Oh Sh#7! Eddie Current Studio B

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by purr1n, Aug 15, 2020.

  1. Josh Schor

    Josh Schor Friend

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    Has anyone heard a solid state headphone amp with speaker outs that has 4-10 speaker watts and is equale to the Studi
    I think I remember reading that the Mactntosh was not great with the Utopia, is that correct. Have you been able to have both amps in house to compare?
    best,
    Josh
     
  2. dubharmonic

    dubharmonic Friend

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    Haven’t had a Studio B here, but I don’t recommend the MHA150 with Utopia. The only SS amp I’ve liked with Utopia is the DSHA-3F.
     
  3. Souldriver

    Souldriver Almost "Made"

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    Im not 100% on its specs, but perhaps a questyle cma800r
     
  4. internethandle

    internethandle Almost "Made"

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    Studio B should be in my possession today or tomorrow if all goes right.

    I grabbed an estate sale Bendix 2C51 on eBay for a good price (50 bucks vs. 150+ I’d seen elsewhere) per some discussion recommending it in the SJR thread, be interesting to compare given the low sonic impact of the driver tube.

    All that will be left for me to do will be to grab a Radial Twin ISO and A/B LIM SE outs vs BAL out through the Radial. That can wait, though. Beginning to think this amp will be good and bad for my tendency toward nervosa. I’m rooting for me to be satisfied with the SE outs in that sense!
     
  5. Josh Schor

    Josh Schor Friend

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    If I remember from Marv's posting that the SE and Balanced were both good and equal in sound quality. Im sure his review of the LIM contains some discussion of this
    best,
    Josh
     
  6. internethandle

    internethandle Almost "Made"

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    It does. They’re certainly supposed to be closer than A2/OG. Bob’s measurements gave me a bit of pause, but in all reality they shouldn’t, as he pointed out when he posted a sensitivity chart vs. the SE out performance for SBAF-popular headphones.

    Anyway, again, it’s nervosa. I’m expecting a different sound (so: the sound of the transformers) rather than a better sound, if any difference. I’ll post a “review” in the LIM impressions thread or Marv’s BAL to SE thread, even if the answer ends up being that I don’t think the Radial is worth it for LIM. Might help others in a similar situation.
     
  7. Souldriver

    Souldriver Almost "Made"

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    My delivery was bumped up twice. It arrived early today.

    @internethandle any luck with yours arriving?
     
  8. internethandle

    internethandle Almost "Made"

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    Yes and no. TL;DR I only received the amp itself and am still waiting on the power supply and the tubes:

    The Music Room required a direct signature from FedEx (which I’m glad for really), but since I was not going to be available at home I requested a hold at a local FedEx Office - or so I thought. The amp is in three boxes, with three tracking numbers, and also a “master” tracking number which, while tied to all three boxes, I wrongly assumed was a different number from the boxes themselves. Instead, the box containing the actual Studio B itself was assigned as the “master” tracking number, so when I requested a hold, FedEx only held that one package at the FedEx Office location and attempted to deliver the other two boxes to my home while I was at work.

    Anyway, it’s been a pain going back and forth with FedEx customer service, and yesterday they had a delivery exception for “Incorrect address - street number” (after attempting delivery at the same address with a door tag left the previous day!), but it does seem like they finally got the message to hold them at the FedEx Office location, as the driver today put “Future delivery requested” (the location is closed on Sundays, which you’d think the customer service rep could have alerted me to, ugh). Here’s hoping tomorrow! Otherwise I’ll just have The Music Room deal with them.

    Anyway, the amp is a beaut. I love how imposing and heavy it is. Excited to try it out.

    Enjoy!
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2022
  9. internethandle

    internethandle Almost "Made"

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    @Souldriver what’s your unit’s serial, out of curiosity? Would give us possible handle on how many Studio B’s exist, given Craig seems done for real (possibly) this time, or at least soon.
     
  10. Garns

    Garns Friend

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    Hi guys!

    I don't have a Studio B but I do have an Aficionado and think I can help. My amp is number 28 (pics or it didn't happen amirite!!?)

    PXL_20221127_202720219~2.jpg

    I first posted my impressions on page 37 of 62 of the Aficionado thread so we can safely assume there are 28 * 62 / 37 = 46.9 Aficionados out there. By contrast the Studio B thread is only 19 pages long so I think we can conclude that there are 46.9 * 19 / 62 = 14.37 Studio B's in the wild. Congratulations, you done bagged a rarity! @internethandle, there is a small chance that you purchased the 0.37 of an amp, that's why there is no power unit - they do say the power supply is like 60% of the sound!

    EDIT: thought I'd share some delivery impressions as well. I asked Eddie Current to ship via USPS as that interfaces best with the Australian post. About two weeks later I got an SMS notification that it had arrived at my local post office. It's about five minutes walk away and though the boxes aren't heavy they are a bit unwieldy, so I was pleased I wasn't walking like 20 minutes!!
     
  11. internethandle

    internethandle Almost "Made"

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    No power supply = truly epic moar better -quintilliongoogol dB THD+N.
     
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  12. joch

    joch Friend

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    Maybe I’m just out of shape. Those are heavy boxes. 22 lbs for the main unit, 12 for the power. I’m surprised you can carry them for five minutes!
     
  13. internethandle

    internethandle Almost "Made"

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    The eagle landed today, spent the afternoon getting things situated. The PSU already blew a moar better audiophool fuse I had around (correct rating), so uh, don't do that, lol.

    Anyway, coming from the BHA-1 into HD800's, my first blush impressions are good. My main impression is that Marv was spot on in saying that the BHA-1 lacks ultimate resolution/plankton vs. TOTL tube amps. Already noticing a fair amount of things I never noticed in familiar recordings/test tracks. The tone/expansiveness/layering is also extremely pleasant.

    My guess is that I'll be playing with 300B's until I find something that is a little drier/tilted up in the highs than these Shuguang 300B-98's, since that's my thing, but I still love the tubey-ness so far. It does not feel rolled off or fat with LIM SE outs, particularly. It definitely has less etch than the BHA-1's highs, but not egregiously so to my tastes. So far it's less gain-y than BHA-1, but that's easy to do (the BHA-1 can be "furious" sounding at its worse as others have rightly put it), and it's still driving the 800's pretty loudly at about the 9 to 10 o'clock level on the pot.

    @Souldriver how are you getting on?
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2022
  14. CEE TEE

    CEE TEE MOT: NITSCH

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    ^Right- Shuguang 300B-98 (I have now too) are softer/warmer, a little bloomier and rolled on top compared to something like a solid plate EML 300B (which you might like, I used to own them before I sold my first BA).
    Even a bit brighter/more U-shaped = mesh plate EML 300B.
    Please note though, that these EML comparisons were from 7 or 8 years ago...:oops:
     
  15. Souldriver

    Souldriver Almost "Made"

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    I think the book on the EMLs still exists. They are more "linear" "solid state" "no nonsense" etc etc.

    Its a popular pairing for the SB. And one i may go for if the WE loaner doesnt fit my tastes.
     
  16. internethandle

    internethandle Almost "Made"

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    Having a bit of hard time finding EML's. Where are you guys seeing them?

    I caved and bought some Gold Lion PX300B's from Upscale Audio, since they seem so well-loved for a "budget" 300B tube. They'll cryo them too, which is whatever. Will sell the Shuguang's for a small profit, prob.

    I'll A/B the Bendix 2C51 I got today and the stock driver tube later. Not expecting much, though. So far have just used the Bendix.
     
  17. TheloniuSnoop

    TheloniuSnoop Friend

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  18. internethandle

    internethandle Almost "Made"

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    Thanks, couldn't find the "base" EML 300B anywhere else, only mesh or the "XLS" variants (at which prices I'd probably just stretch to a pair of the new-prod WE 300B's). Reasonable-ish pricing there, for 300B's at least.
     
  19. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    Where are all these Studio B's being found? :mad:
     
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  20. Souldriver

    Souldriver Almost "Made"

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    I had to buy mine new. One was at the music room, the other i forgot.
     

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