iFi Pro ICan Headphone & Linestage Amp Pristine Condition!

iFi Pro iCan Headphone & Linestage Preamplifier in near mint condition.  Offers flexibility and musicality, wrapped up in a single, well engineered package.  With this model, it doubles as both a high quality headphone preamp and vacuum tube hybrid linestage preamplifier and as to be expected from iFi, well constructed and finished.  Transparent, musical and neutral are it's fundamental playback characteristics.  Merchandise will be professionally packed to ensure safe arrival. 

Worldwide shipping available. 
Credit Card, Bank Wire, PayPal and Check payments accepted. 

Call 219.933.8115 or email [email protected] for more details and shipping quotes.

Sincerely, Christopher Thornton
Artisan Fidelity
www.artisanfidelity.com

Reference iFi Pro iCan
Headphone Amplifier Balanced from End to End, Features Solid-State and
Tube Sections and Real-Time Switching, Drives Any Headphone Made:
Doubles as Audiophile Preamp

The iFi Pro iCAN studio-grade headphone amplifier and audiophile-caliber preamplifier
is a flagship high-end component of firsts. The first reference
headphone amp that can claim to literally drive any pair of ‘phones
under the sun with absolute confidence, natural ease, and staunch
authority. The first such device that allows listeners to enjoy
solid-state and tube sound from a single chassis – and have the ability
to switch in real time. And the first commercial product to employ 3D Holographic for Headphones
– not crossfeed, and not crossfeed mixed with another technology.
Outfitted with four balanced headphone outputs (3.5mm, 6.3mm, XLR 3-pin,
XLR 4-pin) and two single-ended headphone outputs (3.5mm, 6.5mm), the
fully balanced Pro iCAN also boasts the ultimate in
flexibility as well as head-spinning power. Outputting 20V and 14,000mW
in balanced mode (the equivalent of 100W into a 4-ohm speaker), it is a
true juggernaut by which other models in the field will be measured. And
yes, its sound – clean, resolving, detailed, fluid, smooth, dynamic,
transparent to the source – is the stuff of wish lists.

Anchored by two separate amplifiers, one solid-state and one tube, Pro iCAN is
literally and figuratively loaded with superlative parts and optimized
with sensational topology. A six-track Japan Alps motorized rotary
volume potentiometer resides at its core, permitting true
beginning-to-end balance. Indeed, Pro iCAN
is True Differential Balanced, meaning it is balanced from the input
all the way through to the outputs and operate with full-differential
internal signaling so that the signal always remains two separate
signals of equal level with opposite polarity. (For a more detailed
explanation, see below.) The plain-English upshot: Significantly lowered
noise and total harmonic distortion, plus three times the dynamic range
of traditional "balanced" designs. Pro iCAN's
tube stage boasts premium General Electric 5670s and two tube settings
(Tube, Tube+) for transient variation. On the other side, the fully
discrete, fully balanced solid-state section is equally sublime: Tube or
J-FET input switchable, bipolar second stage, and MOSFET-buffered
bipolar Class A power stage. Factor in a thoroughly enhanced version of
iFi's XBass bass enhancement and the fact Pro iCAN
also doubles as a preamplifier at home with most high-end systems, and
this 4.3-pound wonder transforms into a heavyweight miracle. 100% Music Direct Guaranteed.



“In every case, iFi’s flagship amplifier
behaved brilliantly. The amp offers a powerful, ultra-refined, and
highly articulate interpretation of the unfailingly musical sound for
which iFi Audio components are justly famous. This ‘house’ sound
consistently expresses the natural and ‘organic’ warmth of live music,
while at the same time delivering plenty of resolution, transient
articulation, and extremely expressive dynamics. The amp’s Solid-State,
Tube, and Tube+ mode controls give you options for tailoring the sonic
presentation either to fit your personal musical tastes or to match the
demands of your chosen headphones or of the recordings in play.”

—Chris Martens, Hi-Fi+

“The Pro iCAN is, then, a superb
headphone amp in its own right, and one ready to serve as the
centerpiece of one of the world’s finest personal audio electronics
suites.”

—iFi+, March 2017



"It's got a clean, resolving, and technically excellent
signature which can be adjusted ever so slightly with a myriad options,
ranging from a simple bass enhancement (XBass) to completely changing
the core operation of the amplifier from solid state to tubes. As a
flagship, the iCAN Pro has got just about everything that I'd expect and
hope for!"

– Ken Ho, PMReviews

Six Track Alps Volume Potentiometer Is Truly Balanced

The Japan-built Alps motorized rotary volume potentiometer is the
6-Track version with four tracks used for a true balanced volume
control. This is the litmus test for any amplifier to see if it is truly
balanced or operates internally in single-ended mode. Those using
2-Track volume controls may offer balanced in and out, but are not true
balanced designs. Pro iCAN, however, is fully balanced from beginning to
end. In terms of flexibility, with three single-ended and one XLR
balanced inputs as well as one balanced and one single-ended output, Pro
iCAN is a full-function audiophile line stage.

Most Balanced Headphone Amplifiers Are Not Truly Balanced...

At the upper end of the headphone amplifier market, things are not
always what they seem. This is a curious case of ‘is balanced balanced?'
For headphones, it makes good design sense to implement balanced
topology (the possibility of higher power, increase dynamic range and
lower noise etc.) It goes without saying that the balanced design should
be balanced all the way through, or end-to-end. Yet the majority of
"balanced" high-ended headphone amplifiers are actually single-ended
amplifiers with balanced inputs and outputs. The balanced input will be
converted into single-ended operation inside the amplifier, then
converted back to balanced just before the output. To provide balanced
drive to the headphone, the signal is inverted using more circuitry
added to the single-ended audio path. A sure fire giveaway of such
circuitry is the use of a 2-Deck volume control (4-Deck for true
balanced circuitry), as well as having more than four gain/current
buffer blocks among two channels. At the input, the additional balanced
to single-ended conversion circuit generates extra noise on top of the
volume control pot. At the output, the inverter circuit used to create
the balanced signal simply doubles the signal, noise, and distortion of
the amplifier. Nothing is reduced or cancelled, only added. So one gets
double the signal but also double the noise and distortion. Hence this
is truly a case where more is less. There is much more circuitry, but
far lesser performance.

...Which Is Why Pro iCAN's True Differential Balanced Circuitry Is Special – and Better

The Pro iCAN circuit is fully balanced with completely equal circuit
sections for Positive (Hot) and Negative (Cold) signal phase of each
channel. The Alps volume control has 6 Decks: two decks each control the
volume of one channel, and the other two decks are used for monitoring
the volume control operation. As the two halves of the volume control
and the two halves of the amplification operate differentially, they
effectively become a single stage. So the circuitry is highly elaborate
in actual implementation, yet it comes down to the simplest design
possible for a headphone amplifier: a volume control, a gain stage, and a
current buffer. Compared to a single-ended design with exactly the same
circuit, True Differential Balanced® lowers noise by 3dB and also
lowers THD dramatically. Additionally, it allows the signal level to be
doubled, so True Differential Balanced® circuitry also produces 9dB (or
three times) greater dynamic range.

Unique Tube Stage and Real Time Switching Between Solid-State and Tube Sections

The tube stage of the Pro iCAN is different from other high-end
headphone amps in two ways. First is its use of General Electric 5670s,
the premium variant of 6922 with a different pinout. Second, and just as
important, is the circuit design. Unlike other headphone amplifiers
that have the same circuit and just switch in/out the tube section, Pro
iCAN is the very first of its kind that has two individual input
circuits – one tube and one solid-state. This results in the best
sonics of both worlds because the signal path is the shortest and there
is no compromise to shoehorn the tubes into an already existing
solid-state circuit. For the first time, one can enjoy both the sound of
solid-state and tubes in a single package (rather than as an
"effect-type" add-on within an otherwise conventional solid-state
design) and be able to switch in real time. For some recordings and
headphones/loudspeakers, solid-state may sound more lively. For others,
Tube and Tube+ (especially Tube+) will sound more luxurious. Select the
one that sounds best for that particular moment, be it the recording,
the mood, or even the weather.

Improved 3D Holographic for Headphones Parallels Sound of Listening to Loudspeakers

3D Holographic for Headphones is not based on a standard cross-feed
system as found in some high-end headphone amplifiers. Many so called 3D
systems are usually DSP-based that artificially effect the sound and
add unwanted reverb in order to simulate a spacious type of sound. It's
true that traditional crossfeed tends to produce an out-of-head sound,
but with much diminished spatial components and a narrower soundstage,
sometimes almost approaching mono. Most DSP-based 3D designs produce an
unnatural, echo-like sound, which may initially be impressive but soon
becomes tiring. By contrast, 3D Holographic for Headphones provides not
only out-of-head placement of the sound sources, but renders the whole
sound field in a manner that strongly parallels listening to
loudspeakers in a normal room, all achieved without the added reverb.
This is the first system in commercial production to achieve this.

Finest Capacitors and Resistors Utilized in Construction

Pro iCAN employs TDK Japan-made C0G type capacitors and Vishay MELF-type
thin film resistors. These are complemented by Panasonic Japan-made
ECPU film capacitors explicitly designed for audio use with extremely
low distortion (<0.00001% @ 1V/10kHz). ELNA Japan-made Silmic II
capacitors are utilized for the power supplies. They use special silk
fiber paper for the isolating barrier, resulting in decreased odd-order
distortion and reduced microphonics/mechanical resonances.