EC Aficionado (was: The Studio Jr.)

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by AppleheadMay, Nov 10, 2015.

  1. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,461
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NYC
    @Boops, looking forward to hearing it at the next meet. Congrats!!! Now you need a pair of speakers for them :p
     
  2. Boops

    Boops Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,179
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    New York
    Lol. I was daydreaming about speakers the other day, but then remembered I live in an NYC apartment with 2 year-old twins. Maybe I'll revisit in 10 years.

    @Marvey or others, how old were your kids before you weren't worried about them around speakers and fancy tube amps?
     
  3. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    8,200
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northwest France
    If you get Frugalhorns you can put metal grills over the Fostex drivers. Heck, you can put metal grills over the 6” drivers used in the Madisound BK-16 kit.
     
  4. joeexp

    joeexp Don't ship this man FD-X1 ever

    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    London
    Font upgrade yes - but terrible kerning!
    Who is doing the typography at EC?
     
  5. bengo

    bengo Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,371
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Divisive Kingdom
    Home Page:
    This topic deserves a whole thread of its own...

    ATC SCM20-2 are pretty toddler proof (and sound good) albeit they are ugly as sin.

    The real problem with kids is either they are sleeping or they follow you around demanding stuff (I'm bored/hungry/my brother ruined my game/my sister won't let me join in/I don't like your grown up music, let's listen to my music instead). I gave up on music at home entirely but I have a really nice rig at my "holiday home" (aka the office) which I can enjoy with few interruptions for 40 hours a week... bliss :)

    I do remember though getting a CD player aged 11 and enjoying some of my parents' albums, so yeah, 10 years sounds about right.
     
  6. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,697
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Arizona
    That "f" really wreaks havoc with that word. Normally the lowercase f next to the i combine with one another.
     
  7. joeexp

    joeexp Don't ship this man FD-X1 ever

    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    London
    A fi ligature would do the trick. Also the A needs to move little closer to the f .....
     
  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,778
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    I started back in earnest with speakers three years ago when my son was around five. It's less my kids but my kids' friends that I am worried about. Like playing football inside the house.

    @Cspirou has good advice with the Fostex and grills. Even at low volume, AF is really nice. Wife and kids actually do not mind falling asleep to music in the family or living room at moderate levels.
     
  9. JustAnotherRando

    JustAnotherRando My other bike is a Ferrari

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,373
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Hong Kong
    Speaking from experience: You would be surprised at what a two year old can get through speaker grilles.
     
  10. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,162
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Singapore
    Was in an audio shop once and saw a parent enter with his kid. His kid saw a Gradient and beat on the midrange driver like a drum.

    Never had the mood change faster in a shop before.
     
  11. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,778
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    Smoosh ice cream through them.
     
  12. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    8,200
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northwest France
    Cheese grater
     
  13. Boops

    Boops Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,179
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    New York
    If you all were trying to be encouraging, you are doing a bad job.

    The rule should probably be: don’t buy speaker drivers that you can’t afford to see used as cheese graters.
     
  14. Boops

    Boops Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,179
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    New York
    In more on-topic news, I rolled in some vintage gray plate RCA 2A3s today, which are noticeably warmer and fuller sounding than the EH 2A3s I started with. Overall, stage and imaging are still very good. Highs are still energetic and present. They seem to be a better match with Utopia for my preferences, which lean warmer.

    The EH tubes are still a very good value. They are stunningly detailed and are clearer-sounding than the RCAs. I can’t tell yet if they are actually resolving more information, or the detail is coming more from a Photoshop-like sharpening. I would like to do more comparison to understand this but it’s a pain in the ass to swap tubes in and out. (Those sockets Really grip the new production tube pins!) With Utopia, the EHs are on the edge of too bright and lean for me, but are still enjoyable. If these would calm down a bit with use, I think I could run them full time, but I don’t have enough experience with them or with tubes in general to know how likely this is. @JoshMorr ?

    If the more expensive/better RCAs would get me the fuller sound of the gray plates with more clarity/detail, I would love that. But I’m thinking it’s wise to sit with what I have for a bit to get a better understanding of where I’m at.

    I also compared a 1960s WE396a with a square getter, a 1960s JW 2C51 with square getter, and a 1970s WE396a with an O getter. No real discernible difference, except the Star Trek sound on power up was over quicker with the newest tube.
     
  15. Colgin

    Colgin Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    634
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Sweet! Is this at home or office. If office I will be inviting myself over soon for a listen.;)
     
  16. Boops

    Boops Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,179
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    New York
    At the office. Come by anytime.
     
  17. Colgin

    Colgin Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    634
    Trophy Points:
    93
    I moved back to floorstanders when my son was about 4 1/2 to 5 I think. (He is 8 now.) between him and the cat I am no go on exposed tubes though. Really much more worried about cat getting burned than my son. I am certain my crazy kitty will singe himself good on a heated tube.

    I need to upgrade my speakers, but given that we let my son juggle his soccer ball in the apartment I don't want to go too high end or delicate as I know it will eventually get struck with a ball. Or crazy cat will pull one over onto himself (which he has really been trying to do with my KEFs.)
     
  18. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    8,200
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northwest France
    @Colgin - get your son an electric guitar. He’ll get obsessed about tubes and speaker drivers in no time.
     
  19. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

    Staff Member Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    8,145
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Exit stage left....
    @Marvey any chance a PDF of the EC Aficionado manual could be posted in this thread for future reference?
    am certain my 3 page paper copy will have something spilled onto it, or lost one day. TIA
     
  20. Neal

    Neal Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2016
    Likes Received:
    176
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Location:
    DC
    What is the advantage of going SS amp to large woofers over a dedicated sub of the same size? Just a better amp than the class D the sub probably uses?
     

Share This Page