Electrocompaniet EMC-1 vs 1up


Hi guys,

I'm looking into the Electrocompaniet CD player. There's been one major upgrade since its introduction, which is the change from a 24/96 DAC to a 24/192. Has anyone heard both of the models? The newer one is very well-regarded, but I never hear much about the older one. Is the new DAC worth the approx. $700 dollar premium you'll pay on audiogon?

Thanks!
128x128lousyreeds1
Lousyreeds,

I auditioned a 24/96 along with a 24/192 (not long after the 24/192 came out). I liked the refinement and definition better on the 24/192. As a result, I purchased one. I have been happy with it for the few years (about) that I have had the player and do not plan on changing it out any time soon.

However, there have been at least a few upgrades available to the player since then. One involves a new 'spider' clamp to hold the CD's down (from EC). One involves upgrading capacitors and such on the inside (called the 'UP' I believe, available from EC distributer if purchased in the US from a EC dealer and others, some here on Audiogon if they have time - member Subaruguru can at least get you a list of parts). Then there are other modifications that have been made to the player by some non-EC companies so as to help out various other EMC-1 performance areas. Others here will hopefully chime in to tell you about them but I think you need to start with a EMC-1UP but am not sure.

I do not have any of the above mods within my player so can not really comment on the changed performance but just wanted you to know that there seem to be more upgrades that could have been taken (or not) on the player you may be considering.

Jerry
AFAIK, UP refers to the 24/192 upsampling DAC. The other upgrade that Jerry refers to involves changes out some parts on the power supply and is usually called the SE. So when my EMC-1 came back from the US distributor with the new DAC and the power supply upgrade, the s/n tag was marked EMC-1UP SE.