"Musmys" E-406 clone amp, a HiFi newbie's review =)

[khaliss]

N2000A is $4400 on Crutchfield, Galion A75 is $1,500, Musmys E406 is $750 shipped? Would love to see a comparison writeup between all 3 after your listening tests =)

 

[Billy Budapest]

@khaliss, please don't use that term here, thanks.

Let's Avoid the Term Chi-Fi

I often see the use of the term "Chi Fi" to describe audio products from China. I see the intention and don't think anyone is trying to be racist and what have you. Still, I like us to show the highest respect to products from around the world. As avid readers of this forum know...

www.audiosciencereview.com

JSmith

Agreed. Would you call Japanese-made electronics “Jap-Fi,” or electronics made in Germany “Kraut-Fi,” etc.? Same thing.

 

[gentlejax]

My E406 is still running strong, zero issues so far (knock on wood)... it seems to sound better also! I've made more modifications to my setup since then, & also acquired the "clone" C2860+ preamp

Thanks for your feedback on the A60... I'm now considering the A75 clone as my next upgrade

I have the 2860+ already. Liked it so much I bought the E406 last night. thoughts on the pair compared to the other stuff you have heard?

 

[gentlejax]

Agreed. Would you call Japanese-made electronics “Jap-Fi,” or electronics made in Germany “Kraut-Fi,” etc.? Same thing.

there was a time when people"s skin was made to weather such traumatic things.

if I were to say "jap-fi" it would just be short for Japanese high-fidelity which is not as easily said as the other. the only reason it matters now is decades of drilling it into people to be hypersensitive to the point now that we dont even know how to have a conversation or God forbid a disagreement.

 

[Billy Budapest]

there was a time when people"s skin was made to weather such traumatic things.

if I were to say "jap-fi" it would just be short for Japanese high-fidelity which is not as easily said as the other. the only reason it matters now is decades of drilling it into people to be hypersensitive to the point now that we dont even know how to have a conversation or God forbid a disagreement.

It’s called common decency.

 

[gentlejax]

It’s called common decency.

I believe you mean " politically correctness succeeding at its real goal"

I have never heard anyone get upset over it. its inanimate objects we are talking about not human beings. I hope you are living life a little more relaxed than this in general.

im 1/2 Puerto Rican. I have been insulted by Americans and Puerto Ricans . this is not the same. not the same at all. but I am going to go home and see if I cant humiliate my 2860+ clone by calling him the C word.

chi-fi and Kraut-fi arent even the same. is Chinese an insult? Kraut is not a country.

 

[gentlejax]

sorry, but I have it placed on the AV rack & it's such a hassle to remove it now... just watch the review of the Musmys E-405 by HiFi-Zone on youtube, they are pretty similar inside.... as far as components, transistors, capacitors, etc

View attachment 456288

im about to have the same set as you. I had a Parasound P5 which people generally like and i could tell the difference immediately . Was hearing things in songs I think were normally muffled or hidden. I also got a warranty on the amp so I hope it works out well. from everything I have seen these units are starting to gain popularity. the preamp is not too heavy so maybe one of us can send to be tested here.

 

[khaliss]

the only "real" amp I've compared the Musmys E406 extensively was with Emotiva BasX A1 monoblocks. Specs are very similar (in terms of wattage, etc), but I can honestly say the E406 sounded considerably better (in terms of fidelity & dynamics) on medium to high listening levels. I've since sold my A1s & have acquired 2x E406 amps to have full bi-amp capability. Just waiting on my next speaker upgrade to see how well they work in Vertical Bi-amping (I know everyone says I probably won't hear any difference), but still the concept is fascinating to me, so I'm going for it =D

 

[EPICURIOUS007]

Unfortunately, I don't have the means & expertise to do any meaningful measurements, aside from just room frequency response with REW. Here's the graph taken from my sweet spot (graph below)... but this has a lot of factors tied in like all the other components in my setup, the electrostatic speakers, & of course my untreated listening room.

Wish I could send this amp to Amir, but it weighs almost 50 lbs and It's going to cost a lot to ship it LOL... & I have a very modest budget for this hobby. If anyone is in Central California area with the equipment & know-how to do measurements... I wouldn't mind taking this beast out & bring it to your place and run tests/measurements with it =)

View attachment 447876

Can you do these same measurements with the Emotiva in the chain instead, then you can have a comparison,
beside the dip @ 97 ish hz the response looks pretty good.
no sure if using speaker line level into your energy sub bypasses the sub's amp?

 

[khaliss]

Can you do these same measurements with the Emotiva in the chain instead, then you can have a comparison,
beside the dip @ 97 ish hz the response looks pretty good.
no sure if using speaker line level into your energy sub bypasses the sub's amp?

the dip is from my listening room, doesn't matter what amp & speakers I use =X my Energy sub is hooked up via Speaker-line level & phase-tuned using REW. Unfortunately, I've sold my Emotiva A1s a few months ago, so I don't really have any real amp to compare it with

 

[gentlejax]

the only "real" amp I've compared the Musmys E406 extensively was with Emotiva BasX A1 monoblocks. Specs are very similar (in terms of wattage, etc), but I can honestly say the E406 sounded considerably better (in terms of fidelity & dynamics) on medium to high listening levels. I've since sold my A1s & have acquired 2x E406 amps to have full bi-amp capability. Just waiting on my next speaker upgrade to see how well they work in Vertical Bi-amping (I know everyone says I probably won't hear any difference), but still the concept is fascinating to me, so I'm going for it =D

2 E406'S ! thats going to look impressive . I think these amps and preamps are gaining recognition. I hope they last . but that was the purpose of the warranty. I hope its valid. havnt got it nor amp yet.

 

[khaliss]

2 E406'S ! thats going to look impressive . I think these amps and preamps are gaining recognition. I hope they last . but that was the purpose of the warranty. I hope its valid. havnt got it nor amp yet.

It's been a few weeks, have you received your Musmys set yet? I'd love to hear some feedback from your experience =)

 

[Swann36]

2 E406'S ! thats going to look impressive . I think these amps and preamps are gaining recognition. I hope they last . but that was the purpose of the warranty. I hope its valid. havnt got it nor amp yet.

@gentlejax how are you finding the E406 ?

 

[JSmith]

Am I the only one who always sees Mumsys (sounds like mumsies) instead of Musmys?


JSmith

 

[Johnkeizer]

No, for once we see the same.
Next thing we’ll be having a drink together.

 

[Cobra2]

It looks very nicely built. Can you get a closeup of the n- and p- channel transistor part numbers? IXYS is now owned by Littelfuse and their parts are on Mouser, but there are quite a few 30A versions.

The E-406 is "pure" N-channel or quasi-complementary design. (Do not think Accu uses this topology).
And the chosen MosFets have an unconventional pinout... I learned the hard way. I got one, defective at arrival, shorted input-fuse at first try... several shorted MosFets...
Ended as a Hypex-transplant.
I do prefer the E-405... sounds good, better layout than E-406 IMHO.

 

[Cobra2]

The E-405 after meter-change - the LED-lit yellow do not "work" in this chassi....

 

[mhardy6647]

Am I the only one who always sees Mumsys (sounds like mumsies) instead of Musmys?


JSmith

No, you are not.

 

[khaliss]

The E-406 is "pure" N-channel or quasi-complementary design. And the chosen MosFets have an unconventional pinout... I learned the hard way. I got one, defective at arrival, shorted input-fuse at first try... several shorted ModFets...
Ended as a Hypex-transplant.
I do prefer the E-405... sounds good, better layout than E-406 IMHO.

interesting findings... both my E-406s have zero problems so far, & they still sound fabulous after a year of usage (at least when compared to an Emotiva BasX-A1 monoblocks & a Yamaha A-S701). Maybe I need to start looking into a much higher-end power amp to really compare LOL