Eddie Current Studio

In the world of headphone amp designers and builders, I have come to recognize and respect certain names that belong to an elite class based on my experience with their products.  Individuals who do not necessarily build amps for the masses or purely for profit but rather for the love and advancement of their craft and for this, we have all benefited.  Names I have placed on this list include the likes of Kevin Gilmore, Birgir Gudjonsson, Justin Wilson, Frank Cooter, Alex Cavalli, Pete Millett, Jack Woo, Craig Uthus and more recently, Amedeo Schembri.  To create two headphone amp masterpieces (the Viva Egoista 845 and 2A3) as Amedeo has done on his first try is quite an achievement in my book.  If you have read my recent review of the Viva Egoistas, you know I regard these amps among the best I have ever heard. 

 

A few weeks ago, I reached out to Craig Uthus, the genius mind behind Eddie Current amplifiers, and inquired about his latest amps in my desire to validate in my own mind that an Egoista is the best dynamic amp for my rack. I was surprised to hear Craig was building a new amp based on 2A3 tubes called the “Studio.”  He called it his “statement” amp, the best amp he has built to date and is based on very exotic and expensive parts.  When a master amp builder who has been designing and building amps for 48 years tells you he is coming out with a new statement amp that is the best he has ever built and invites you to listen to it, you simply cannot say “no.” 

 

I was unable to make it to the San Francisco CanJam last Saturday where he and Purrin debuted for the first time a production version of the Studio amp and so Craig and I made arrangements to meet privately after the CanJam.  I spent a good part of this past Thursday with Craig at his shop in Calabasas, California and I got to listen to his new offerings including his new Black Widow solid state amp, 2A3 MkIII and of course his Studio.  The Studio was designed to incorporate some of the best components in existence that Craig is aware of, some which have become vanishingly rare, and as it was designed to be a statement piece that he could show off at headphone meets, he only expected to build one.  Not surprisingly, as soon as people heard it, many wanted one even at the asking price of $7,000.  

 
His Studio amp is essentially his 2A3 MkIV with four parallel 2A3 output tubes except that almost every component has been upgraded and it is now a balanced design.  It outputs 6 watts into 8 ohms (for speakers) and roughly 1.25 watts into 32 ohms, enough to very satisfyingly drive the HE-1000 headphones I brought with me.  Craig tells me this amp also satisfyingly drives the Abyss 1266 which he personally prefers over the HE-1000 with the Studio.  While the internals of the Studio have been finalized and are production spec, the external casework is still in an unfinished stage.  Despite this, it is both a functional and attractive design and much better appreciated in person.  The top aluminum plate can apparently be painted in a variety of colors.  More importantly, all materials used are clearly of the highest quality and this amp appears to be built like a tank.
 

 

 


 
 

The components he has hand-picked for the Studio include two 6D225 rectifiers, two Western Electric 417 driver tubes and four RCA 2A3 output tubes.  Craig shared with me that people who buy tube amps generally enjoy tube rolling in order to customize the sonic character of their amp but that such tube rolling accounts for only “minor changes.”  Craig suggested that “transformer rolling” can account for much bigger changes and this is chiefly what is responsible for the sonic character of the Studio.  At the heart of the Studio are two Tribute inter-stage transformers created by Pieter Treurniet of the Netherlands.  Pieter is a 64-year old transformer winder who some consider among the best there is.  Transformer winding became a dying art decades ago with the introduction of semiconductors and so Pieter’s transformers are revered by many amp designers including Craig Uthus.  As Pieter announced last year that he has decided to "wind down" his career, Craig insists that the Studio will have a very finite production run.

 



 
 

Exactly what do Tribute nanocrystalline inter-stage transformers get you over the standard Hammond silicon steel transformers used in the 2A3 MkIV?  A scary level of transparency.  In my direct comparison of Craig’s standard 2A3 amp against his Studio, it was amazing how two 2A3 amps of almost identical topology can sound so different.  While my experience with the Studio was brief, it didn’t take long to appreciate the microdetails that were presented with electrostatic-like speed across a very black background.  While this results in an undeniable sense of realism, my initial thought was this could also lead to fatigue as this has been my experience with my Stax SR-009 paired with certain amps.  Though very neutral and not as evocative as the Egoista 2A3, fortunately the fluidity and texture that I love about 2A3 tubes remained very much intact and there was no hint of unpleasant grain or edge.  Perhaps the slightly relaxed nature of the HE-1000 also contributed to this non-fatiguing presentation.  Regardless, it’s clear to me that the HE-1000 pairs well with the Studio.  The first track Craig cued up for me was "Quelqu'un m'a dit (Someone Told Me)" by Carla Bruni which was ported to the amp via a Schiit Gungnir DAC and was simply haunting in how real the presentation was, probably more holographic than I have experienced with any headphone system.  I have heard such superlatives used before to describe head-fi equipment and so I won’t blame you if you remain skeptical but just know these words come from someone who currently has in his possession a HeadAmp BHSE, KGSSHV, Egoista 845, Egoista 2A3, Moon Neo 430HA and Auralic Taurus MkII – a fairly decent collection of reference class amps for comparison.  As Carla Bruni has a way of sounding good on many systems, I knew I had to challenge the Studio with other music.  I brought along my own music which included a mix of orchestral classical to small ensemble jazz to solo Spanish guitar to pop but I also made sure I auditioned a number of tracks with a lot of electric guitar and certain high pitched vocals (i.e. Adam Levine) that on many systems will reliably result in fatigue for me.  In my limited time with the Studio, this did not happen.  Based on my experience with the SR-009 paired with certain amps, a neutral and detailed presentation can also sound overly sterile and so this was a concern.  While at Craig’s shop, I was fortunate to also compare the Studio against his 445 amp with stock tubes and I have to say that the midrange of the 445 sounded thin and overly clinical for my tastes.  This is an amp I would not purchase in stock form.  Compared to his 2A3 amps including his Studio, fortunately, this was not the case.  While the midrange of the Studio might not be as romantically flavored as the Egoista 2A3, it remained full and satisfyingly musical.  While the Studio has many of the strengths typically associated with solid state amps, this amp is still definitely a 2A3 tube amp.    

 

I have spent the past couple of days processing my brief experience with the Studio.  I cannot shake the hauntingly real image of Carla Bruni's voice in my head.  Upon returning home to northern Calfornia last night, I immediately replayed the same music on the amps I currently have in my possession for review, especially the Egoista 845 and 2A3, and I have been unable to reproduce the quality of that sound that the Studio produced even with my more resolving Bricasti M1 DAC.  In my review of the Egoistas, I considered both Egoistas as “the top of the summit.”  I described my ideal single amp as one that somehow embodied the power and grip of the Egoista 845 while also the finesse and stunning harmonic texture of the Egoista 2A3.  While the Studio in no way embodies the full authority of the Egoista 845, with its quad of 2A3 output tubes it certainly has more of this quality than the Egoista 2A3 and while the Studio does not have the same sultry qualities of the Egoista 2A3, it has much more of it than the Egoista 845.  What the Studio has in abundance over both Egoistas is transparency and speed, much like my BHSE, and so in a sense, this amp embodies the best of 3 worlds.  Does the Studio now rank at the top of the summit for me?  If I am to be honest with myself, I believe I will need to listen to the Woo 234 Monos to make that definitive judgement although it is unclear if that can happen soon enough.  Not wanting to be left out of the Studio’s limited run, I have placed my order with Craig.