Forget your notion of the traditional solid state sound. I bought this Dayens Ecstasy IIB (70 watts/channel into 8 ohms, 100 watts into 4 ohms ,Mundorf power and coupling capacitors) as a demo from the distributor here in California to play with Hornshoppe speakers, then Tekton Lores . It is the big brother of the well-received Ampino (which I have not heard), and top of their integrated line. It has been replaced by the Ecstasy III, which adds 30 extra watts per channel into 8 ohms and a remote control...and retails for $2500. Google both this amp and other Dayens amps for more information and reviews. I wanted to used this to replace versus a 1.5 watt EL84 SET Integrated Amp (Vaughn Audio Carina) I've had for several years. I found the Ecstasy IIB matched the clarity, sound staging, and tone of the SET, which is a feat to itself.
I've had the following done that dramatically improved clarity and dynamics:
-replaced the stock binding posts with Cardas CCGR (Copper, then silver plated, then rhodium plated. The nut is also made of copper, but is gold plated)
-replaced stock IEC inlet with Acme Audio silver-plated cryo inlet
-replaced the two fuses in the power supply rails (5A) with AMR Gold Fuses, and the primary power fuse (4A) with a Acme Audio Silver plated cryo fuse
-selectively added Herbie's Audio Lab DB Neutralizer damping around transformer, output devices and capacitors; added heavier damping strips on the chassis bottom.
I'm returning to tubes with different speakers and don't need the power (despite the high efficiency, I found both the Hornshoppe and Lores really opened up with more power). If you have speakers that need a moderate amount of power to sing, this integrated amp is hard to beat! But if you have higher efficiency speakers..prepared to be stunned!
$700.00 is firm, and includes double-boxed shipping (Fedex Ground) to the lower 48 states and PayPal fees. Please,no low ball offers or trades
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