[seacard]

Quote:

Aiming for $2800, should be less than 3K.  SE maybe 3.2K.  

What is the difference between the regular and the SE? And is this supposed to be an "entry-level" model, that will be followed by something else later in the year?

 

[Radio_head]

One's OTL one's SET.  Different tubes used as well - 6SN7's and 6L6's for the Electra, EF86's, a 6SN7, and KT120's (rollable with EL34's) for the SE.  Transformer costs will pretty much make up the price difference (together with P2P vs PCB I guess although not sure if that accounts for much.)
 
I have asked Craig a couple times point blank if these are intended to be end game/TOTL amps.  He assured me that while he has some ideas (a 300B stat amp and the like) for the future, he feels that on performance the Electra should hold up well against the big boys.  Higher costs would chiefly go to cosmetics/chassis and the like.  
 
Also, even if it does end up being "entry level" (and succeeded by other "more premium" designs) EC first run buyers don't tend to lose much if they do decide to sell later.
 
I hope to get a chance to compare all the major amps side by side this summer.  Definitely an exciting (if costly) time to get into stats.

 

[kiertijai]

I also heard from Craig there will be 3 different tube electrostatic amplifiers and one
solid state electrostatic amplifier.  I think the third tube amplifier  is the 300B version
with the 274B rectifier,  I do not confirm the third one.  It's good to know that the SE
version can be rollable with EL34, then I will wait for the SE as I have lots of EL34's but
none of the 6L6GC's.  EF86 is not critical and not expensive.

 

[Radio_head]

Interesting.  Didn't know he had an SS stat amp in the works.  He's done it before with the ECSS but I figured he'd leave that to the KGSSHV and the LL (plus the stax offerings) and keep to the tube stuff which he's thought to specialize in.
 
So essentially what he's hoping for are parallel product lines - S7, ZDSE, 2A3, BA for dynamics, and Electra, SE, 300B long term project, and a solid state project.  Lets call it Eddie Current Second Edition Solid State - or ECSESS for short.  I'm not sure the stat market is there yet to support that many amps (let alone from one company,) but then again Craig can make smaller batches and runs than some other companies.
 
The line about the EL34 being rollable with the KT120 was off of memory from a conversation I had with him 3 or 4 months ago - before making that decision it might be prudent to double check with Craig.

 

[Mr.Sneis]

As much as I love EC and Craig; man he's getting into it with a big variety of different amp releases -- I hope that it's not a bad thing!

 

[purrin]

To put things in perspective, 50% of the stuff he talks about never makes it to a prototype. And then another 50% never makes it to production. And then another 50% gets discontinued due to lack of interest.

 

[Radio_head]

As I understand it he would stagger these releases - if the Electra is successful and has plenty of demand, you release the SE.  If both are well received and commercially viable, you add on the 300B, etc.  In other words, he'd like to build them and he already has knows what he wants to do but will only follow through with releases if the market's there and interested.  He's dropped things from his product line too when they didn't work out. 
 
It's not like he's building 50 and then hoping someone buys them - he'll hold off releasing until he has a full or mostly full run.

 

[Mr.Sneis]

+1 whenever I hear about his new releases I get my hopes up only to find several months down that he only made a few prototypes or one-off's only to be discontinued!

 

[Radio_head]

So much of the amp market is about hype - the 2A3 for instance got a great review from JP only to languish in relative obscurity (I think maybe a handful purchased.)  The BA and ZD/ZDSE have done well.  The S7 is getting some good hype (and the new revision looks much better cosmetically than the first run) so that'll probably be successful too.  The LF got the most hype of a dynamic amp in recent memory (from all the Canjam posts proclaiming the LCD-2/LF to be the best dynamic pairing ever.)  These days (with amp saturation) if you want an amp to be successful you have to have fans who pop up in every "recommend me" thread extolling the virtues of your product.  

 

[MuppetFace]

Yay! I've been waiting for the Electra for quite some time. Curious to hear how it stax stacks up to my KGSS.

 

[spritzer]

Quote:

I'll be sure to tell Craig to make it more idiot proof. After all, that guy at 6Moons did almost blow up his speakers because he thought the RCA loop outs were pre-outs on the BA. Supposedly a few folks burned out their 4V DHTs on the BA because they forgot to change the variable voltage power supply from 5V to 4V.

That would be appreciated as when things break, the Mafia has to step in and try to pickup the pieces.  It's something I'm getting rather fed up with to be honest... 
 
Switchable bias only makes sense if it is to allow users to lower the bias for some reason, not to share a socket for high and low bias.  Lowering the bias changes the sound and even Stax have offered variable bias in the past (one socket out of three on the SRM-T1W) so it could be a neat feature. 

 

[purrin]

FYI, Craig's got the 009s (and my 007s) with the Electra down at T.H.E SHOW. The amp isn't directly coupled, so it sounds more along the lines of the Aristaeus than the KGSS/BHSE. It wasn't a very good tonal match with the 007mk2.5s, mainly because the mk2s can tend to be bloated sounding. (BTW, he's running some thick sounding tubes, I know how those RCA 6SN7s tend to sound like. I'm going to bring down a pair of more neutral sounding tubes tomorrow like the Sylvanias.) 
 
The good thing is that the midrange doesn't get all wierd and shouty when I crank up the volume, which I have found to be the case with 007/other amp combos. It's got some of that EC sound with the micro dynamic contrasts. Definitely worth checking out with the 009s or Lambdas. Otherwise it's really hard for me to say because he's running a different source, a Sony SACD player which I haven't heard before. There's a part of me that really wants to haul down the PWD.

 

[KingStyles]

Wow, how did I miss this thread. You said it didnt match well with the 007 mk2, do you think it would fair better with the mk1 or 009?

 

[BoyNamedSue]

Had the privilege of listening to the 009's on the electra at the SHOW this past weekend, and my jaw dropped. It is simply the best I've heard from a headphone system - accurate and musical at same time, live sounding, very dynamic, out of head soundstage, and so smooth. They sounded good at low volume and even when I cranked it up, the sound was surpisingly non-fatiguing. They made the LCD-2/3s, also at the eddie current booth, sound veiled and muddy in comparison. It was my first time hearing the 009s as well as the electra so I am not sure which made the biggest difference, but they sounded really good together. I must have spent a good 15-20 minutes listening to them while a line formed behind me!

 

[Andy Hefley]

kiertijai,
 
Hi. Just thought I could help out with identification of the items on the Electra you mentioned. The "0" on the input selector switch is an off position that selects no input. I thought this was a good idea as I like to change inputs with things turned on it allows for a no Buzz selection without going to the other source which might not be prudent.
The two “green” knobs are pin jacks for a digital volt meter for setting of the bias in the output tubes. The black knob behind it selects which tube the jacks are looking at. In the case with the 6L6’s I recommend setting them at 40mv which is 40ma or just about 20 watts for each tube. The production version may have previsions for other output tubes ie 6CA7’s …
 
.