erics75
Headphoneus Supremus
It's been about a month with the Echo MK2 and I've enjoyed it immensely. I keep it at work where I listen most of the day paired with a Holo Cyan PCM in NOS mode for a dac. Headphones used mainly are a Focal Clear and Radiance, and a ZMF Atticus and Auteur.
First things first the Focals are surprisingly good on it! I was worried the impedance mismatch would make them too bloated, but that hasn't been the case. Yes the bass elevates a bit, but it's still very well controlled and fast.
Second, I did not like the stock tubes much. I found them to have a slight glare in the upper mids/lower treble that I found annoying. It wasn't too much that I couldn't listen, or encounter too much fatigue. But I kept thinking the Echo was lacking a bit of refinement. After purchasing some random Russian NOS power tubes, and a pair of Butt Ugly Amperex input tubes from Brent Jessie, things are sounding much better. The power tubes sounded a touch better, but nothing significant. But those butt uglies really cleaned up the sound to my liking. Gone is the glare that was bothering me. Now it's smooth, yet still detailed and responsive. Anyone with stock tubes that feel the Echo isn't up to snuff might want to roll input tubes, it's very responsive to them.
So with the new tubes I'm really enjoying the Echo. The tone is just north of neutral, without sounding slow or thick or syrupy. Overall tonal signature is pretty natural sounding, with good heft and weight on each note. Resolution is good, I have no complaints. But I have noticed my Ampsandsound amps are more resolving by a small but noticeable margin. I personally don't care as much about resolution so it doesn't bother me at all, but detail heads might take note.
What impresses me the most about the Echo is it's overall macro performance. Without focusing on any area in general, how does it sound as a whole, when you stop focusing on little things, and just listen to the music. And in this regard the Echo for me is excellent with the NOS tubes. It's musical, engaging, and totally enjoyable. It handles all genres well, from fast chaotic metal to slow Jazz and Folk/Americana. Staging is adequate. It's spacious enough, though not as big as my Ampsandsound amps. But the gap isn't significant at all, IMO.
So, what do you gain doubling or quadrupling the cost of the Echo and going with a Pendant SE or Kenzie Ovation? First off I noticed the Ampsandsound amps (AS going forward) add more refinement and technical performance. Resolution goes up, and is most noticeable when using highly resolving headphones like a Verite Closed or Focal Clear. The stage grows in all direction, taller, wider, and deeper, with better dimensional placement of each instrument. Also, the whole frequency response is more organic and integrated on the AS amps. The Echo is well balanced, but I do note it boosts the bass a bit over the AS amps, and also isn't as smooth in the upper mids, causing me to focus on them when comparing. The AS amps give you a response that is more even from top to bottom. I don't focus on any area as standing out, or sounding off. Overall you just gain a higher overall performance level with the AS gear.
Lets put things in perspective though, those amps run many times the cost of the Echo. So how far off is the Echo? That's going to be subjective, with each person having their own answer. For me, the gap is not huge, and I feel perfectly satisfied with the Echo as my main work amp. I could bring the Pendant SE to work, but it's bigger and has a higher noise floor. The Echo is good enough that I no longer need the Pendant SE in my lineup. I'm selling it. I love my Ovation so that won't go anywhere yet. Maybe once I get my DNA amp next year. We'll see...
Does the Echo do anything better than the AS amps? Yes against the Pendant, no against the Ovation. The Echo is a very quiet amp. I get no tube noise whatsoever. The Pendant is not quiet. With the right tube combo it's relatively quiet, and acceptably quiet for me. But it's not as quiet as the Echo, not even close. My Ovation currently is also very quiet, matching the Echo. But it took a few rolls with the 1626 power tubes to find quiet ones. The noisy tubes were either too vibration sensitive, or would pick up too much RFI. I've only rolled the stock tubes and one NOS set, but all tubes so far on the Echo have been super quiet. Also from a form factor perspective, I like the Echo's smaller size and weight, and traditionally configured inputs/outputs, meaning you plug them in vertically, not horizontally. The AS amps all have downward inserting inputs/outputs. It looks odd to me, and puts more pressure on the sockets and cables, IMO. That's totally subjective on my part, but I like what I like.
Any nitpiks? Sure, the gain is too high! With all my ZMFs and Focals, I'm never able to go past 9oclock on the volume knob without blowing my eardrums out. Would love to see a gain switch to allow more use of the volume knob. Thankfully I hear no channel imbalance at any point on the volume knob. I'd also love to see nicer wood panels on the sides. They're not bad looking, but they're not great looking either. Very bland and pedestrian. I'm sure I'm just spoiled by the super nice woods ZMF and AS uses on their units, but the Echo looks too plain to my eyes. Finally, I'd love to see taller feet used underneath. The Echo runs hot, as most OTLs do, and venting is important. Unfortunately the Echo uses really shallow feet on the unit, which does look nice sitting low to the ground, but doesn't help venting. I have some silicon risers I use on other equipment and started using them on the Echo. It did make an improvement to the venting of the unit, decreasing the chassis temp slightly but noticeably. I'm sure the stock feet and operating temps are fine, but IMO the cooler the better.
So bottom line, the Echo is a super solid amp that fares well even against bigger, badder amps like AS. For those looking for a killer tube without breaking the bank, put the Echo on your audition list. Please note I do not have any planars in house right now so all testing has been with either efficient medium ohm Focals, or high ohm ZMFs. It drives those with ease. I don't know how it handles planars, so do your homework before buying.
EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention on the AS amps is they have multiple output taps with different impedances, which allow for more tweaking of the sound to your liking. The Pendant SE gives you two, 8 and 100 ohm. The Ovation gives you five: 8, 16, 32, 100, and 300ohm. The Ovation allows a very high degree of sound tweaking with all those output impedances. That is one aspect where spending more can be worthwhile depending on how much you value the extra outputs. For me personally, the Ovation's five taps are a godsend in terms of synergy and mood. There are certain headphones that just synergize really really well on certain taps. For example the Clear on the Ovation's 32ohm tap is excellent for me. Going to 8, 16, or 100 just doesn't sound right in comparison. Mood plays a factor too, and especially with high ohm headphones like ZMFs, which work great on all impedance taps. Sometimes I want my Auteur to be very neutral and honest sounding. When I do, I go with the 8 ohm tap. But sometimes I want warmth, without switching to the Atticus, and I go with the 100 or 300ohm taps. Totally different presentation depending on the tap you choose. I wasn't going to mention it when I remembered, but thought I'd be doing everyone a disservice to not do so. It's something you do miss out on with the Echo. Just food for thought and another aspect to consider when choosing equipment.
First things first the Focals are surprisingly good on it! I was worried the impedance mismatch would make them too bloated, but that hasn't been the case. Yes the bass elevates a bit, but it's still very well controlled and fast.
Second, I did not like the stock tubes much. I found them to have a slight glare in the upper mids/lower treble that I found annoying. It wasn't too much that I couldn't listen, or encounter too much fatigue. But I kept thinking the Echo was lacking a bit of refinement. After purchasing some random Russian NOS power tubes, and a pair of Butt Ugly Amperex input tubes from Brent Jessie, things are sounding much better. The power tubes sounded a touch better, but nothing significant. But those butt uglies really cleaned up the sound to my liking. Gone is the glare that was bothering me. Now it's smooth, yet still detailed and responsive. Anyone with stock tubes that feel the Echo isn't up to snuff might want to roll input tubes, it's very responsive to them.
So with the new tubes I'm really enjoying the Echo. The tone is just north of neutral, without sounding slow or thick or syrupy. Overall tonal signature is pretty natural sounding, with good heft and weight on each note. Resolution is good, I have no complaints. But I have noticed my Ampsandsound amps are more resolving by a small but noticeable margin. I personally don't care as much about resolution so it doesn't bother me at all, but detail heads might take note.
What impresses me the most about the Echo is it's overall macro performance. Without focusing on any area in general, how does it sound as a whole, when you stop focusing on little things, and just listen to the music. And in this regard the Echo for me is excellent with the NOS tubes. It's musical, engaging, and totally enjoyable. It handles all genres well, from fast chaotic metal to slow Jazz and Folk/Americana. Staging is adequate. It's spacious enough, though not as big as my Ampsandsound amps. But the gap isn't significant at all, IMO.
So, what do you gain doubling or quadrupling the cost of the Echo and going with a Pendant SE or Kenzie Ovation? First off I noticed the Ampsandsound amps (AS going forward) add more refinement and technical performance. Resolution goes up, and is most noticeable when using highly resolving headphones like a Verite Closed or Focal Clear. The stage grows in all direction, taller, wider, and deeper, with better dimensional placement of each instrument. Also, the whole frequency response is more organic and integrated on the AS amps. The Echo is well balanced, but I do note it boosts the bass a bit over the AS amps, and also isn't as smooth in the upper mids, causing me to focus on them when comparing. The AS amps give you a response that is more even from top to bottom. I don't focus on any area as standing out, or sounding off. Overall you just gain a higher overall performance level with the AS gear.
Lets put things in perspective though, those amps run many times the cost of the Echo. So how far off is the Echo? That's going to be subjective, with each person having their own answer. For me, the gap is not huge, and I feel perfectly satisfied with the Echo as my main work amp. I could bring the Pendant SE to work, but it's bigger and has a higher noise floor. The Echo is good enough that I no longer need the Pendant SE in my lineup. I'm selling it. I love my Ovation so that won't go anywhere yet. Maybe once I get my DNA amp next year. We'll see...
Does the Echo do anything better than the AS amps? Yes against the Pendant, no against the Ovation. The Echo is a very quiet amp. I get no tube noise whatsoever. The Pendant is not quiet. With the right tube combo it's relatively quiet, and acceptably quiet for me. But it's not as quiet as the Echo, not even close. My Ovation currently is also very quiet, matching the Echo. But it took a few rolls with the 1626 power tubes to find quiet ones. The noisy tubes were either too vibration sensitive, or would pick up too much RFI. I've only rolled the stock tubes and one NOS set, but all tubes so far on the Echo have been super quiet. Also from a form factor perspective, I like the Echo's smaller size and weight, and traditionally configured inputs/outputs, meaning you plug them in vertically, not horizontally. The AS amps all have downward inserting inputs/outputs. It looks odd to me, and puts more pressure on the sockets and cables, IMO. That's totally subjective on my part, but I like what I like.
Any nitpiks? Sure, the gain is too high! With all my ZMFs and Focals, I'm never able to go past 9oclock on the volume knob without blowing my eardrums out. Would love to see a gain switch to allow more use of the volume knob. Thankfully I hear no channel imbalance at any point on the volume knob. I'd also love to see nicer wood panels on the sides. They're not bad looking, but they're not great looking either. Very bland and pedestrian. I'm sure I'm just spoiled by the super nice woods ZMF and AS uses on their units, but the Echo looks too plain to my eyes. Finally, I'd love to see taller feet used underneath. The Echo runs hot, as most OTLs do, and venting is important. Unfortunately the Echo uses really shallow feet on the unit, which does look nice sitting low to the ground, but doesn't help venting. I have some silicon risers I use on other equipment and started using them on the Echo. It did make an improvement to the venting of the unit, decreasing the chassis temp slightly but noticeably. I'm sure the stock feet and operating temps are fine, but IMO the cooler the better.
So bottom line, the Echo is a super solid amp that fares well even against bigger, badder amps like AS. For those looking for a killer tube without breaking the bank, put the Echo on your audition list. Please note I do not have any planars in house right now so all testing has been with either efficient medium ohm Focals, or high ohm ZMFs. It drives those with ease. I don't know how it handles planars, so do your homework before buying.
EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention on the AS amps is they have multiple output taps with different impedances, which allow for more tweaking of the sound to your liking. The Pendant SE gives you two, 8 and 100 ohm. The Ovation gives you five: 8, 16, 32, 100, and 300ohm. The Ovation allows a very high degree of sound tweaking with all those output impedances. That is one aspect where spending more can be worthwhile depending on how much you value the extra outputs. For me personally, the Ovation's five taps are a godsend in terms of synergy and mood. There are certain headphones that just synergize really really well on certain taps. For example the Clear on the Ovation's 32ohm tap is excellent for me. Going to 8, 16, or 100 just doesn't sound right in comparison. Mood plays a factor too, and especially with high ohm headphones like ZMFs, which work great on all impedance taps. Sometimes I want my Auteur to be very neutral and honest sounding. When I do, I go with the 8 ohm tap. But sometimes I want warmth, without switching to the Atticus, and I go with the 100 or 300ohm taps. Totally different presentation depending on the tap you choose. I wasn't going to mention it when I remembered, but thought I'd be doing everyone a disservice to not do so. It's something you do miss out on with the Echo. Just food for thought and another aspect to consider when choosing equipment.
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