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EC Monolith

Discussion in 'DIY' started by Cos, Jan 10, 2016.

  1. Cos

    Cos Acquaintance

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    I looked on the EC site to voyeur the Dana Zeux and found this DYI project. On "the site the name should not be mentioned" it has a thread and a following that stops few years ago. Anybody with experience building it? How does it compare with the DYI Grail Crack? How well does it work with the venerable Sen HD 650? Is it an worthwhile upgrade of one already has a decent solid state amp?
     
    Cos, Jan 10, 2016
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  2. JoshMorr

    JoshMorr Friend

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    I have not heard of anyone actually building this, obviously the EC people would know more. Before the recent set of Black Widow's I was pretty excited that EC was thinking about making a BW DIY.

    Cavalli also has some DIy kits listed on their site, but from what I hear, they are fun builds, but dont always sound the best. One of the best sounding DIY kit is the Torpedo III.
     
    JoshMorr, Jan 10, 2016
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  3. No_One411

    No_One411 Fired by Jude

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    Isn't this just a DIY RSA Darkstar?

    If you want something DIY to pair with the HD650, pretty hard to find something that will beat the Crack or Torpedo III for the cost.
     
    No_One411, Jan 10, 2016
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  4. HitmanFluffy

    HitmanFluffy Hoping to see real genitals someday!

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    I built one last year, and tried both the cap and transformer coupled versions. Its decent sounding for the money but I'd get a Torpedo for dynamics if tonality is your concern. The lack of resources on it also means you really need to know what you are doing or you'll be out of luck if something goes wrong.

    For me the Torpedo is far superior with Sennheisers (and easier to build too). Different ballpark on all fronts.
     
    HitmanFluffy, Jan 10, 2016
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  5. JoshMorr

    JoshMorr Friend

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    Well, curiosity has been getting the best of me and decided to give this amp a try. I read up on a couple of builds, mainly @shipsupt over at HF(http://www.head-fi.org/t/654371/eddie-current-diy-amplifier-monolith). Hitman recommended skipping the cap coupled version and using the CineMag input transformers, so the build is stalling out while I figure this out. Has anyone else attempted to build this?

    One question I had was is this the Dark (Dork) Star? Did Craig try and update the RSA amp? What is the history behind this amp going diy?

    I am sure I will be bugging Hitman and Ships up with little questions along the way.
     
    JoshMorr, Jan 26, 2017
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  6. HitmanFluffy

    HitmanFluffy Hoping to see real genitals someday!

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    It is pretty much a Darkstar, with a less extravagant power supply. The build is easy enough, minimal wiring involved, though the instructions are not noob friendly (as I discovered).
     
    HitmanFluffy, Jan 26, 2017
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  7. shipsupt

    shipsupt Admin

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    The interweb rumor is that Craig was trying to show that building something like the Dark Star was cheap and easy.

    I think most folks feel that the input transformer build is better than the capacitor coupled rig.

    I pulled the old Monolith out of a dark corner the other day because I want to give it a try with the HD6XX.

    Chris
     
    shipsupt, Jan 26, 2017
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  8. HitmanFluffy

    HitmanFluffy Hoping to see real genitals someday!

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    Haha! Your monolith suffered the same fate as mine.
     
    HitmanFluffy, Jan 26, 2017
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  9. shipsupt

    shipsupt Admin

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    Yeah, it was fun to build but never got a lot of play time.
     
    shipsupt, Jan 26, 2017
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  10. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Looks like it can do 5W into 30ohms. Is it a good match for the HE-6?
     
    Cspirou, Jan 26, 2017
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  11. shipsupt

    shipsupt Admin

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    My gut tells me that while it will drive them easily but that the combo may be a little on the bright side.
     
    shipsupt, Jan 26, 2017
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