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EWA A40 - Absolutely fabulous

A

Adamgordoncr8

pfm Member
I bought an EWA A40 early after Colin Wonfor started producing them.

Warning; I'm going to wax lyrical.

I spent years and years, listening to amplifiers at dealers and home. £5k, £10k, £15k. Pretty much every single one left me bewildered and dissapointed. Is this what high-end passive hifi sounds like!? Boring, slow, thin.

I'd had some time with some smaller active speakers prior to that which weren't refined in any sense. But they did have something I was never able to get close to with anything passive. A speed of transient, an insight, a control, coupled with musical rhythm and cohesion AND sound mass. I thought for years only Naim could partly replicate that. But Naim lacked the refinement in treble and the bass was flabby. Plus a bit insistent on telling you it was Naim at every beat.

Then, when trying out one of Colin's other amps, up came the suggestion of the A40.

Well, since that day, I've canned any thought of bothering with any other amplifier - unless Colin makes a better one. Sure there might be other great ones out there (somewhere). But I'm going to pay serious money and I genuinely can't imagine it being much better than this.

The realism, transparency, speed, rhythm and the tone. The tone is sublime. It even has a weight to bass that is coupled with speed and clarity of bass notes. Most importantly the music is belieable and totally 'together'.

I absolutely love this amp. I just love listening to music these days again. I dare not change anything.

Colin is a genius. Genuinely. And a lovely bloke to boot. Couldn't be more helpful.

From years of absolutely painful searching. I can absolutely, whole heartedly recommend an EWA amp. Particularly the A40.

I've even given up considering high end active studio monitors. That's how good it is.

Cheers
Adam
 
Looks very interesting.

Our being located a long way from Old Blighty, I worry about having to trouble-shoot and repair the amp further down the track.

If I was able to pick up an A40, is it possible to get a schematic [with values] somewhere?
 
All I do know; It's SECA Class A 40 watts p/c power amp. It moves to class A/B at a certain point. Dual mono. Not sure on the details - some more info here somewhere. One of Colin's posts.

It's driven all of my speakers exceptionally well. Brigadier Mu2, Tab Anniversaries and SM100 MKIII. I've also used ATCSCM40 and Heritage Special. I prefer a smaller monitor.

The sound is sturdy and consistent no matter the speaker or load. It plays on and on with consistent enthusiasm.

I believe Colin pays special attention to power supplies - having designed the things for Nasa I'm sure this adds some expertise.

I use mine from a Chord TT2 (as pre) direct to the A40 (power). It's the purest sound I've had for sure.

I know of a couple of others who've got them and feel the same.

Nice to see the grinches are out - as usual. Not quite Christmas yet, so must be at loose end.
 
Thank you Adam, now I have my sight back I can read your comments, lovely thank you,as to circuit diagram all my circuits are and will be on my SECA Forum free to down load, but it is not just the circuit it is also very very important to get the tracking right, and this can be complex and a forgotten part of the circuit, OK critic I hear you small but complex reactive tracks/circuit do change sound.
As a matter of fact to get this M40 sounding the way I like, took me 4 attempts on PCB layout. Minor routing changes altered the sound horridly.
I will be making another version soon a monster at 1Kw and it will love 0.5 Ohm loads, chat with Ian it will be his baby.
 
I own both an M40 (formerly the A40) and a M100TS. I’ve owned quite a few well renowned amps over the years but these 2 amps are the best I’ve ever had; as I’ve posted previously, I regard them as end game kit. In the future I will have need of an amp that can deliver an extraordinarily large amount of current and as Col alluded to above, I have commissioned him to design and build such an amplifier. I’m not aware of any other amplifier that can match its planned ability to drive mind bogglingly low impedances.
 
I think it would be overkill for Quads. Some of Col’s existing amps will drive those with relative ease.
 
I've just acquired an ex-demo M-100 Pro, as part of an ongoing upgrade plan. I'm not totally sure where it stands in the M range, as the Pro designation appears to have been dropped, and the T added. I know it's dual mono, and basically gorgeous. It looks identical to the other current EWA M series amps. It's not yet in its final place, as I don't have the speakers I bought it to power yet, but it's currently in my studio running a reference system, and it sounds breathtaking. I'm already certain it's not something I'll ever be parting with.
 
Sorry, don’t understand, I’m perhaps a bit thick :), not sure where the special order comes in, just order and that’s it isn’t it?
 
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