OTL tube amp that needs a high load impedance to give a reasonable damping factor of the driver. If you don't plan to use them with an OTL amp you might want to strongly consider the use of a 32 or 64 ohm driver to reduce the demand on the partnering amplifier. Anyway, please find out the sensitivity of the 300 ohm driver in dB per 1 milliwatt and we can let you know how much power is needed to drive them to listening levels.

 

[John Massaria]

Greetings all. I have a question to everyone (esp. John M.). What would I need or be recommended for the power/voltage requirements for the XTC Legend 300 ohm beryllium driver if anything special is needed? I hope I phrased the question correctly. Thank you for your help and insight.

The Legend XTC is the open series headphone and users can choose 32, 64 or 300 ohm. My suggestion for 300 ohm is either a SET or OTL amp.

 

[rlawry]

Yes, if all drivers produce 109 dB or more per 1 mW, you probably really need only microwatts to drive them to listening levels, i.e. 80-90 dB. Even phones could drive them but sound quality is another issue entirely.

 

[LostnAmerica]

The Legend XTC is the open series headphone and users can choose 32, 64 or 300 ohm. My suggestion for 300 ohm is either a SET or OTL amp.

Thank you John. Would a 2wpc hybrid be ok also? Thx!

 

[LostnAmerica]

I am not sure exactly what the XTC legend driver is but would need to know what the sensitivity of the driver is. Usually this figure is enumerated in the number of decibels achieved for a given power input, i.e. 114 dB for 1 mW of power input from the amp. Since you have a preference for 300 ohm drivers, which due to the increased impedance requires almost 10X the power needed for a 32 ohm driver, I am guessing you plan to pair the phones with an OTL tube amp that needs a high load impedance to give a reasonable damping factor of the driver. If you don't plan to use them with an OTL amp you might want to strongly consider the use of a 32 or 64 ohm driver to reduce the demand on the partnering amplifier. Anyway, please find out the sensitivity of the 300 ohm driver in dB per 1 milliwatt and we can let you know how much power is needed to drive them to listening levels.

John has stated that the 300 ohm driver has a sensitivity of 109dB. Thx!

 

[rlawry]

Yes, pretty much any amp will drive them to listening levels, although the amp quality will always affect sound quality.

 

[andrewchoppa]

Listening now - not like anything I'd listen to absolutely love it!!! These xtc 2.5s slam and punch with this!! The clarity, separation is awesome!!!

 

[HiFiWar]

Yes, the RAAL SR-1b ribbon and Kennerton Rognir Planar magnetic phones both use faster drivers than the dynamic drivers in the XTC ^2.5 phones, so detail is greater on these phones. I wanted the XTC phones for those recordings that need greater bass and dynamics that only a dynamic driver can produce, such as Thin Lizzy's Renegade that just doesn't have the same impact with planar magnetic or ribbon phones, at least the ones I have.

The ^2.5 phones I have use what John calls "Wolf Hawk" tuning, whatever that is, but I would characterize their bass as compared to the 1.0 phones (64 ohm, nearly scapel tuning) as having less bass weight and more extended and tuneful. Maybe this will change with break-in. Personally, I find most phones to have way too much bass that overwhelms the rest of the sonic spectrum and makes for a quickly fatiguing listen and makes all music sound similar, i.e. bass, bass, and more bass slightly seasoned with a small amount of midrange and treble thrown in. Bass is great but IMO not when it overwhelms the rest of the music where most instruments and voices reside, and I find the bass of the ^2.5 to be Goldilocks, not too much (Papa Bear) or too little (Mama Bear), but just right.

"Wolf Hawk" tuning comes from a user that used to be on here named Wolfhawk46. He wrote some of the original reviews for John and I believe heavily influenced the tuning of the original XTCs. That was after he reviewed a set of the JM Kennertons and wanted tuning changes to decrease the boomy bass and increase the mids a bit. The more you know...

 

[LostnAmerica]

Yes, pretty much any amp will drive them to listening levels, although the amp quality will always affect sound quality.

Here's the reason for so many questions: I'm the new proud owner of these beauties...finally....

 

[HiFiWar]

Here's the reason for so many questions: I'm the new proud owner of these beauties...finally....

Noice. Hope you enjoy them!

 

[rlawry]

OK, I have had my XTC-C ^2.5 Euphoric Xtreme Trip phones, the ones pictured in a recent post with the gorgeous African Blackwood Burl earcups, for about 2 weeks now and I have approximately 10 hours on them. I thought I would post my impressions about their sound.

As I own a pair of XTC-C 1.0 phones (currently for sale in the classifieds), perhaps this is the most appropriate phone for comparison, partly because many of you on this thread have heard these, partly due to similar pricing, and partly because my other phones employ a completely different driver that makes sonic comparisons difficult if not irrelevant. I also tend to listen to different phones with different types of music, most often reaching for dynamic driver phones for music that requires a bass and dynamics underpinning to make it optimally impressive. A prime example is Thin Lizzy's Renegade, one of the best rock recordings I know of.

To cut to the chase, the 1.0 and 2.5 phones have a sound cut from the same cloth, perhaps not surprising since they both use a beryllium driver with similar electrical impedance and sensitivity, 64 ohms/113.5 dB for the 1.0 and 32 ohms/114 dB for the 2.5 (I think those are correct). The 1.0 uses nearly scalpel tuning while the 2.5 employs Wolf Hawk tuning (maybe JM can editorialize on what these two tunings mean). Both have a prominent but not overbearing bass presentation, good midrange body, sweet highs, a good soundstage for a closed-back phone, and good dynamic range. That being said, the 2.5 is better in all regards than the 1.0 but I would also posit that if you have heard the 1.0 you have heard the 2.5. The more expensive 2.5 just extrapolates on all that the 1.0 does and improves everything, including a more extended and faster bass, a more vivid midrange, a more elevated and detailed treble, and a bigger soundstage that extends more around your head. You can just hear more into the musical details and how instruments are played and voices sung. Everything is just more tactile if I can use that term, which makes recordings, especially classic and progressive rock recordings, more detailed. Even traditional and fusion jazz recordings are improved, but here along with classical and male and female vocal recordings I might choose my other phones that employ planar magnetic or ribbon drivers for their elevated detail at the expense of bass and dynamics. The 2.5 is certainly not deficient on these types of music but different drivers all have their strengths and weaknesses.

As I get more time with the 2.5 I will post my impressions including some experimentation with closing the little ports in the earcups--I just have left them all open as I don't feel the need so far to reduce bass or elevate midrange and treble. I know some of you will want more bass so perhaps you would prefer the more bass-prominent tunings than the Wolf Hawk flavor but I don't feel the need for a more elevated bass.