EC Aficionado (was: The Studio Jr.)

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

  1. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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  2. Xecuter

    Xecuter Brush and floss your amp twice a day

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    Curious to hear how this differs from the revised AF sound wise..
    Also not sure how the Jr. is getting two watts into 32 ohms if it has more feedback than AF?
    Studio only gets 800mW into 32ohms..
     
  3. Mdkaler

    Mdkaler Friend

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    This is awesome!

    Edit: Damn it. Didn't want to color people's expectation with my shit impression, but I guess I kind of have to now.

    Not sure if it was more feedback or the 300B, but to me the Jr can push the HD800 better in spatial cues and low volume gradation than the Af. In a sense that the Jr doesn't muffle the HD800 treble, nor make it tolerable, but make everything falls into the right place in the headstage.
    Assuming the HD800 is either stock (looks like stock) or only slightly modded, I like the Jr with stock HD800 more than the Af with highly modded HD800. It could be that the Jr is more neutral, a tad more sweetness, and perhaps a but slower. Or perhaps I am just deaf.

    I only listened to it for like 2 minutes, to some Michael Jackson on a custom burned CD. No major flaws stood out, and so I just enjoyed the music and did not pay attention to other aspects.
     

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    Last edited: Oct 2, 2018
  4. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    And like that, a hype train was born. Let's just say it would be good to know why/how you liked it more than Af for hd800.

    All dickishness aside, it would be nice to learn more about it's similarity and dissimilarity with Af in design and sound since the spec sheets make this difficult to accomplish.

    edit: thanks @Mdkaler dog!
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2018
  5. Jozurr

    Jozurr Facebook Friend

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    Can someone also say if it's different in price compared to the AF?
     
  6. allegro

    allegro Friend

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  7. smallpond

    smallpond New

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    Wondering if anyone has specific information about the new transformers for the Junior? I notice these will have "rare earth" cores so I am assuming they will not be made by Cinemag.
     
  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    No, they are not Cinemag.

    It's not the 300B. It's the new transformers. Jr tranformers are less dry and richer in the highs. Part of it is also the feedback which cleans things up. You probably preferred the stock HD800 with the Jr because despite feedback, the Jr still a 300B and carries forth a modicum of 300B characteristics (midrange body, mellow highs), but without the excess softness, bloominess, and softness of no feedback designs.

    As an aside, the Jr can also be ordered without feedback. The no feedback version has a full bodied sound with a very strong hefty lowbass without midbass bloat. Not accurate, but a guilty pleasure. I can't decide which one I like better.

    Craig's eventually going down to selling one amp only to simplify his life.

    Typo.
     
  9. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    Though if I'm reading the site correctly, there are currently a few units actually available immediately from stock ... which is seriously tempting.
     
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Expected to be the same, however tariffs causing shit to sit four weeks in LAX customs while officials sort out how much to tax Craig may change things. The new transformers are custom manufactured in China. Several different types of transformers were reverse engineered, and a new design was synthesized from those. The experiment worked.
     
  11. Thenewerguy009

    Thenewerguy009 Friend

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    How difficult would be to make the amplifier with both options?
    I know a few amps have a switch, where you can change the tube types.

    Would it involve just more transformers in the amp?
     
  12. famish99

    famish99 Friend

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    Would the Studio Jr. transformers work in an Af?
     
  13. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Yes, but mounting points are different.
     
  14. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Might be possible with a switch, but pain in the ass to route all that stuff. The circuitry around the driver tube is slightly different in NFB configuration than with FB.
     
  15. smallpond

    smallpond New

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    If used as a pre, is there plenty of room inside the Junior to diy an additional pair of single ended RCA ouputs for use with subs? Or is a custom install of these something Craig would consider?
     
  16. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Just use an RCA splitter.
     
  17. gridmaster

    gridmaster Facebook Friend

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    Anybody rolling tubes a lot yet?
    For input tubes I've bought:
    Bendix 6385, WE 396a JW square getter, Sylvania 2c51 gold pin, Tung-Sol 5670 square getter, LM Ericsson 2c51 (non gold pin version), Russian 3H3N-EB, GE five star 5670 triple mica square getter, Raytheon CK5670WA windmill getter.

    Some input tubes I have not tried yet, but are supposedly really good:
    Tesla 6cc42 pinched waist, Teonex 2c51, National 2c51, LM Ericsson 2c51 gold pin, United Electonic 5670, Bendix 2c51

    A few notes on halo vs square getters. For both the WE and Tung-sol, the square getter versions are quite a bit better.
    Halo getter tubes are later production, and generally sound worse.

    I'd have to say the Tung-Sol 5670 square getter is my favorite. All the input tubes have their own unique characteristics, but the tung-sol really for me is amazing. Cohesive, best vocals out of any of the input tubes I've tried, no apparent flaws. Leans just slightly brighter than the common WE 369a.

    I could go into detail about all the input tubes I've tried if anybodies interested.

    Also, as far as rectifiers, I absolutely implore anybody to at the very minimum ditch the Chinese 5ar4 the amp ships with. It's a huge nerf, extremely resolution caps the amp, soft, warm, and muddy. Blackburn fat base gz34, or metal base gz34 are great picks. Personally, I'm in love with the RCA CRC 5r4 dual bottom getter. Crystalline treble, amazing resolution, great bass, makes vocals sound amazing. The only advantage I'd give to the metal base gz34 is bigger soundstage.
     
  18. Jozurr

    Jozurr Facebook Friend

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    Don't get into tube rolling nervosa. Get a good set of tubes and stick to them.
     
  19. famish99

    famish99 Friend

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    Yah I been there back on my MJ2, it's fun but too much $$$. I have tried swapping a couple tubes (rectifier and output) in and out of the Af (which the seller included), and it is noticeable but ultimately not greatly changing the character of the amp.
     
  20. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I thought Craig was providing new production TS 5AR4? Oh well.

    The major difference in sound with the rectifier swaps is likely to do with voltage drop (more drop = warmer, muddier, softer sound at worst, or romantic, luxuriousness, gloriousness at best). It sounds like the Chinese 5AR4 might be slightly uneven on the two sides. I know this was the case with one of the new production Sovteks we tried. It's just the nature of cheap (or even expensive) new production tubes and hard to make any strong assertion on brands without a lot of samples, and not just that, samples over time, which nobody in the world has time to test.

    I'd trust the old vintage stuff more because tubes those days were built for critical applications like military radar or IR trackers - this assuming the old vintage stuff hasn't been run into shit - which from eBay you never know despite "tests".

    The 5R4 I believe has more voltage drop than the 5AR4 / GZ34. Also, give the 5AR4 a TON of time to warm up. Spec is like 15 or 30 seconds, which with sharp audiophile ears means give that rectifier 30 minutes.
     

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