FROM A PASSION FOR BETTER SOUND TO THE XTC

JM Audio Editions didn't begin as a headphone company. It began with John Massaria's passion for music and a simple question: Could a great headphone be made even better?

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When? More than 7 years ago-  John was one of the early owners of the Kennerton Gjallarhorn GH50. Curious about what the headphone was capable of, he began experimenting with its internal acoustics and tuning his own pair—not as a business, but simply in pursuit of better sound. 

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The results caught the attention of Kennerton itself.

After evaluating John's modifications, Kennerton adopted his work and introduced an official version of the headphone bearing his initials: the Kennerton Gjallarhorn GH50 JM Edition.

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But John didn't stop there. He continued refining the GH50, eventually developing the GH50 JM Edition Mk2, while expanding his understanding of damping, airflow, resonance, driver behavior, and acoustic tuning. He then applied those techniques to headphones from HiFiMAN, Dan Clark Audio, Sennheiser, in addition to many models from Kennerton. As word spread, JM-modified headphones began finding their way into the hands of audiophiles around the world.

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Every modification became another opportunity to listen, measure, experiment, and improve. Eventually, modifying someone else's headphone wasn't enough. John wanted to create a headphone where driver selection, materials, acoustics, and final voicing could all be approached as one complete system. That pursuit became JM Audio Editions and the XTC. Ecstasy was what John said when first hearing the new headphone. 

WHY XTC?The name XTC was inspired by a feeling.  

When John first listened to what would become the XTC, the experience was intensely euphoric—the kind of moment when the equipment seems to disappear and you're completely immersed in the music.

It was ecstasy through sound.

That feeling became the inspiration for the name XTC: a play on the word ecstasy and the pure exhilaration that music can create naturally—all of the euphoria, none of the adverse effects.

The name captured exactly what John wanted the headphone to deliver: an experience that isn't merely technically impressive, but emotionally addictive—the desire to keep listening to one more song.

XTC — PURE MUSICAL EUPHORIA.

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Rather than forcing every listener into one predetermined sound signature, JM Audio offers individualized tuning based on the listener's preferences, equipment, and musical priorities. And because listening tastes and audio systems can change, the relationship doesn't end when the headphone leaves our shop. XTC owners receive guaranteed tuning and lifetime retuning, allowing their headphones to evolve with them.

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What started with one enthusiast modifying his own headphones has grown into an independent headphone company serving music lovers around the world. The philosophy, however, hasn't changed: KEEP EXPERIMENTING. KEEP LISTENING. KEEP MAKING IT BETTER. 

THERE IS ONLY ONE JM AUDIO XTC. 

Hand-built. Personally tuned. Made in New York.