The "Phantom" is a not-so-subtle reference to the Rolls-Royce brand, indicating how iFi positions this new product. The iCAN Phantom was also designed in a distinctive black and silver finish that the brand says echoes the two-tone color schemes adorning many Rolls-Royce cars for decades.
The new iFi reference-class analog headphone amplifier takes the Pro iCAN circuit design, refines and enhances every element to further elevate its performance, incorporates technology from the Pro iESL – previously a separate component – for electrostatic headphones, and adds a new, advanced user interface and network-connected control system.
The result is a headphone amp that is engineered to drive every headphone type to its full sonic potential, from ultra-sensitive IEMs, to the finest dynamic driver and planar magnetic headphones, to the most power-hungry electrostatic designs. The iFi iCAN Phantom also offers the ability to perform as a high-end hifi preamplifier when used with speakers, creating an integrated solution with other home audio components.
Inside the iCAN Phantom is a dual-level, balanced circuit device in a multi-layer circuit design with a desktop enclosure constructed from aluminum, with the bottom layer sporting cable connections front and back, and the top layer offering tactile controls and a color OLED display. The top is a smoked glass panel, through which the amp’s circuitry – including its glowing audio vacuum tubes – can be appreciated. Circular aluminum vents protrude from the glass to avoid overheating. The clever design uses an aluminum panel that attaches magnetically to hide the connectors in the front and back when the system is not in use. The iCAN Phantom also comes with an easy to use aluminum remote control.
The iFi iCAN Phantom uses two input stages – one tube-based, the other solid state – enabling the user to switch between the two in real time. These input stages are entirely separate, which means they can be kept short and direct. The fully discrete Class A solid-state input stage uses J-FETs, while the all-tube Class A circuit features a hand-selected, computer-matched pair of General Electric 5670 tubes (a premium variant of the 6922). This stage has two selectable modes – Tube and Tube+. The latter minimizes overall loop-gain and thus negative feedback, giving a different trade-off between the tube’s natural harmonics and the transient performance. The effect is like three amplifiers in one, each with a different sonic presentation.
While it’s certainly fun to be able to compare the differences between valve and solid-state sound in real time, the two separate input stages also allow users to accommodate different source devices, varying music styles and an abundance of headphone and speaker types. The supplied GE5670 tubes have an expected lifespan of around 100,000 hours. When eventually the time comes to replace them, the iCAN Phantom’s glass top is easily removed to provide access. The amp is also compatible with 6922 tubes (an adapter for the 6922’s pinout is included).
The iCAN Phantom is fully differential from input to output, minimizing noise and crosstalk in the signal path. "Fully differential" – or True Differential Balanced, as iFi calls it – means that each channel (left and right) is fully separated in the circuit design, and each of these channels has two separate signals of equal level but opposite polarity (positive and negative). This requires four separate amp circuits, two for the left channel and two for the right channel – much more costly and complex to implement than single-ended circuit designs.
The iCAN Phantom’s True Differential Balanced circuitry is coupled to a volume control with six decks – two decks for each channel (positive and negative) with the final two decks used for monitoring the volume control operation. The motorized volume control potentiometer is custom-made by ALPS in Japan and is of exceptional quality.
"Because the two halves of the volume control and the two halves of the amplification operate differentially, they effectively become a single stage. So, although the circuitry is elaborately implemented, it boils down to the simplest design possible for a headphone amplifier – a volume control, a gain stage and a current buffer," the company explains.
iFi has chosen to incorporate its iESL energizer technology within the iCAN Phantom, thereby making a single amplifier that can handle every headphone type, including electrostatic headphones, while elevating the amp’s performance with other headphone types too. And the iCAN Phantom incorporates custom-made PPCTs (Pinstripe Permalloy Core Transformer) with a GOSS/Mu-Metal hybrid core and complicated multi-section winding with both vertical and horizontal sectioning, using extremely thin wire that is hand-wound with great precision.
The iCAN Phantom is capable of delivering more than 15,000mW from its balanced outputs and more than 5,760mW from its single-ended outputs into 16 ohms. In terms of voltage, it can supply more than 27V into a 600-ohm load; when it comes to electrostatic headphones, it delivers up to 640V.
The attention to every circuit detail is extreme, from input to output. For example, gold-plated silver contact relays, filled with an inert gas, ensure perfect performance over a long lifespan, and meticulously engineered semiconductors, shielded from noise in gold-plated copper cases, deliver consistent, distortion-free sound.
The iCAN Phantom’s capacitive battery power supply, originally developed for the Pro iESL, is further enhanced in this new design. Rather than relying on a mains-powered switched-mode step-up circuit, a large battery of custom-made film capacitors rated at 1,000V DC is charged and occasionally topped up using mains power. This ‘virtual battery pack’ delivers pure DC, completely free of AC and switching noise – the ideal high-voltage supply for electrostatic headphones.
Two independent circuits deliver the electrostatic bias voltage – one for 230V ‘normal’ bias and the other adjustable between 500V and 640V to deliver a perfect fit for every electrostatic headphone on the planet. But the choice between solid-state and valve-based input stages isn’t the only way to ensure the iCAN Phantom’s performance perfectly matches any headphone selection and music source. A range of adjustable settings lets the user dial in the perfect performance, starting with adjustable gain (0dB, 9dB and 18dB), IEMatch to attenuate the output of high-sensitivity IEMs, and including two proprietary circuits (Bass and XSpace) for low frequency enhancement and localization processing to remove the "in-your-head" effect for those who are not used to headphones.
Finally, the iCAN Phantom takes dedication to headphones a step further and includes "custom bias voltage cards" (pitcured above). These are actually a series of memory cards that specify different bias voltages to match any headphone’s specification. The user can find these in the blank aluminum panel that covers the connectors when not in use. Inserting any of the cards in the existing slot allows users to accomodate 500V, 540V 580V, 600V, 620V and 640V models. Fortunately, there is a guide on the back showing which headphone brand is compatible with that voltage.
The impedance response can also be adjusted from 16Ω to 96Ω, and users can even control AC termination. This affects the operation of the headphone, by either making the bias node that is shared between both channels high impedance, and low impedance for audio signals. This affects a complex set of parameters, but most noticeably the width and depth of the soundstage.
Nexus Control Module
The iCAN Phantom is also the first product to incorporate iFi’s Nexus module, which combines with an app to provide a comprehensive, scalable network-connected control system. The features that Nexus offers will grow over time; at launch, the Nexus app enables any Android or iOS device to act as a ‘super remote control’ for the iCAN Phantom, providing access to additional features not accessible via the amp’s fascia or standard remote control.
The app can display diagnostic information and allow the user to monitor the iCAN Phantom’s operational condition in real time – for example, voltages, the condition and projected life span of the vacuum tubes and so on. It can also be used to apply over-the-air updates to the iCAN Phantom’s firmware, downloading and installing update files via home Wi-Fi.
According to iFi, this Nexus module will be incorporated into more iFi devices over time – for example, several new mid- and top-tier DAC/amps set to arrive later in 2023 will support it. As the number of Nexus-compatible iFi devices grows and the app's functionality expands, a network-connected iFi ‘ecosystem’ will develop, accessible from one single app. It will enable additional software-driven functionality to be delivered and shared across existing iFi devices, as well as providing a direct technical support service and even potentially an online store within the app.
The iFi iCAN Phantom headphone preamplifier is available from selected retailers at an MSRP of $3749. Pre-orders are now open, with retail stock expected to arrive at the end of June 2023.
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