Phoenix ECL86 – a small amplifier with a big heart

I am in love.

The entry may be a bit lengthy by today’s standards, but I feel like it, maybe someone will find it in 10 years looking for information about this amplifiers on the secondary market and help him make a decision?

I’m just listening to the album below.Phoenix Audio ECL86And for the first time since Dawan, I feel that I am in no hurry, it is a damn good feeling these days …

The amplifier belongs to Łukasz, with whom I went to Szczecin some time agoKlipsch Forte III. He played on this amplifier and praised it strongly for several years. Even though we live in the same city, it was not possible to listen to him.

We both have little sons about 3 years old and we suffer from permanent lack of time.

Last Saturday, however, everything put together – bad weather, so spending time on the ROD plot (which, by the way, this year tired of the frost), gave up family trips to playgrounds … As a result of these coincidences, we met to listen A little bit of music 🙂

Phoenix ECL86 – sound

We drank coffee, talked, let us warm up for a while, and as it was already plugged in, we started listening.

First, we listened to ‘Eceelka’ on hisKlipsch Forte IIIAnd I had the feeling that it sounds intriguing. Łukasz pointed out that when it gets louder, the bass sticks out. But something completely different caught my attention.

I don’t know how to write it so that it doesn’t sound too clichéd, multi-epithet, or a reviewer’s bad style. It’s not quite the phone to register, but of course I tried 🙂

Extremely casual, fast, transparent, and at the same time musical and colorfully varied in color. Someone might say that it is detailed – in its own way, yes, but this is not the detail, but the rendering of the music.

Then it was time for Lebena and of course its characteristics pushed us into a bit different atmosphere and louder listening. OK – power was better, dynamics, bass control, momentum – still with a nice color.

But

I have ECL in my headKa – So I took it under my arm and home.

I wasn’t sure if it could handle mine.Spectralswhich I have at hand, because there are a lot of drivers, but on the other hand 93db of effectiveness.

So I fastened the aforementioned Eclka with a line preamp and the music was flowing.

Listen, I know that not everyone focuses so much on the details that I focus on. I know the phone is not able to register it all … but this amplifier is a little powerful wizard.

He can do everything – kick the bass, diversify, give an insight into the recording, and if you need to mask something else (I have heard a lot of amplifiers more mean for the recordings)

Phoenix ECL86 – my opinion

In a time where we are in the audio world inundated with quantity, not quality, unbalanced and tiring sound, watts, not tuningMr. Krzysztof Jasiński’s product is a real gem.

Today you can easily buy a cheap, powerful and good amplifier from China – I had 3 models of Line Magnetic on 805 and 2x 845 lamps. There are good Cayins, or cheap Yaqiny, Mingda and a lot of others … There are Japanese equipment, British, French with more and less known tags ..

However, ‘Eceelka’ has something more than cotton wool – a big heart that these 2W power should not define

Therefore, I do not like choosing equipment according to technical parameters. They deceive more than tell the truth.

Eclka has more music in it than every 100, 200W amplifier I have listened to. There is a bit of a conceptHaiku Sol I, some from Spec RSA-717RX, some from Lavardin, a bit from Audion 300B …

Power, cotton wool – you can buy it cheap today, there are hundreds of different models of amplifiers, but so sophisticated, emotional and ineffective, and you can look for an extremely pleasantly naturally playing device for years and it will be difficult to find.

What is Eceelka’s secret? I don’t know. I can only shoot that you can hear a constructor in it – nearly 30 years of work and improvements. Gradual improvement, listening – the pursuit of perfection is not profitable … Instead of living the sound, perfect balance. Dynamic, colorful, emotional.

Using a culinary metaphor, it reminds me a bitgive reimyo– It is like a dish in a restaurant with a Michelin star – not everyone will be ready to appreciate it right away, focusing on what is not (power), but with each subsequent bite we understand better and better what its craftsmanship is …

I fell ill with this amplifier. 🙂