Skip to content

iFi Audio Zen CAN Headphone Amplifier

Save €29.27 Save €29.27
Original price €223.42
Original price €223.42 - Original price €223.42
Original price €223.42
Current price €194.15
€194.15 - €194.15
Current price €194.15

Available to order from supplier
For latest lead times or to put down a deposit please contact us
In a rush? See what's available for immediate dispatch

A revolutionary analogue headphone amplifier. Your headphones will sound like never before. Passionately designed balanced amp with latest 4.4mm Pentaconn connectors for input and output.

Passionately designed balanced amp with latest 4.4mm Pentaconn connectors for input and output. Each Panasonic ECPU capacitor features some 3,500 layers of ultra-thin dielectrics less than 0.5μm thickness. This gives class-leading Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR), low impedance (other than at the desired capacitance) as well as frequency stability and vanishingly low distortion. A total of 6 pieces are used. TDK C0G (Class 1 ceramic) capacitors offer high stability and low losses for resonant circuit applications. They are pricey but are a perfect addition to our products.

52x more power. Pump up the volume.

Laptops and smartphones have a really low power output of <1.0v. On a good set of headphones you’re always running out of juice. You never get to really hear what they can do.

Use a laptop, phone or DAC to feed your music to the ZEN CAN and connect your headphones. Pumping out 52x more power, now you’ll hear what you have been missing.

Balanced to thrill

The ZEN CAN has trickle-down Class A discrete balanced circuitry from iFi audio’s US$1,699 flagship Pro iCAN. With 15.1v @300 Ohms on tap, it has serious power that will make even difficult-to-drive headphones thump to the beat.

  • Class A discrete output buffer from the flagship Pro iCAN using Op-Amp (OV2637A)
  • FET input avoids loading volume control – low distortion/noise
  • SE inputs (1M Ohm) ensures loading of the source so always in Class A operation
  • Output amplifier gain of four steps in +6dB perfect for headphone matching

Puts you at the venue. Not other way round.

Audio recordings are made for speakers and when played back on headphones, the sound is always driving you nuts by being only in your head. Our 3D special sound circuit solves this:

  • Stereo image that is truly out of your head, in front with height, width & depth
  • Without colouration or loss of resolution
  • All analogue circuitry (i.e. without costly and complex digital signal manipulation)

Ace of XBass

Behind XBass is our active EQ circuit which meets a common gripe with headphones head-on, a lack of bass.

Open-back headphones in particular, let all frequencies (especially those precious bass frequencies that the drivers generate so little of) leak freely out of the back instead of trapping and redirecting them back to your ears.

XBass equalisation is a much more elegant solution to bass correction than seen elsewhere. It consists of active and passive components and its frequency response curve corrects their low-end response problems with precision.

Packed with premium goodness

Underpinning the Balanced and Active EQ circuitry are:

  • Panasonic ECPU capacitors
  • TDK C0G (Class 1) ceramic capacitors
  • iFi/AMR ‘OV’ ‘Operationsverstärker’ series op-amps
  • MELF resistors
  • Texas Instruments low-noise ICs
  • muRata capacitors and
  • Tokyo Cosmos Electric Co. (TOCOS) multi-track potentiometer, with exceptional channel matching even at low volume

Class A Discrete is a circuit that has come straight out of the iFi’s flagship headphone amplifier, the Pro iCAN, which at £1,699 is 11 times the price of the ZEN CAN.

As with many other iFi audio products, we’ve incorporated a custom OV Series operational-amplifier. This top-notch component contributes to the extremely low noise, low distortion (0.0001%) and wide bandwidth.

TDK C0G (Class 1 ceramic) capacitors offer high stability and low losses for resonant circuit applications. Getting ever closer to the theoretical ideal of pure, frequency-constant capacitance, these capacitors reduce capacitor-induced distortion to vanishingly low levels. They are pricey but are a perfect addition to our products.

Sonically superior – richer, deeper. The XBass® analogue bass correction system corrects for the missing headphone/speaker bass response.

An ‘Out of Head’ listening experience. Our 3D Holographic® dual-analogue matrices place the artist with you in the room, not inside your head.

Inputs 4.4mm Pentacon BAL: 4.0V nominal @ 0dBFS, 24 kOhm Zin
RCA L/R Socket SE: 2.0V nominal @ 0dBFS, 1 MegOhm Zin
3.5mm Jack SE: 1.0V nominal @ 0dBFS, 1 MegOhm Zin
Max Output Balanced: >15.1V/385 mW (@ 600 Ohm)
>11.0V/1890 mW (@ 64 Ohm)
S-E: >7.6V/196 mW (@ 300 Ohm)
>7.2V/1600 mW (@ 32 Ohm)
Output Impedance (HP) BAL: <2 Ohms
SE: <1 Ohm
Line Out <200 Ohms
THD & N S-E: <0.006% (@ 100 mW/1.27V 16 Ohm)
Balanced: < 0.0007% (4V out, 600 Ohm, 1kHz)
SNR S-E: >118dBA (@ 7.6V)
Balanced: >120dBA (@ 15.2V)
Max. Input Balanced: 7.4V RMS
RCA: 3.8V RMS
3.5mm: 1.92V RMS
Gain 0dB, 6dB, 12dB and 18dB
Frequency Response 20Hz - 20kHz (+0dB / -0.03dB)
Power Consumption No Signal: ~5W
Max Signal: ~13W
Input voltage DC 5V/2.5A
AC 100 -240V
50/60Hz
Dimensions 160(l) x 117(w) x 35(h) mm
Weight 515g (1.14 Ibs)
Visit our showrooms

Visit our showrooms

We know that there's nothing quite like seeing, hearing and feeling what a product is really like. Whether you're investigating a specific product or want to compare within a category, we can help.

Our experts teams will ensure that you have the best advice and products to choose from. Our Dublin Showroom is conveniently located with free parking. All with no obligation to buy.

Book a free personal consultation now

Blog posts

  • How to Balance Your Tonearm

    How to Balance Your Tonearm

    Plus, what does anti skating mean and other important questions answered.   What Does Anti Skating Mean? In a nutshell, the anti-skate feature on your turntable stops your tonearm from skating across the centre of your record as it comes...

    Read now
Custom Smart Home Installations

Custom Smart Home Installations

Your Home. Simplified

Learn more