EWA pfm tour: ABCaudio demo kit
Mongeddavid
pfm Member
Id go for a trial of the LS80 I have been using the 25 for some time now and enjoy them
jimbot2.0
pfm Member
LS80s arrived with me this afternoon in super-quick time. The system has been powered down for a couple of days due to thunderstorms on the south coast so its still coming on song.
Great packaging with a quality feel, chunky cables, perhaps 25mm across. Z-plugs a very tight fit and the thicker cables did take a little bit of thought to get under my Obelisks due to the way the speaker connections face forward at an angle underneath- not insurmountable though ….. an improvement on NACA5!
First impressions were that the LS80s have the incredible control of the LS40s- seeming somehow to squeeze even more, clean, power out of the amp as the LS40s had but improve on the LS40s in the areas where i had (minor) reservations:
- Where the balance of the bass notes with the rest of the sound had almost proved too much in this room with the LS40s, with the LS80s the bass now seems to be less prominent on my set up with additional, timbre, depth, tightness and precision compared to my WHPhantoms.
- the sound has both fantastic detail and musicality and seems to project out of the Obeslisks to a greater degree, to fill the room both with sparkly, crispy detail and rivers of textured deep bass.
Dynamics are incredible and noise levels appear incredibly low (allowing me to turn the wick up without fatigue)
i’m only four hours into the warm up so will post more further along the Naim warm up rollercoaster and when time allows.
Thanks again to Colin and Alan
Cheers
Jim
system: Dynavector xx2- excalibur - Townshend Rock II- superline- supercap- NAC52- Dynavector HX1.2- shahinian Obelisks
Great packaging with a quality feel, chunky cables, perhaps 25mm across. Z-plugs a very tight fit and the thicker cables did take a little bit of thought to get under my Obelisks due to the way the speaker connections face forward at an angle underneath- not insurmountable though ….. an improvement on NACA5!
First impressions were that the LS80s have the incredible control of the LS40s- seeming somehow to squeeze even more, clean, power out of the amp as the LS40s had but improve on the LS40s in the areas where i had (minor) reservations:
- Where the balance of the bass notes with the rest of the sound had almost proved too much in this room with the LS40s, with the LS80s the bass now seems to be less prominent on my set up with additional, timbre, depth, tightness and precision compared to my WHPhantoms.
- the sound has both fantastic detail and musicality and seems to project out of the Obeslisks to a greater degree, to fill the room both with sparkly, crispy detail and rivers of textured deep bass.
Dynamics are incredible and noise levels appear incredibly low (allowing me to turn the wick up without fatigue)
i’m only four hours into the warm up so will post more further along the Naim warm up rollercoaster and when time allows.
Thanks again to Colin and Alan
Cheers
Jim
system: Dynavector xx2- excalibur - Townshend Rock II- superline- supercap- NAC52- Dynavector HX1.2- shahinian Obelisks
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Heckyman
pfm Member
Sounds like the bastard child of pure class A (texture, lack of grain, soundstage) and active speakers (bass control, solidity, punch). Pure evil!
Heckyman
pfm Member
What will you be comparing against?
ABCaudio
Trade: ABCaudio, representing EWA
New names added to to the list.
@jimbot2.0 , lovely write up, thank you! We really glad you like them, and look forward to your final thoughts and impressions.
@Heckyman : best. review. ever.
@jimbot2.0 , lovely write up, thank you! We really glad you like them, and look forward to your final thoughts and impressions.
@Heckyman : best. review. ever.
flutteringwow
She called me baby, like an old romantic
I received Colins Claymore Integrated from @ABCaudio on Friday, and had it on over the weekend.
As you know, I am fairly critical and honest from my review of the EWA LS40’s, and the truth is, I love this thing. It’s such a cracker.
It has the smoothness of a valve amplifier, with the quietness and precision of a solid state. It pairs lovely with my Naim ND5XS2 and Q Acoustics Concept 300’s and provides a detailed, warm, absorbing and smooth sound – everything is *there* but portrayed in such a natural way, it’s truly addicting.
It really excels in portraying lifelike voices with texture and details that render them extremely life like and natural. Listening to John Smiths ‘The Fray’ and ‘Great Lakes’ is an absolute treat of calm, subtlety but engagement and pleasantry. There is a tiny little bit of sibilance but it's barely noticeable. Drum work is extremely life like, and dare I say it renders the lower treble area of the snare drums nicer and more natural than my Prima Luna at four times the price! Switching to Jason Isbell’s ‘Reunions’, it really manages the tempo and dynamics of some of the quicker tracks. Its timing is impeccable., and it leaves you enjoying each riff and set of harmonics while be exciting for the next change and hearing how it does that. It can however occasionally get a little ‘snappy’ and on the edge of coping with with very heavy tracks with lots going on which leaves you reaching for the remote to knock it down a notch…but wait..I couldn’t find the remote.
There is very little blurring of instruments which I often find with amplifiers at this price, normally for me they sound too critical and over egged, or too dull, boring and uninspiring. The Claymore is anything but. It has the detail, instrument separation and the retains natural warmth. It exceeds its price tag quite easily.
Being honest, it’s not going to rumble your house with a large explosive powerful sound and I found the bass a little faint at times – I knew the bass riff and rumble was there but it was a little too polite and didn’t hit me in my stomach. The cymbals didn’t crash into my hypothalamus disturbing my amygdala like a shot of top shelf absinthe. This however does lead to an un-stressful listening experience though - no exhaustion or feeling like your nervous system has been rattled with stimulation. It’s just, natural, dynamic and enjoyable and simple. Fatigue free sound. It has balance. And balance is probably the most important thing in our universe.
This is one amplifier I would probably purchase if I was downsizing. Sadly, it’s a deal breaker for me not to have a remote. Having to get up to adjust the volume just seems rather silly when in a world where I can adjust the volume on my tv from a different country! If you however have your rack right next to you or don’t mind the get up to adjust, then this amplifier would be a no brainer at the price. But in my opinion, it needs a basic remote to gain more appeal.
It’s been about six years since I have owned an amplifier of this price range, and I remember being completely bemused by the offerings at the time forcing me onto the upgrade ladder. And I tried a LOT ranging from £500 to £5000. If I compare this to say the Pathos Classic Remix (£2700) which I had for a while, while it can’t compete on looks, it kicks the backside of the Italian in sound production easily.
If this amplifier had arrived to me at that stage, it would have put my faith back into more budget units, and I may not have even searched for better. it’s just so, satisfying. Its harmony with the Naim and Concepts is spot on.
Big thumbs up to @CJ14 on this one! Im gonna have it on for a few more days and enjoy it a little more before sending it on though. Next person will just have to wait. Sorry.
As you know, I am fairly critical and honest from my review of the EWA LS40’s, and the truth is, I love this thing. It’s such a cracker.
It has the smoothness of a valve amplifier, with the quietness and precision of a solid state. It pairs lovely with my Naim ND5XS2 and Q Acoustics Concept 300’s and provides a detailed, warm, absorbing and smooth sound – everything is *there* but portrayed in such a natural way, it’s truly addicting.
It really excels in portraying lifelike voices with texture and details that render them extremely life like and natural. Listening to John Smiths ‘The Fray’ and ‘Great Lakes’ is an absolute treat of calm, subtlety but engagement and pleasantry. There is a tiny little bit of sibilance but it's barely noticeable. Drum work is extremely life like, and dare I say it renders the lower treble area of the snare drums nicer and more natural than my Prima Luna at four times the price! Switching to Jason Isbell’s ‘Reunions’, it really manages the tempo and dynamics of some of the quicker tracks. Its timing is impeccable., and it leaves you enjoying each riff and set of harmonics while be exciting for the next change and hearing how it does that. It can however occasionally get a little ‘snappy’ and on the edge of coping with with very heavy tracks with lots going on which leaves you reaching for the remote to knock it down a notch…but wait..I couldn’t find the remote.
There is very little blurring of instruments which I often find with amplifiers at this price, normally for me they sound too critical and over egged, or too dull, boring and uninspiring. The Claymore is anything but. It has the detail, instrument separation and the retains natural warmth. It exceeds its price tag quite easily.
Being honest, it’s not going to rumble your house with a large explosive powerful sound and I found the bass a little faint at times – I knew the bass riff and rumble was there but it was a little too polite and didn’t hit me in my stomach. The cymbals didn’t crash into my hypothalamus disturbing my amygdala like a shot of top shelf absinthe. This however does lead to an un-stressful listening experience though - no exhaustion or feeling like your nervous system has been rattled with stimulation. It’s just, natural, dynamic and enjoyable and simple. Fatigue free sound. It has balance. And balance is probably the most important thing in our universe.
This is one amplifier I would probably purchase if I was downsizing. Sadly, it’s a deal breaker for me not to have a remote. Having to get up to adjust the volume just seems rather silly when in a world where I can adjust the volume on my tv from a different country! If you however have your rack right next to you or don’t mind the get up to adjust, then this amplifier would be a no brainer at the price. But in my opinion, it needs a basic remote to gain more appeal.
It’s been about six years since I have owned an amplifier of this price range, and I remember being completely bemused by the offerings at the time forcing me onto the upgrade ladder. And I tried a LOT ranging from £500 to £5000. If I compare this to say the Pathos Classic Remix (£2700) which I had for a while, while it can’t compete on looks, it kicks the backside of the Italian in sound production easily.
If this amplifier had arrived to me at that stage, it would have put my faith back into more budget units, and I may not have even searched for better. it’s just so, satisfying. Its harmony with the Naim and Concepts is spot on.
Big thumbs up to @CJ14 on this one! Im gonna have it on for a few more days and enjoy it a little more before sending it on though. Next person will just have to wait. Sorry.
I hate remotes, firstly most are digital and always inject crap back into PSU with there Xtal Oscillators secondly I can't design in the digital domain with software etc, the code screws up my brain, and thirdly exercise is good for the sole like good music, so their.
I love you comments, thank you best Col.Oh it a shame the EWA Oberon was only made is small numbers as I upgrade (wife did) from a Q20V to Claymore then she loved the Oberon and so did our two sons and I only made 3, now she nicked the Sibelius , and when a put in the SECA 18W she loves that also. I am not bringing into the house a M100 TS WD one it is very heavy and two she kill my Royd speakers playing it to loud with Stiff Stewart. (or what ever his name is)
I am using LS40 and LS80 and IC stuff with main cord. And my DC Blocker you can make yourself see DIY page on PFM.
Heckyman
pfm Member
Box of cable goodies on the way to @eisenach and the m-50 power amp to @Muttley2 — hope you both enjoy the weekend ;-)
I was not in the market for cables as such, already owning the IC-25 and LS-80. But it was very nice to have the additional EWA cables for the amp demo. Thanks Alan and Colin!
My cable notes:
IC-25
The second pair came in very handy to link up pre/power, thus removing any cable effects from the equation when comparing amps. I couldn't try the XLR as I didn't have a balanced amp input. Found nothing to change my existing view that these are very good cables that do very little harm to the signal.
MC-5
This certainly appeared to do the business with the m-50. Also seemed effective between mains block and wall socket (although these days I've been tending to not bother with the block, might as well save one lead ;-) ). On the rest of my kit, compared with other mains cables, I got the impression it faired well, but I only listened very briefly and the biggest effect was on the amp. Bottom line, I'll be ordering one when I order an EWA amp ;-)
USB cable
Was not super motivated to compare (sorry!) as my main focus was on the amp which was already a new variable. Moreover, my favoured connection to my DAC is i2s over HDMI via a converter. Prior to the demo, when connecting source to DAC directly via USB (Mac mini M1 -> Holo May) I had not heard anything earth shattering from any USB cable (Oyaide 5S vs freebie). Last weekend a friend just happened to bring around the Sablon 2020 USB cable — if you follow these things it's supposedly one of the best you can get — and he didn't think there was much in it vs the EWA with both being better than the Oyaide. The EWA was maybe more solid and the Sablon a bit more sparkly. I would maybe prefer the Sablon if price were no object. Or maybe not. On this quick listen, I honestly couldn't tell much difference between any of them. Perhaps I wasn't in the mood for USB cable comparisions.
Star of the show though was the amp. Comments on the m-50 will follow a little later when I've had some time to come back down to earth with my own system. I'd advise anyone who's even mildly curious about amps to get in the demo queue!
I was not in the market for cables as such, already owning the IC-25 and LS-80. But it was very nice to have the additional EWA cables for the amp demo. Thanks Alan and Colin!
My cable notes:
IC-25
The second pair came in very handy to link up pre/power, thus removing any cable effects from the equation when comparing amps. I couldn't try the XLR as I didn't have a balanced amp input. Found nothing to change my existing view that these are very good cables that do very little harm to the signal.
MC-5
This certainly appeared to do the business with the m-50. Also seemed effective between mains block and wall socket (although these days I've been tending to not bother with the block, might as well save one lead ;-) ). On the rest of my kit, compared with other mains cables, I got the impression it faired well, but I only listened very briefly and the biggest effect was on the amp. Bottom line, I'll be ordering one when I order an EWA amp ;-)
USB cable
Was not super motivated to compare (sorry!) as my main focus was on the amp which was already a new variable. Moreover, my favoured connection to my DAC is i2s over HDMI via a converter. Prior to the demo, when connecting source to DAC directly via USB (Mac mini M1 -> Holo May) I had not heard anything earth shattering from any USB cable (Oyaide 5S vs freebie). Last weekend a friend just happened to bring around the Sablon 2020 USB cable — if you follow these things it's supposedly one of the best you can get — and he didn't think there was much in it vs the EWA with both being better than the Oyaide. The EWA was maybe more solid and the Sablon a bit more sparkly. I would maybe prefer the Sablon if price were no object. Or maybe not. On this quick listen, I honestly couldn't tell much difference between any of them. Perhaps I wasn't in the mood for USB cable comparisions.
Star of the show though was the amp. Comments on the m-50 will follow a little later when I've had some time to come back down to earth with my own system. I'd advise anyone who's even mildly curious about amps to get in the demo queue!
rag987
pfm Member
This has perked my interest. I would love to demo the power amp as have been thinking about my 18-years old Bryston SST and if an improvement is on the cards. Only problem would be connectivity - my current setup uses balanced XLR and I would be unable to demo with RCA as distance from pre to power is quite large. Thinking time...
Heckyman
pfm Member
@Rajive Aggarwal yeah, ideally I would want to transition my system towards balanced, too. Thinking bubble...