Forsterkere Difference between old and upgraded Electrocompaniet ECI 3

[Janja]

Dear all,

I have a question regarding changes that have been made on Electrocompaniet ECI 3 since 2003. I already contacted Electrocompaniet support team and they explained to me that the new version has some updates in the powersupply and new transistors. When I asked about the sound they explained that the new version sounds much faster and much more open - the new transistors have a higher frequency response up to 110kHz (old version 70kHz).

Since I can't really imagine what this means in real life (it is hard to describe sound with words) I wanted to see if anyone has personal experience with old and new models and if there are any particularly "good match" floorstanding speakers you could reccommend, that would compliment the old ECI 3.
As far as the sound goes, I like it kind, soft and warm with a lot of detail, not analitical and shrill, if this helps at all .

Thank you for your answers.
Best,
Janja

 

[nissen]

Hi.I have not heard Eci 3,but i hav earlier own a pair of Aw-60 who i upgradeed.I feel that the bass change to the better.Little less warm-more details,a little more hiend sound.I used early infinity speakers(3b).Feel like the sound change to more correkt sound.Where do you live?
Best ,Nils

 

[Janja]

Hello, Nils.
Thank you so much for answering, I was beginning to worry that I wrote something incredibly stupid and that was the reason no-one wanted to comment . You see I am very new at this hobby and therefore don't know much about it yet, but I am learning fast.
I live in Slovenia and have just purchased a 10-year-old Electrocompaniet ECI 3 from Germany. I am getting it next week. I loved the Electrocompaniet sound, when I heard the new ECI 3 at our dealer's shop. This was the closest to it that I could afford. I figured that if it was an outstanding piece of equipment 10 years ago, it will still be an outstanding piece of equipment, producing amazing sound, accompanied with the right set of speakers, of course.
Best,
Janja

 

[Gunnar_Brekke]

Hi.

That people here on Hi Fi Sentralen are slow to answer has probably more to do with the fear off embarrassing
themselves using a foreign language, rather than your question - which is a good one.

I have not tested the two versions off the ECI-3 in the same system (nor room), but have listened to both of them
in my own set up under controlled conditions. I think Nissens description about the differences between the different
versions of AW-60, also gives a good description off the differences between the two versions of ECI-3. The newer
model is somewhat brighter with tighter bass. It is also somewhat better at “drawing” the soundstage.
But notice that these differences are quite small and subtle. There will be people that prefer the older model because
of better system matching with their own set up.

Both models of the ECI-3 are somewhat atypical from the rest of the Electrocompaniet amplifier range, with a little
brighter sound. Given that the typical Electrocompaniet amplifier is quite warm, the ECI-3 is more neutral - but no
one would describe it as bright. It seems like a good choice of amplifier considering your taste.
It is worth noticing that the ECI-3 benefits a lot by using a good balanced (XLR) source (CD-player or DAC).
It is also worth noticing that the ECI-3 contains a very good line stage that benefits the sound quality both in
conjunction with the built in power amplifier and with an external power amplifiers. A review in the magazine I write
for (Fidelity) described the line stage to being worth the whole asking price.

When it comes to new loudspeakers my first choice would be a pair of PSBs. They have a rich warm sound that is not
typical of many of today’s speakers. There is also a good correlation between the sound quality and the asking price
of the different models. Buy the most expensive model you can afford.
Other good choices include speakers from ProAc, Dynaudio, Sonus Faber (the older ones) and (if you can find a pair
second hand) the Audio Physics Virgo IIs.

Best regards
Gunnar Brekke

 

[Janja]

Dear Mr. Brekke,

thank you so much for your very helpful answer. I already searched the audio-markt.de for the speakers you mentioned and actually found a few. The more money the more music - this I came to understand so far

. I am actually looking for some well preserved second hand speakers, maybe 6 to 10 years old.
Anyway, my amplifier arrived by post an hour ago. Now, I will simply try hooking it up to a few different speakers and see what happens

.

I think you may also be right about the language barrier and I an angry at myself for not thinking of this before: everybody, please do write your comments in Norwegian, Google translate does wonders ...

Have a nice day.
Best,
Janja


THE TRANSLATION / OVERSETTELSE

Dear Mr. Brekke,

takk så mye for veldig nyttig svar. Jeg har allerede søkt på audio-markt.de for høyttalerne du nevnte og faktisk funnet noen. Jo mer penger jo mer musikk - dette jeg kom til å forstå så langt. Jeg er faktisk på utkikk etter noen godt bevarte brukte høyttalere, kanskje 6 til 10 år gamle.
Uansett, kom min forsterker i posten for en time siden. Nå vil jeg bare prøve å henge den opp til et par forskjellige høyttalere og se hva som skjer.

Jeg tror du kan også være rett om språkbarrieren og jeg en sint på meg selv for ikke å tenke på dette før: alle, vennligst skriv dine kommentarer på norsk, gjør Google translate underverk ...

Ha en fin dag.
Best,
Janja

 

[EC boy]

Hello Janja

I have not a comment to before / after upgrade for your ECI 3. But I would like to underline what Gunnar wrote earlier in the thread. I have the old classic cd player EMC 1 UP which represent the old EC sound landscape. And I have the newer SACD player EMP-1/M which was released for some years ago. Both are connected to EC 4.8 with 100% identical xlr pair and the 4.8 is connected to AW250R with xlr. Just as Gunnar wrote, the sound of the newest player is more brigt, quick and sharp. But the oldest one is more like velvet if you understand the picture. The sound floats around in the room in a more smooth way than from the newest. I love them both but I use them on different type of music. For instance the EMC 1 UP is used for Pink Floyd, analogue electronic music like mr. Jarre, old Dep Mode and similar music for instance Susanne Sundfør. The EMP-1/M is used for Moby, Robyn, Prodigy and Rammstein which represent quick and sharp music type / style.

 

[Janja]

Hello,

thank you, that makes a lot of sense. My ECI 3 arrived and we listened to it. I think velvet is just the right description : ).

Best,
Janja