Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Plus Tour

richidoo · April 10, 2012, 06:54:41 PM

Nice review Dave!!

Carlman · April 11, 2012, 05:12:04 PM

Yes, thanks, Dave! I'm glad it worked out so you could hear (and enjoy) the DAC again.. And I'm very happy you were willing to pick it up from my home. In these days of limited time, that was extremely nice.

Can't wait to hear what amp you go with....

-C

mfsoa · June 10, 2012, 05:48:33 PM

Bill,

Dac is at my house in NJ, FYI

-Mike

Bill O'Connell · June 11, 2012, 05:53:48 PM

Thanks Mike for the update, enjoy!
Bill

rollo · June 16, 2012, 07:58:50 AM

Well well well, Pete [ his personal piece ] brought the DAC over last night for a listen. We liked it paired up with a Plinius 101 CDP as transport.
Right off the bat the sound was involving and non fatiguing. The topend which is the tell all for me was so non digital it was scary. Bass was deep and articulate. Not sure yet about the tube vs SS playback. Compared directly to the Plinius alone it was close. The Plinius is a dedicated redbook player [ $5400] and that in itself is a great start. Maybe we lost lost some air and decay with the combo however the jury is still out. We were trying so many pieces at the time it was really unfair to make a final judgement.

Pete was kind enough to leave it with me for further evaluation until Wed. . If all goes well we will be using the DAC to show off our gear at the DC Capitol Audiofest in July.
More to come. So far very well done Bill.

charles

rollo · June 17, 2012, 06:41:28 AM

Night two. After 24 hours straight of playing the DAC has opened up a bit more. Depth of soundstage has shown itself as well as width and height.
I just think it needs more time. To date I have yet to meet any new DAC that took less than 400 hours to sound its best. So far if it is a matter of omission than fault.
Tonality and harmonic structure is very good. PRAT as well. Maybe a bit recessed in the mids and lacking of detail at the top. Now those observations are in direct comparison to the Plinius 101CDP.
So far for the money being asked it is a winner in every way. One will have to spend double or triple to get more. Only you can determine if the "more" is worth the extra dough.
We are all subject to the source meaning the recording itself. Sometimes well most times the extra top can intrude on our listening pleasure with CD. Not all are recorded well.
If you desire a DAC that gets you to dance this is it. You just forget about the over detailed sound and well just dance.

charles

Bill O'Connell · June 27, 2012, 03:29:36 PM

Quote from: mfsoa on June 10, 2012, 05:48:33 PM
Bill,

Dac is at my house in NJ, FYI

-Mike

Ok Mike,

Have you sent the DAC to the next person in line? Any opinion on what you hear? Some feedback please.
Thanks,
Bill

Rocket · October 29, 2013, 04:37:18 AM

Hi Bill,

I'll give you some feedback on the Eastern Electric Dac Plus which I bought from the Australian dealer recently. My previous dac was a Perpetual Technologies P3A (modwright level 2) which sounded very good in my system which contains Pioneer PDS 507 which has a G & D clock and transport modifications, N.E.W. P3 tube preamplifier, Ampzilla 2000 monoblocks and Salk Sound HT3 speakers.

The sound definitely is more analogue compared with my PT P3A dac especially the top end which did not display any brightness at all. The bass was deep and articulate, wide soundstage etc. but I think the telltale sign is that I'm listening more to digital than my vinyl system.

I also have installed brown dog upgrade adapters and I am using OPA2606 and 797B's. This was recommended by Doug Schroeder so I thought I would try them first. I was that impressed with the EE dac that I've ordered Dexa discrete opamps. I'm a little undecided between the tube and SS option. The tube seems to slightly veil the sound but it also give it a little more bloom whilst the SS is more transparent but I then miss the midrange.

Anyway, this has worked out to be an affordable good quality dac that will serve me for a while. It seemed to the be flavour of the month a year or so ago and it doesn't seem to get much press these days.

Cheers Rod

jimbones · October 29, 2013, 12:42:20 PM

Quote from: Bill O'Connell on June 27, 2012, 03:29:36 PM
Quote from: mfsoa on June 10, 2012, 05:48:33 PM
Bill,

Dac is at my house in NJ, FYI

-Mike

Bill,

Is there any way to get on the list to demo the EE DAC?

Jim G

Ok Mike,

Have you sent the DAC to the next person in line? Any opinion on what you hear? Some feedback please.
Thanks,
Bill

Bill O'Connell · November 01, 2013, 08:01:25 AM

Rocket,
Great choice to install the Dexa's.
I've been running them for over a year now.
Had Bill Baker from Response Audio install some Vcaps in the output stage and power supply, he does some very nice work! Had to raise the cover about an inch to fit them in but still looks great and sounds fantastic.Must use the Tube output stage to put those Vcaps to use coupled with an E80CC pinched waist D getter tube. Awesome

Rocket · November 08, 2013, 03:17:48 PM

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the reply. Very impressed with the EE dac plus and the improvement the Dexa discrete opamps made and it was a night and day improvement. Not sure I'll do any other modifications because I've been down this path before and have damaged the component that I was modding.

The Dexas and brown dog upgrade adapters are very easy to install.

Cheers Rod

StereoNut · November 08, 2013, 04:18:03 PM

Anybody have experience with a Bolder Cable Company modded Eastern Electric DAC ?

Wayne's mods include:

- LME49990 op amps on Brown Dog adapters
- All 30 caps, 12 diodes and 7 resistors changed w/ 2 circuit boards added to tube section
- 30 bypass and supplemental caps added
- Modification of dual op amps for I/E conversion
- Tube output section reworked
- Tube circuit input level matched to op-amp output
- Resonance control pucks on main crystal and high volt cap
- Volume control disabled / output direct to jacks
- Cryo treated, silver plated, ceramic fuse
- Psvane 12AU7 tube

Comments...???

SN

tmazz · November 12, 2013, 07:03:52 AM

I have never heard a Bolder modded EE but I can tell you that I have two Art Di/os, one stock and one with Wayne's Mensa Mod installed, and the difference is striking. I can imagine tat the mods he does for the EE DAC would not result in a significant increase in SQ.

StereoNut · November 12, 2013, 01:16:23 PM

Quote from: tmazz on November 12, 2013, 07:03:52 AM
I have never heard a Bolder modded EE but I can tell you that I have two Art Di/os, one stock and one with Wayne's Mensa Mod installed, and the difference is striking. I can imagine tat the mods he does for the EE DAC would not result in a significant increase in SQ.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Tom!