EC Aficionado (was: The Studio Jr.)

Small volumes and very high purities delivered prices.

At a commodity trading level they're several orders of magnitude apart ofc copper is what, 3.5 to the pound, silver like 18 per troy ounce?

 

While we are talking about customizing Aficionado, what driver tubes are you guys gravitating towards? Please mention your associated gear if the pairing has great synergy.

I'm using a Bendix 2C51 and it's so crystal clear and spacious compared to the WE396a.


I would love to try some other driver tubes.

 

Keeping on topic of AF modifications. I have decided to split the difference.

I want the tertiary winding mod, for reasons I have listed previously. However, gonna get a pair of the .22uf Jupiter caps to throw in. I am hoping that will keep some of the original spirit of the AF alive in the amplifier.

As for driver tubes, I have been having a heck of a time finding a good condition bendix 2c51 tube. It is definitely on my list of tubes that I have to try.

 

The Kasie Audio Notes are supposed to have been evolved from makers of the black gates.
A top "audio quality" electrolytic so can't argue with that suggestion.

I love the Glenn amp looks.
Its that your reason?
Only thing I see is that it has nice analog meters and more common driver tube type.

I wish you were able to compare.

"bypass caps" is most commonly used to help the cathode cap, because the electrolytics in this position, are still electrolytics after all, not "audio quality" caps.
Therefore they can benifit here,
Yet they will alter the tubes FR,
So unless the amp IS ALREADY designed with this into account, your results will vary.

There is a page in the Lampazator website,
Which has these top caps already compared into a visual diagram,
Where they had different performance aspects, but none actually beat the other.

The Jupiter's excelled in all aspects tested.
I believe they were the most well rounded,
while the Deulunds excelled in the lower FR region,
and the Vcaps excelled in the upper FR and soundstage region.

I think Jupiter's are a no-brainer, and still dont trust silver caps to sound natural.

All else to try is "extra" and would still be interesting to hear if people try.

 

This is probably the only cap I would trust using silver.

 

The Audio Note Kaisei I recommend with Jupiter caps only. With other caps that are thicker and warmer, the stock nichicons are good. The audio notes will make the amp sound softer and with less definition if used with duelunds or stock caps.

 

@Druid how’s everything coming with your soldiering skills. Btw I didn’t see anyone give this suggestion, so one great productive way to hone your skills is to make your own cables.

I would say soldiering wires (especially the braided ones) onto those small connector pins without a bad cold junction is a hell of a lot harder than swapping caps on an amp like EC with lots of space.

 

agree...

Good to know.

Your are "on point" about the matching,
Matching is the key.

This is how we can see that the stock version is well chosen and this has not been pointed out enough.

Russian caps are generally known for their great sound, and you have noted the Deulunds will also need the same nichicons,
So I am to assume they both are similar in tonality.

The stock Nichon electrolytics are known to have a "brighter" top end, to match well.

This hints how well stock setup was chosen.

But I also believe the kasie "audio notes" electrolytics are better than the nichicons, although they are not as bright in tonality.

To offset this, I always bypass my electrolytics with a paralleled bypass cap (on other amps)..

But I will do agree very much with your cap matching regardless.

Also, the Jupiter caps I have always regarded as very "natural in tonality" & transparent.
They gave me a more neutral & natural trebles.

In comparison, my sweet&juicy mundorf (silver/gold/oil), were not as real to me (in trebles).

I find most polymer caps
to have a ''plastic" tonality in trebles,
and why I think the old stock russian coupling caps are a smart choice,
as your getting better tonality, and no plasticy trebles than with modern caps.

People don't realize this, and settle for modern craptastic caps.

The Afficionado amp I heard at mini-meet had a great treble and air already(!)

Personally, if you already like the Afficionado sound, I would not take the chance at changing the coupling cap.
That would be changing to much.

Instead I would leave that classic stock coupling cap alone,
and just upgrade the cathode cap (to larger size) for a more solid low end.

You want more clarity, without changing the Afficionado sound, just
place a good .01uf bypass on the cathode (nichicon) cap.
Bypassing electrolytics is a known practice to help them where they need it (upper spectrum).

I kinda hate to talk about "upgrades" because I do believe most don't realize how good stock sound is.

 

Learning to solder is taking a backseat to Life right now. Looking to buy my first house/condo and in charge of a project at work with a million dollar budget. You're right, though, making a cable might be great practice and not terribly expensive if I screw it up.

Like @purr1n has mentioned, AF sounds awesome to me stock, so I don't need to be in any hurry.

 

Lots of capacitor talk here, would just chime in with my 2 cents.

Bypassing a coupling capacitor is a contentious issue. In theory, almost any capacitor, even a lowly electrolytic capacitors holds its properties well upto hundreds of kHz and so a bypass maybe recommended only when the requirement involves RF waves as in digital components. For analog/ audio frequency use, one would recommend the best possible single capacitor instead of a bypassed one.

As for personal experience, I have never found a bypass capacitor that won't muck up the sound of a coupling capacitor. Even the best ones seem to at most do no harm rather than improve anything sonically. I usually end up removing them and reverting to a single good capacitor.

 

@Maxx134 my decision had nothing to do with looks, the Glenn has the sound sig I was looking for. Sounds more like a 300b. Less open, more grunt, bit less detail. For me it’s not about having the best.

 

Agree 100%...
Very important point.


I would Never bypass a "coupling cap"..

Only an electrolytic "cathode cap", if needed.

Even then, I agree it would've been "optimal" to just have one cathode cap.

 

f**k me sideways...these Jupiter caps are the REAL DEAL.

Besides the immediate increase in clarity, the sound stage just blew up in front of me. It reminds me of the one amp that first showed me that headphones could have amazing sound stages, pulling the sound out of your head. It was a EC BA that might have been modified. I've been chasing that sound stage since.

I'll let these caps burn in for a while and see how my impressions change.

EDIT: Tonally, these sound like I hit the HIfi button on the amp. A little bright for my tastes and lacking in bass extension. However, I'm going to chalk this up to burn in, as many have said these need 100 or so hours to properly settle.

 

I am going to post this here shamelessly as it's a good deal; any AF owners interested in a pair of EH 2A3s and a minty fresh WE396A for $95 shipped total can PM me.

claimed

 

So as part of my continuing crusade to prove how bad I am with money I have a Yggdrasil A2 sitting next to me warming up. I'll give it a week to warm up before I connect the Af.

I'm hearing the Af (with Duelands) as very clear and refined with good space. I'm wondering if going from OG Gungnir Multibit to Yggdrasil A2 might bring some more bass. Also, I wonder if a pair of JJ2A3s (currently on RCA or EH) might add a little low end grunt. I'm hesitating to drop $250 on JJ2A3s 'in hopes of' a particular effect. Maybe I could hear a pair sometime if we do end up doing a larger SoCal meet.

 

Ah, crap, I should have bought JJ's instead of another RCA set. Next time....

So with the 0.22uF Jupiter caps, I've had to start over fresh with Aficionado. I'll show how my setup was configured pre and post Jupiter cap install. Descriptions show how each component influenced the sound with AF, they are not to be taken on their own or as an absolute.

Setup and sound impressions with stock caps (preferred components designated with an *):

BJCables 1800F interconnects - warm analog sound, forward sound stage, bloom to mids and bass, rolled highs
*Pangea interconnects - reduced mid bass bloom, extended the highs and created a larger sound stage
Psvane 2A3T - baby butt smooth, excellent bass, bloom in the low mids, and a general haze to the sound, very relaxed
RCA 2A3 grey plate - mostly neutral but forward sounding, excellent bass without as much bloom, rolled highs
*Fivre 2A3 copper rod - neutral, excellent sound stage placement, better highs than RCA but still natural sounding
Sophia Princess 2A3 - v shaped, bloom in bass and extended/emphasized treble, sound stage expanded but slightly diffuse
WE396A - best bass, forward mids, slight haze, forward sound stage
*Bendix 2C51 - slightly less bass, no bloom, clean and clear, sound stage expansion

With these selected components I found the Aficionado to provide deep and clean bass, smooth mids and a treble that was slightly subdued but extended. Very neutral and pleasing. Sound stage was way more 3D than any other amp I've heard and is sufficiently large and deep for sounds to be easily placed.

Jupiter caps clean up the bass bloom, slight haze in the mids, refine and extend the treble naturally. Where they beat my previous configuration is in sound stage, placement, imaging, and micro detail.

My current configuration with Jupiter caps:

BJCables 1800F - these sound like 90% of the analog cables I've tried.
RCA 2A3/Fivre 2A3 - dependent on mood but they now both sound excellent
WE396A - just enough warmth for my tastes and bass response is fantastic

IMO, the Jupiter caps are an easily recommended upgrade, and if you're buying an Aficionado, consider having them installed over the stock caps.

 

so after the cap change you prefer the we396a ? thats good finding the bendix is a pain

have you tried the pyst balanced cables are these better? was looking for longer balanced cables wasn't sure what to get XD

 

Yeah, the cap change allows you to use less exotic tubes.

I haven't tried Pyst but I'm 99% sure they will sound like Blue Jeans cables. Pangea are the dark horse sounding like silver cables IME.

 

People with Yggdrasil here, are you using balanced or SE to the AF?

I am trying to figure out cables. I want to buy exactly one pair. Running Yggdrasil->AF single ended with the RCA I have at the moment (Duelund DCA20) it sounds a bit fucked: narrow soundstage, haze, blunted microdynamics. This seems to go away via balanced (Mogami 3080). Although the Duelund is not the best cable (slow and a bit smoothed over), I am inclined to think that the cause is the Yggdrasil summing stage, since the differences seem larger than cables alone could bring about. Anyone else have any comparos?