So ECP stuff is a little bit of an enigma as all the info for them are buried across multiple threads on SBAF. What i gather is the designs, and most first runs, and prototypes are made by one guy, Doug aka dsavitsk. After that he may do more runs himself or it seems often those designs are passed on to another person to produce. From what I see Doug seems to be in close consolation when a 3rd party takes something over and he seems to give final inspection and approval. My walnut was made this way, 3rd party with Doug over looking it and going by his approval. This did also lead to some extremely niche 1 offs, as in a Ravenswood with silver transformers. Which after the owner told me about he said “oh i shouldnt of even mentioned that” in a tone that he let go a CIA deep secret.
So the thread for the DSHA-3F:
Once again I find SBAF not organized well and hard to navigate. It was spoken about on other threads but this was the main thread talking about the amp revival.
The guy doing the work this time is CEE TEE aka CEE TEE. It looks like a big reason Doug is not doing this anymore is the metal shop he used was victim of the pandemic and something tells me other shops wouldnt take up the project in small quantities or at a decent cost.
I asked a few questions as i have been looking for a 3F for a while…
Questions & Answers
What isnt the clearest is if same circuit means a 1 for 1 same layout, or same schematic laid out in a way the circuit is the “same” but actual dimensions are altered. I am not sure the exact dimensions of the original but this one is listed as 8"x9"x2" which is smallish.
Pretty detailed and zoomable pictures of the board are on the product page. DSHA-3FN – NITSCH
I do not know if there are many pics of the original runs to compare boards but i think it would be well worth it. Parts are also said to be the same but looking at that pic i wonder if cap upgrades are an easy job. There is an in chassis LPS that i wonder if it could be modded to an external one. Other ECP stuff looked easy to open up but normally was deceptively elaborate to service.
I am assuming the factory is doing the metal case and the pcb and assembly is done in house, but that should be fact checked.
This run will be the 3F amorphous core. No 3-non-F (which there is an extremely small amount of), and no 3F nickel cores. Transformers will also not be swappable like the older 3 F. This one WILL have a switch to go from BAL in to SE in, original was BAL xlr only. It could take an SE to BAL cable meaning you didnt need a balanced signal per say. The out looks to still be BAL only. And that HAS TO BE BAL. No drop the ground tricks allowed or something will break.
Of course the questions are is will this sound the same? I think that depends on how identical the circuit is and how much the chassis will affect things. I assume the chassis will be a little less high quality than before but also the price reflects that some too.