Oh Sh#7! Eddie Current Studio B

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

  1. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    Eddie Current amps will soon be unobtanuim. This is a no brainer
     
  2. totlsota

    totlsota New

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    Thank you guys. That is entirely sensible guidance.

    Re; 300Bs, the $sky is quite literally the limit. Some of these 300B have been mentioned on this thread. How crazy must one go? I am not going to want to "roll" these but get enough to honour the amp's ability. I suspect the inexpensive JJs, EHs and lower Psvanes are no-gos? Any opinions on the rest here? I'm conscious this is not a 300B rollers thread, but trying to sort out the appropriate companion tubes to make the amp make sense.

    (listed with quickly gathered ~pair prices, sorry if I'm the only one in £)
    • Elrog £1150
    • Shuguang Treasures
    • Genalex Gold Lion PX300B - £260
    • 300B JJ - £228
    • Electro Harmonix 300B - £165
    • Electro Harmonix 300B Gold - £200
    • Audio Note 4300E / 300B - £800 (PSVane made)
    • Psvane 300B MK2 T-series, Classic Grade - £370
    • Psvane Hi-Fi Series 300B/N Mesh Plate - £218
    • Psvane Hi-Fi Series 300B Solid Plate - £140
    • Psvane 300B Western Electric replica - £810
    • Psvane ACME 300B - £777
    • EML 300B £440
    • EML 300B Mesh £600
     
  3. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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  4. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    Also, the new Linlai stuff, and the might-never-ship new stock WE 300Bs from Georgia, USofA.
     
  5. bobmysterious

    bobmysterious Facebook Friend

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    Would the EML 300b Mesh Plates pose a problem for this amp? In my reading there is a statement about requiring a lower auto bias to run them and the amp needing to be lower power. I think they’d work hypothetically, but wanted to check anyways. That’s if this is a direction I choose to go. Hypothetically.

    Auto bias. To use the EML 300B-Mesh, you need to know how to check the setting, and how to reduce it to 22...28 Watt.”

    and

    “Please understand we build only the tubes, but the EML 300B-Mesh, which we talk about here, is designed to use in 300B amplifiers of low and medium-low output power only. So it can not be used in any 300B amplifiers with very high output power. (For this, consider plain EML 300B or EML 300B-XLS)”

    Thoughts?
     
  6. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    FYI, EC just closed its production facility off Parkway Calabasas. Craig will be working out of his garage. I grabbed on a spot on the next Studio B run, but delivery dates are uncertain. Another run of metal needs to be made - which is a pain for the BA type chassis. I think he's slowing down.

    Both. :D Slightly different sound. With Verite, I'd tend toward EC.

    Get JJ or EH Gold. I'd maybe try out EML (non mesh) for something different, more toward a solid-state direction. You don't need uber tubes with the Studio B. Unlike some other expensive 300B amps, the amp doesn't need uber tubes to sound great. Same thing with DNA amps.

    Same thing with "upgrades". The amp doesn't need speshal "upgades" to sound great. People do upgrades because they are looking for something in particular. It's like folks who rip out the stock suspensions from their GT86s or C8 Vettes and replace them with coil covers and custom shock mount top plates with caster and camber adjustments. These are folks with a lot of experience who know exactly what they want.

    People who modified / experimented with their EC amps with random "betterer" parts made them sound worse 95% of the time.
     
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2021
  7. bobmysterious

    bobmysterious Facebook Friend

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    Sounds good, I’ll go that direction with the tubes. Thanks for all the advice! I hope I don’t come off as doubting the abilities of the amp or Craig. I’m just enthusiastic and want to get everything “right.” Ultimately, I just want to put those questions and thoughts to bed so I can sit back and enjoy the music. Thanks y’all!
     
  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Forgot to reply. Shouldn't be a problem. With plate ~300V, not even close to pushing the 300B as hard as it can go. EML is warning on edge cases: folks who run higher voltages and higher bias to max out power.
     
  9. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    I always wished I could "afford" a Balancing Act. The 2a3 stuff was probably even more up my alley, but there wasn't many people who had heard all the different variants - except maybe a'hem *a few people here*.

    Can I get a normal person scaled down version?? :) I miss when the hobby looked more DIY.
     
  10. totlsota

    totlsota New

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    This thread and discussion has helped me. Thank you. I am in the queue and will (impatiently) enjoy the wait.

    Re: "Both", all of the related forum commentary makes a strong case to go Stellaris, so I'll set aside a glass jar to fill with Stellaris cash whilst listening to the EC...
     
  11. jmcmasterj

    jmcmasterj Friend

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    I am tempted to buy one even though I have an EC Studio. I love the looks as well. The balancing act is one of my favorite amps.
     
  12. jmcmasterj

    jmcmasterj Friend

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    I haven't heard the Psvane ACME 300b, but the ACME 2A3 is my favorite in the Studio. They are better than the EMLs
     
  13. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    That's funny because my last conversations with Craig were something along the lines of how the globe glass tubes sound better than the bottle glass. (Similarly with the ancient 45 globes or the new production EML 45 globes). Something about the electron cloud or plate supports. Who knows?
     
  14. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    HD25-Front-Light.jpg
    S7frontnew-1024x768.jpg

    HD25 and Super 7. I think $600-700 and $1400-$1600 respectively. They were awesome for what they were. The HD25 (6SN7 and 6AS7/6080) destroys any Feliks OTL of today. The S7 was a brilliant idea for a transformer coupled headamp. How long have amps like the Super 7 served members like @Hands?

    The problem? They didn't sell. No one knew anything about them. Folks on HF wanted the latest and greatest bling and crap shilled by the likes Macedonian Hero or dudes who set up x-mas tree light tube adapter rolling amps.
     
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2021
  15. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    The S7 was always on the list, but dang the costs of tubes for that thing. My Single Power had 4 6BL7GT/GTA and 2C51's up front. It wasn't cheap to roll either, but better than a BA or S7 or almost any EC amp LOL. The ZD-T probably got along with tubes the easiest? The HD25 was always overshadowed by the flagships he had. Dang... time travel. Doug and Donald and a few others doing it the old school way.

    The Decware stuff still is awesome and doesn't get much love. @Funch always had a really nice setup with Decware equipment.
     
  16. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Which reminds me. We should get a Decware in as a loaner.
     
  17. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    to preserve the history of Colorado pyrate society: many in these parts blame @MisterRogers for bringing his Uber 7 to a HF meet, where we all initially met at a Stapleton Library ages ago, listening to S7 with an HD800 and having our minds blown.
    He even sold me that Super7 for a year or more, then sold it back to him.
    it's not allowed to be sold out of state.

    @Hands ended up with a different S7 years back IIRC. no idea if he frankenstein hacked it to death, or if parts are salvageable these days.
     
  18. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    Just dropping in [so apologies for the noise]; Craig's got a new order. Felt it was due time considering I'd tasted his delectable wares thru used channels and wanted to give him the profit he deserves for a new production piece. Ruslan can't have all the fun, right?
     
  19. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    For real, I'll never forget that moment. First time I'd ever heard an EC amp, and it was a modded unit that had gone through other members' hands. It was a "known" amp in the CS circle.

    "Ah, I had an HD800, didn't really care for it. Too lean and bright," I said, sitting down to test out the amp. An HD800 was plugged in.
    "You haven't heard the HD800 like this," is what @MisterRogers said.

    Yeah, that was definitely like getting my back door kicked in. Nothing was the same after that. Anyway...

    Yeah, I got a MkII S7 several years ago. Served me well for a long time, minus some peculiar issues that probably stemmed from mods. Your shit breaking kinda comes with the territory of doing mods, so, it is what it is. And for as big and heavy as the amp is, some might not realize how much shit is packed into its chassis, so that's another factor to consider (heat being one). It's actually a lot smaller than it has any right to be.

    Alas, I did a pretty big overhaul of the amp in the last several months, enough so that I think it bests the Uber 7, and sold it off to someone in a different state entirely out of defiance and spite for @jexby.

    Nah, really, the way I see it, I can't sit around and bitch about how there are no good amps to fill that $700-1700 void, that not enough people have heard EC, and then keep such an amp to myself or within the same, small social circle when I have a second EC amp serving as its replacement/upgrade. Gotta spread the love to others, you know?
     
  20. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I think your S7 ran hot because of a boutique regulator for the heaters. The original regulator got flakey because the prior owner ran tubes he was not supposed to. The S7 is packed rather tightly internally, especially after mods with big HVAC oil can caps.
     

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