EC Aficionado (was: The Studio Jr.)

I hesitate to post this, for I have little to say that hasn't already been said... so my apologies if I'm out of line. And - my capacity to analytically describe sonic delight is limited.

But - I've been listening to the EC Aficionado (EML 300B mesh) for about a month now, and it is simply wonderful!

My chain is Roon -> Yggdrasil Analog 2 -> Af -> to a range of excellent transducers. I listen to jazz, mostly, and a fair bit of Indian and Western classical. I've compared the Af with the Phonitor X and the WA5-LE premium with Takatsukis, and those two amps are remarkable in their own ways, but the Af seems best at drawing me in and moving me quickly from analyzing the sound to enjoying the music.

Grateful to Craig (& Marv) for their work on this delightful device!

 

You can run 300b tubes in the Af? Or do you ask for it when ordering?

Did you get any of the other mods (caps or tertiary) for your Af?

 

when i ordered it, craig suggested the 300b version. i didn’t get any other mods, also at craig’s recommendation.

 

Any chance of getting a shot of the internals? There must be some significant circuit changes as I have a hard time believing a no feedback 300B headamp with $0.20 Russian military surplus capacitors would sound very good. At that point why not run any number of new production 2.5V 300B tubes in the existing AF.

 

Ideas for an Eddy Current amp: (not necessarily good ones)
1) Mercury rectification
2) PX4 output tubes
3) EML driver tubes in first stage: (30A, 20A, 20B) instead of usual suspects, or, the killer new Sophia Electric 'blue bottle' 6SN7 (this thing just blew everything else away in another amp I have, inc. the best NOS, would love to see this in the AF design)
4) Direct coupled, or, Monolith interstage
5) Tribute output iron

 

will see what i can do.

 

I believe you will not see any differences because the changes required could only amount to resistor changes.

Also I do not know the price of those Russian caps, but do not underestimate the quality of the stock caps.

I tested them for sonic differences and You would have to buy a really good cap to beat it.

Also the caps sonic qualities are very important when they add to the amp.
The stock cap is good in this aspect.

I have heard amps that sound messy or even dirty because of cap choice.


Anyways, I have tested further the Aficionado for a friend.
Tried what would electrolytic (cathode) caps would be best compliment for the Jupiter coupling caps.

I tried both the "Audio Note Kaisie" caps, and Jensen caps, different Muse caps..

The Jensens made the amp athoritive but darker.
The Kaisie made a slightly smoother top with ever so slight lower spectrum bloom & weight.

Adding "bypass caps" to the electrolytic made choices more complex, and not optimal.
The problem here was that the resolve of the amp was so high (Jupiter upgraded) that you could hear how the bypass caps interacted with the electrolytic.


This is where we came "full circle" and ended up with final decision to use the original designer's choice of caps, the Nichion Muse caps (stock cap choice).
This is when you can appreciate the experienced choices of the designer.

The stock Nichion Muse lyctics had the most clarity and resolve without the tonality issues of the others, and no bypass cap needed...


Also there was another insight revieled.
There actually was an slight advantage in the replacement from stock 220uf & 330uf values to higher values.

So to make a longer story shorter, both stages were replaced with same higher values.
1000uf @ 50V ...

This was noted audibly as another slight improvement in resolve.
I know these sonic terms are not specific, as it wasn't easy to pin down the subjective impressions of improvement.
Yet I am satisfied with the results and it would be interesting to compare to stock amp as I feel it is on another level now.

 

This past week I sent my Aficionado in to Craig to get the tertiary winding feedback mod done. I was one of the few that wanted a very neutral but highly resolving technical tube amp that some might find boring, aka Studio Jr. I always felt there was something off with Aficionado in my setup. I haven't heard enough amps to know how different topologies affect the sound but I know that Aficionado was coined to be a more traditional old school no feedback design. I have found that in general, I prefer Schiit amps in low gain, where @purr1n almost always prefers the high gain setting. So you can see why the feedback mod would appeal to me.

I hit up Criag and picked his brain. Here is what he said on the feedback mod:

At one point I was using Pangea cables and any tube I could find to tighten the bass and give more clarity to the sound. This did work to some extent but the bloom, forward presentation and haze around sounds never completely went away. I figured it was worth a shot as the service cost was only $100 plus shipping. I ended up paying less than $200 insuring 2/3 the amp as I only needed to send the amp portion back, not the external PSU.

I was able to get the amp back Thursday, two days before the AZ meet. I plugged everything back in, using the same cables and tubes. Here are my play by play thoughts once I started listening:

• much more spacious, sound stage is expanded, especially depth
• everything is clearer presentation is less forward, in your face and raw
• much cleaner
• voices are so crystal clear like they are right in front of you, not some projection with haze like OG Aficionado
• there is less bass, most likely because of less bloom
• extension still seems to be there, not the best check with Utopia
• Utopia and Aficionado with feedback mod are a great pairing now, no overly forward presentation and small, in your head sound stage

Here is the feedback I sent to Craig:

And Criag's response:

Everyone enjoyed the Aficionado at the AZ Meet yesterday. It was smooth, never fatiguing and had probably the airiest and most expansive sound stage of all the amps I heard. I tried an HE-6 to see if I could get adequate volume post mod and it was loud enough for me at 12 o'clock up from 10 o'clock pre feedback mod. Utopia also gets more play with the volume knob, sitting between 8:30 and 9 o'clock now vs primarily below 8 o'clock pre feedback mod. What's interesting is that I used to have to turn down the volume pot coming from PMx2 to Utopia but now they both sit around 9 o'clock. I don't know the reasoning behind this but it's just what I've noticed.

Thanks Craig and @Comzee for convincing me to try the feedback mod!

 

If the stock AF is characteristic of the NFB sound; then I definitely admit that I don't like it.

Was it old? It was sold to me as a Super. I bought it to try as I thought it would have a leg up over the Valhalla 2. I actually found it to be largely worse. As far as 'anybody here' goes, I traded PMs with more than one AF owner who told me they preferred the ZDS and it was worth trying out.

My personal experience has shown EC to have poor customer service, lackluster build quality, and over-hyped sound. I've learned my lesson.

 

@pavi

I'm really sorry if my reply to you was condescending to or shitting on you sharing impressions on an amp you liked or were excited about. I was actually curious about any circuit changes but I let unnecessary bitterness get into my post and I could have worded my question better.

I apologize.

@purr1n I tried to make it clear at the time that I was grateful for your assistance and nothing's changed. Work and life keep me too busy these days for drama that I've been making an active effort to avoid. Please disregard any comments I've made about the performance of the AF.

 

It's good that we don't all like the same things otherwise this would get old really fast.

As grown ups we should be aware by now that a) we don't have always the same taste b) this is a, more or less, subjective hobby, c) it's important to test properly before investing, if it's difficult to get refunds, send back, etc, etc...

At this point you are not showing the "mature you". Would be more polite to just say that you had a difficult time with the customer service and that the sound was not to your liking, it's simple...it's like me and Chord. You are just crapping out of your mouth at this point and regarding the build quality what is your exact problem with it? The finish is not the best? Sharped edges? Everything is being said with a very negative attitude, lot of bitterness and in a tantrum-like manner, so for me, who is not a owner of a EC amp, but as a fellow member i wish i could be more understanding of your situation but you ain't making it easy.

Edit - just saw your latest reply, i guess i was very slowing writing this. That's much better and i hope you can find something that you love and that gives that sound love back. Best of luck.

 

that was me.

i was considering the studio and craig guided me toward the 300b af. i simply went with whatever he recommended. i got the tertiary winding feedback mod and didn’t even know it.

love the amp.

 

that’s gracious of you. i didn’t take any offence - just wasn’t sure i could get to the internals in short measure - life is rather full atm.