EC Aficionado (was: The Studio Jr.)

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

  1. gridmaster

    gridmaster Facebook Friend

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    That could cause the hum. Yggdrasil has 3 transformers in it that could be coupling with your Af opt's.
    Might not be it, but it's worth a try to isolate the Af and test.
     
  2. Lasollor

    Lasollor Friend

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    ^I second that. Most of the amps I had in the past stated humming when placed directly on top of my Yggdrasil A1.

    Worst being the Woo Audio WA-6SE which had hum anywhere near the Yggdrasil. (even when it was placed on a shelf above the Yggdrasil but within 50cm)
     
  3. penguins

    penguins Friend, formerly known as fp627

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    Will have to try moving Af.

    Will be a huge hassle for me to move stuff though - Would a sheet of metal between the two help? I have a spare sheet of ~1.5 - 2mm cooper. I think I have steel and aluminum too. Or just wrapping the transformers on Af like some did with the ZDT Jr?
     
  4. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    I asked a while back about something similar and was told I'd need quite a bit of metal, but worth a try.

    FWIW, about 10cm - or ~0.621*10^-4 miles for barbarians :p - is the minimum distance for me with the T4 and Af, especially the left side of the Yggdrasil where the power section is, and the Af really prefers double that.

    If I put amps side by side to the right of the Y, I can nearly have them touch.
     
  5. earnmyturns

    earnmyturns Smartest friend

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    Yes, that is important. My Af PS is way below the Af itself, and it will get even further away when my new audio rack arrives on Thursday. And as far away as possible from Yggdrasil and all the (balanced) wiring and GoldPoint switcher (between Af and DSHA-3F). Zero hum with ZMF Verité (open or closed) or Dan Clark Ether closed Flow headphones. Rectifier RCA 5V4GA, driver Ericsson 396A, output Psvane ACME 2A3.
     
  6. earnmyturns

    earnmyturns Smartest friend

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    My current layout, zero hum from either amp. Af PS is in the behind the door below the amp, door is open when Af is going.

    [​IMG]
     
  7. Boops

    Boops Friend

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  8. scottcw

    scottcw New

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    I'm thinking of upgrading my current amplification of a Coffman G1-A, mainly to get more clean power that I may not need.

    I use 2 pair of Audez'e LCD-2.1 and 1 pair 2.2, all pre-Fazor. The Coffman is rated at .5 watts into 32 ohms, .25 watts into 300 ohms.

    My levels are between 74-77 db average, which is ~9:00 on the volume. I can't shake the idea that I don't have enough clean power for the Audez'e even with the volume set so low.

    All that said, I'm considering an Aficionado as an upgrade. Is it sill considered TOTL/end game for headphone amps and would I expect more clean power for my LCD-2s?

    Thanks for any insights.
     
  9. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The AF will get you 2W into 32 ohms. I wouldn't say it's all about power. The AF will be much better sounding amp than the G1A and pairs well with bassier, darker, or neutral headphones like the Audezes. The problem is that the guy behind EC is semi-retired and the AF is no longer being made.
     
  10. scottcw

    scottcw New

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    So the only downside is no customer support. I might be able to live with that.
     
  11. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The design is simple. There are plenty of people here who can offer support. Also a call to Craig maybe, if he's not cranky. He generally dislikes supporting people who are not his customers. Customers meaning people who purchased new from him. Think of him as being similar to Focal USA where the warranty is not transferable.
     
  12. will_f

    will_f Friend

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    I noticed with my WA6-SE I need about 3” between the power supply and the amp or I get a slight hum that is volume independent.
     
  13. sphinxvc

    sphinxvc Gear Master (retired)

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    @Gaspasser and I been talking about this post of yours, Marv, and trying to figure out if standard DMMs are up to task.

    Here's what my Fluke 87-V's manual says:

    [​IMG]

    I'm guessing this is not good enough. The ones I find that can go up super high, like 20mhz, are all bench meters.

    Fluke's frequency measurement spec goes up to 199khz, but I'm guessing that's not helpful for vrms.

    [​IMG]

    Tagging others who might know too, @dBel84, @zerodeefex, @atomicbob, @schiit
     
  14. kevnin

    kevnin #facetweeting - Friend

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    Most regular cheapish multimeters will not have sufficient AC BW. Craig recommended the Tenma 72-9380A to me at one point for measuring the heater voltage on my 445, it goes up to 250kHz:

    http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/2366305.pdf
     
  15. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    True RMS and AC bandwidth are the specifications to seek, as pointed out by @sphinxvc.
    This will provide some data points. Note the Neoteck does not claim True RMS capability.
    SDG2042X was set for 2Vrms at 1KHz as measured on the Keysight 34461A,
    then swept through the 1, 2, 5 sequence to 50 KHz.
    20200513 DMM true RMS HF performance.png

    20200514 edit - added -3 dB AC bandwidth specifications
     
    Last edited: May 14, 2020
  16. gaspasser

    gaspasser Flatulence Maestro

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    I was texting with my main man @sheldaze who has a BA and I’ve been looking for some 300B goodness. He reminded me that the Af can be modified to run 300Bs. I found Marv’s posts and started thinking about it. After consulting with Sensei @sphinxvc as well as @atomicbob excellent post about the Keysight U1231A, I bought it and I finally got to trimming tonight. I am glad I did.
    Thanks to everyone who helped me out!

    31D243F6-A85D-46A3-966B-6CD715D51855.jpeg 7FA04FF7-158E-4DD7-A976-7CD8B5D22297.jpeg 5DD40654-852E-4033-B329-600290F0835D.jpeg
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2020
  17. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    One thing to be aware of is that the heater amp is close to its max voltage output, so if your AC voltage drops, you may run into some clipping, which ends up as noise / buzzing. Generally not an issue for most environments. We were trying to troubleshoot for the longest time and found out that at the lab, the AC line would drop whenever the electric car dude plugged in the charger into this car.

    If you run into this, back off on the adjustment screw and adjust voltage via bending the last wires on the blue donuts. The blue donuts are the transformers for SE amp output to BAL output conversion for the AC heaters.
     
  18. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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  19. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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  20. raif

    raif Man made lobster/plankton

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    Not sure if people have posted much about running speakers with the AF but I picked up a pair of the Elac Debut 2.0 b6.2 on the cheap from Craigslist. My plan is to just run them as nearfIelds on my desk.

    I was worried because they are just regular ol speakers and because of the feedback mod, my amp runs a little less gain.

    That being said, the sound is excellent. As well, by around 11 pm on the dial, they are louder than I would ever listen to for any extended period of time. Granted I am a low volume listener, but this gives me a lot of faith that I have enough headroom to run really any 8 ohm bookshelf I feel like throwing money at.

    Speaking of which, anyone here have any experience with Fritz speakers? He appears to just be custom building what looks to be Carmody’s Carrera design, but he also has a few he did himself. Regardless he seems to use very high quality drivers and well built cabinets so the ROI feels really high.

    Also, gratuitous pic(includes Modius :) )

    21C69F82-E96F-40E8-A922-402022E3CCF5.jpeg
     

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