Electrocompaniet

[julesd68]

I'm thinking of having a break from valves and trying a solid state integrated.
Need something big and beefy, for sensible money. :eyebrows:

Does anyone have any experience, good or bad, of Electrocompaniet?
Do they have a "house sound" as such?

[realysm42]

I don't mean to sound obtuse, but doesn't every brand have a house sound?

Perhaps a better question would be what is it?

I know nothing of them tbh, so if I'm off the mark I apologise!

[SonicHammer]

I'm thinking of having a break from valves and trying a solid state integrated.
Need something big and beefy, for sensible money. :eyebrows:

Does anyone have any experience, good or bad, of Electrocompaniet?
Do they have a "house sound" as such?

Electrocompaniet sounds a bit dark IMO. Its sound could be described as "valve like". My experiences are connected to ECI 1, ECI 3, ECI4 int amps and 4.7 pre/120dmb power amp and some monos (Nemo perhaps). ECs previously made gear sounded ( as I can remember) more open and faster: EC Pre/ Ampliwire 100 and 65...

If you want to escape from valves look elsewhere and if you want so caled "Nordic sound" take a listen to Hegel and Bladelius.

My two cents. ;)

[julesd68]

Its sound could be described as "valve like".

If you want to escape from valves look elsewhere and if you want so caled "Nordic sound" take a listen to Hegel and Bladelius.

Thanks for that - looks like I will give Electrocompaniet a miss ...

Never heard of those two brands you mention but I'm intrigued by the "Nordic Sound"! ...

[jandl100]

Yep, a bit laidback and 'pipe & slippers', ime. A bit slow dynamically. Hmm, yeah, a bit "dark".
But if that's your thing, EC are very good!

Valve-like? No, you can get upbeat and downbeat valve implementations, so not really a valid thing to say, imho.
Quad II and Melody SP3, for example, are both valve amps I have heard in my system, but sound a world apart.

[SonicHammer]

Thanks for that - looks like I will give Electrocompaniet a miss ...

Never heard of those two brands you mention but I'm intrigued by the "Nordic Sound"! ...

Take a look at:

http://www.hegel.com/index.html

http://www.bladelius.com/

[SonicHammer]

Valve-like? No, you can get upbeat and downbeat valve implementations, so not really a valid thing to say, imho.
Quad II and Melody SP3, for example, are both valve amps I have heard in my system, but sound a world apart.

Agree.
It was the clumsy interpretation... :scratch: My bad.
Anyway, you wrote exactly what I intended... laidback, (a bit) dynamicly slow...
Too soft for my taste.

Cheers!

[jandl100]

:thumbsup:

[maniac]

I'm thinking of having a break from valves and trying a solid state integrated.
Need something big and beefy, for sensible money. :eyebrows:

Does anyone have any experience, good or bad, of Electrocompaniet?
Do they have a "house sound" as such?

Hi Jules, as an owner of ECI5mk2 integrated I can only recommend this amp. I'm using it with Dynaudio Contour 3.4 and PS Audio PWD MK2 DAC via HT input (preamp bypass) and also with Electrocompaniet's phono pre.

It is indeed big and beefy, making really dynamic sound without any hesitation. The soundstage is deep, lot of details and "colour".
As some suggested in some combination it can sound maybe more laid-back than someone's taste. For me it's perfectly in ballance. The only two things I would wish this integrated would have are:
- a bit faster sound on electric guitars
- HT input to work in balanced mode (it is only unbalanced on ECI5mk2)

I have upgraded from NAD c160+c270 which was faster on electric guitars, but in comparison to ECI5mk2 it was colored (accent on mids), soundstage deepness was small and overall the ECI5mk2 sounds much more natural, organic.

In regards to reliability - I have ECI for 1 and half year and had one problem after about 3 months when it started to burn the fuse, but it was quickly fixed by my dealer, no isses from that time. Now i'm using it with HiFiTuning supreme fuse.

[julesd68]

It is indeed big and beefy, making really dynamic sound without any hesitation. The soundstage is deep, lot of details and "colour".
As some suggested in some combination it can sound maybe more laid-back than someone's taste. For me it's perfectly in ballance. The only two things I would wish this integrated would have are:
- a bit faster sound on electric guitars
- HT input to work in balanced mode (it is only unbalanced on ECI5mk2)
dealer, no isses from that time. Now i'm using it with HiFiTuning supreme fuse.

Hi Tomas,

That's very interesting. This is exactly the problem I have with my current system - sounds fantastic with the classical music I listen to, but when I then put on Rush or Iron Maiden, I am seeking a slightly different sound with guitars, just the same as you are looking for.

Is it possible that out there is an amp that excels equally with classical and rock??

My old NVA integrated did very well with both kinds of music but was underpowered for my speakers. I would certainly consider a more powerful one.

I suspect I might enjoy the EC sound as I definitely lean towards that kind of a laid-back presentation. But I think the issue with my current system is that my phono stage, amplifiers and speakers all veer in that direction. Don't get me wrong, they are all superb components in their own right and have kept me happy for quite a long time now - they give me a very big, rich and expansive sound stage, but I feel I'm missing out on just a wee bit of excitement in the music.

[maniac]

I would try to get one for a loan so you can decide on your own as it's quite hard to predict the result based only on other's experience/reviews.

The mentioned lack of speed in electronic guitar music is for me not as important as other factors of this ECI integrated, so I'm very satisfied and think that changing it for quicker amp would bring other drawbacks I may not like :)

Regarding the power, Electrocompaniet is AFAIK well known for having plenty of it and I can agree on that :)

[maniac]

I have found that Electrocompaniet equipment could be sorted in two groups - one with warm sound and other with transparent sound.

I would appoint ECI5mk2 into warm group and AW400 into transparent one. I have upgraded from ECI5mk2 to EC4.8 with AW400 NADA mono blocks . The difference is massive, the new setup has more bass grip, speed, transparency. Still it have very natural Electrocompaniet sound :)

[Reffc]

If you want big and muscular without paying a fortune, there's a multitude to try. The fully Net Audio modded Quad 405/2 is great bang for the buck providing speaker loads aren't too demanding (it was conceived originally for the ESLs). Others I've tried which had battleship build quality and really decent sound were the Plinius P10 power amp and Primare i30 integrated. Of the two, the Plinius was more detailed but never bright or harsh and had the more pleasing balance. Both can be had for reasonable money used. Also great as a used buy would be something like the Simaudio Moon i1.1 (or anything from their range!).

As Jerry infers, if it's a break from valves you need, then perhaps it's just a break from your valve amp and a look at other valve amps? For muscular, some of the big Macs provide this (at a cost) although with some lack of refinement. EAR manage to present neutrality with real muscle which totally belies their rated power output. The original 519 series are in this vein and whilst hard to get hold of do come up for reasonable money, and being EAR, are a doddle to service and replace parts. I'd throw Jolida's JD801 into the affordable muscle valve amp category too but without sounding warm or laid back.

[julesd68]

Thanks for the replies chaps - I actually started this thread a year ago and had completely forgotten about it!

Turns out I didn't need a break from valves at all! Moving from an Audio Note valve pre / Quad 405-2 to my Consonance hybrid integrated last October sorted out all the issues I was having with the music. It's a very powerful, dynamic performer which gives me the treble detail I was missing with the Quad without being harsh or abrasive in any way. It also works superbly with the CJ valve phono stage. Couldn't be happier with the balance of the system at the moment ...

[walpurgis]

Hi Julian, you didn't say what your budget was for this or if you want new or second hand.

You could do a lot worse than try the Monarchy Audio SM-70 or SM-70 Pro. I have both and they sound great, rather similar to earlier Krell amps and these too are pure Class A, they are every bit as good in their own way as any valve amp I've owned. They're stunning value for money and really have to be heard to appreciate what they can do.

http://i41.tinypic.com/zksb4i.jpg

As for the Electrocompaniet amps, I've heard some of the older models and always thought they sounded excellent.

Another make I'd be looking at is Lavardin, not that easy to track down used, but very fine sounding!

[julesd68]

Hi Geoff, thanks for the suggestions but I actually don't want to buy another amp - the thread has been resurrected from a year ago!!

I ended up with my Consonance amp and as I said in the previous post, I am delighted with it ...

Would love to hear your Monarchys though - must get that session organised sometime!

[walpurgis]

I hadn't realised the OP was that old.

A listening session would be good. :)