Eddie Current Balancing Act

[XXII]

Quote:

Has anyone compared the BA with the WA5? the better for the HD800? Opinions.

See the above linked 6moons review.

 

[KingStyles]

 
Quote:

Has anyone compared the BA with the WA5? the better for the HD800? Opinions.

The two are compared in the 6 moons review found here.  http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/eddiecurrent3/1.html

 

[Torero]

I would like opinion of forumers. I have seen already this review.
 
This is not a good comparision. In the photos can see that first, the WA5 doesn't use a decent rectifiers (not EML 5U4G, Sophia 274B or WE 274B), the 6SN7 bad too and the Sophia 300B are the cheaper.

 

[KingStyles]

Yes, but the ba wasnt using a good driver or rectifiers. The driver completely changes the tone of this amp because the px4 are basically neutral. He could have made it tuby or musical or he could have made it ss sounding just by rolling that one 6sn7. So far though, the best drivers I have heard for the ba arent 6sn7's. Also I have rolled some 6x4 rectifiers in the ba. They dont make a huge change in tone, but they do effect the smoothness and dynamics of the amp. So they were both on equal footing. They both had good output tubes and they both didnt utilize there best drivers or rectifiers.
 
With that being said, It is always nice to get other headfiers perspective which we typically trust more than the review magazines.

 

[XXII]

fkclo has both the WA5LE and ECBA. Perhaps he will chime in or you can PM him.

 

[Torero]

Quote:

fkclo has both the WA5LE and ECBA. Perhaps he will chime in or you can PM him.

Thank you very much.

 

[fhuang]

Quote:

fkclo has both the WA5LE and ECBA. Perhaps he will chime in or you can PM him.

hopefully fkclo can talk a little bit here.  i was thinking about wa5le before with t1

 

[fkclo]

Hi folks,
 
First, it is true that I am in possession of both the Balancing Act and the Woo Audio 5 (maxxed out version).  However, live over the past 6 months have been difficult for me so I basically have no time on this hobby.  Which means....
 
My Balancing Act (300B/PX4 version) is... STILL IN THEIR BOXES....  It is really a shame to say this because like many of you I am keen to get my hands on it.  Unfortunately, there are so many things in life that I cannot control so I have to come to terms with reality.
 
That said, when I decided to go for the Balancing Act (spent 18 months talking to Craig) I do NOT expect it to be better than the Woo Audio 5 - which is already a mighty and highly refined amp with the right tubes (highly recommend the AVVT 300B) and sources.  I DO expect the BA to sound different.  From what I read Craig has a slightly different views on what sounds best to him from Woo.  I kind of imagining the Balancing Act may have similar DNA as my Blue Circle FLO amp.
 
Even with the BA still in boxes I am contemplating getting my LCD-2 re-cabled by SAA and get a SAA DC cord for the amp.
 
I am right now working hard to change my life and hopefully can return to this hobby with more to share.  I just managed to get a good listen to the prototype L3 (the smaller, but better, LISA III designed by Phil Larocco) and this is probably what I will share in the near future.
 
My apologies for not able to provide much useful information at this time, but I am watching this space hoping to learn 1 or 2 tricks before I setup my Balancing Act rig - which is going to be separate from my other gears.
 
Best regards,
F. Lo

 

[winzzz]

nice seeing you again fcklo been a while since i saw your posts...how does your bluecircle amp compared with wa5 ?

 

[fhuang]

personal life goes first.  good luck with whatever you're going through.  come back when you feel like to

 

[Torero]

I have some questions to resolve:

What upgrades does it have?(internals)

Does someone have the 2a3/45 version? 2a3/45 tubes are better than 300B/PX4?

Why the WA5 use two drive tubes and the EDBA only one drive tube?

Is it a truly ballanced amp?
 
 
Thanks you very much.

 

[sachu]

Gonna be interesting to see how the balancing act measures up against the Cavalli Audio Liquid fire. Gonna be a showdown of epic proportions at the Seattle meet this weekend 

 

[KingStyles]

 
Quote:

Gonna be interesting to see how the balancing act measures up against the Cavalli Audio Liquid fire. Gonna be a showdown of epic proportions at the Seattle meet this weekend 

 
It should be fun.
 
 
Quote:

What upgrades does it have?(internals)

Only the pss transformers and possibly a better pot if you can talk him into it.
 
Quote:

Does someone have the 2a3/45 version? 2a3/45 tubes are better than 300B/PX4?

This is the only person with that configuration.  http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/539462/balancing-act-2a3-45-impressions
Craig seems to think for headphone use the 300b/px4 is the better option from the emails I have sent him when I was wondering what config to get.
 
Quote:

Is it a truly ballanced amp?

From earlier in the thread:
Quote:

I think Craig and many others like myself would disagree with you. It is balanced, but if you are defining true balanced as being "electrically" balanced where you take each channel circuit and multiply by 2. IME the transformer balanced coupling with the input transformers taking in the differential signal and balancing it out with output transformers is a more elegant and better sounding proposition to balanced operation, IMO of course.

 
Quote:

Jrisles your friend is right that it is not a "true" balanced amp in that its not 2x a single ended circuit. What Craig does with the balancing act is that he uses high quality transformers to balance single ended signal coming in and output going out. This is how the TTVJ 307A does balanced as well. I don't think anybody except for Singlepower and now maybe Woo Audio (I think the WA22 is true balanced.. not sure) offered 2x circuit balanced tube amps though frankly Singlepower didn't seem to really execute it well enough to handle the additional complexity of doubling the circuit as there were issues like single ended output would be ultra terrible though that might be attributed more to their horrible design/build quality.

 
 
Quote:

Why the WA5 use two drive tubes and the EDBA only one drive tube?

Dont know

 

[jrisles]

Hey i just read on 6moons that the BA received a Blue Moon Award. Congrats Craig. Probably already been mentioned on this thread but i must have missed it.
 
I also read that Srajan reviewed the Burson Audio HA160D Amp/DAC and gave it a good rap. I got to hear this piece of equipment on the weekend as a DAC/Amp combo at the Brisbane Head-Fi meet and i must say it is an awesome accomplished piece of kit for the $$$. Very nice indeed. If i didn't own or could afford a BA i would most certainly put this on my shortlist. Also good to know this is an Aussie made piece of gear 

 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/544053/brisbane-meet-2011-12th-march-impressions-n-pix-56k-warning/15#post_7337069
 
Back to the 6moons review. Srajan must approach these things slowly. Last read of this review, which wasn't quite as extensive as what is on the 6moons website now as he was scathing of lack of instructions that accompanied the BA. I suspect that aside he has had time for the amp to settle in & also given himself some time to listen to the amp. I guess like all of us who own this amp understand what a nice sound this amp is capable of producing especially if you are fortunate to own the KR PX4's or the KR 842 tubes & some better 6SN7 valves. I must admit that i will have to look at modding my LCD-2 headphones as i am not as complimentary as he is but i am only using stock cable (i have an APS cable on its way - which is not the same as Srajan's - but will see if it changes the speed of these headphones).
 
Well done Craig!

 

[indiehop]

I received my BA on monday, and have since  listened to music for 3 to 4 hours straight, every night. What else can I ask for?  Very beautiful piece of equipment and such a joy to just put on the headphones and let time pass by...
 
I used to have a Melos SHA-Gold about 12 years ago, and always regretted selling it. The BA is helping me catch up in the headphone amp world. Don't know if I will ever end up using all the various inputs and output options it has.