With the amazing raise in the amount of letters received by the Club, after the distribution of our first edition, we sensed that most of our readers bear in mind the following questions: how do I get into the high-end world without putting the house on mortgage, and how do I keep a system that won’t become obsolete in a couple of months?

The answer to those questions are released monthly in our sections: First Steps, First Impressions, Point of View, Opinions, and sometimes, also in the tests, for all the time we receive more and more products for evaluation tuned with the new market tendencies, which are to join in one product several benefits, making them affordable to the majority of the consumers, that only now were exposed to the magic of high fidelity. It seems that some companies have understood and accepted those tendencies, and are doing their homework very well, once that every year they improve even more their products.

Eletrocompanient is part of this very select group of manufacturers, who every year overcome themselves, anticipating tendencies and presenting more refined products each day, at a reasonable price.

My readers know that I hold a long time experience with the products from the Norwegian company Electrocompaniet, and even though, I always get surprised with the quality of it.

There have already been through my audition room the monoblocks AW180 (product of the year), the CD player EMC-1 (product of the year) and, more recently, the amplifier AW 250- R (candidate for product of the year). Without exception, all of them stood out for its impeccable construction, design, robustness and, obviously, for its unspeakable sound qualities. This goes to prove that the 25 years of existence of the Electrocompanient have set as reference among the other companies in the business.

To reinforce my point of view, I remind my readers that the Electrocompanient is today the most successful European company in the United States market, all this being due to the quality of its products, once their investments in publicity are timid compared to British, Canadian and even the American companies themselves.

To be honest, I must inform that the monoblocks supposed to be tested in this issue were the already acclaimed top line Nemo. However, with the enormous sale success of this product around the world, there has been a delay on the delivery of the Nemo; then, the supplier had the idea of sending us for testing, the new integrated of the company: the ECI-3. An amplifier that, wherever it has been through, received open flattery and titles, such as Recommended, Best Buy, and, for sure, Product of the Year.

With the usual quality, the ECI-3 also has the famous front of all Electrocompanient line: the thick acrylic cover, with golden buttons, one in the center, to turn on and off, and four buttons on the right corner to pump up the volume and select the signal. On the upper left corner a discrete display in blue (Electrocompanient standard) to indicate the selected source.

On the back panel we have: a pair of balanced input, six single end inputs, and a balanced output, just in case the consumer wants to upgrade and use the ECI-3 as a pre-amplifier.

The terminals on the speakers are of good quality, allowing, with no risk of short circuit the amplifier, the use of cables with bigger spades.

The standard quality of the basic components that feature in the ECI-3 is premium: double mono circuit, balanced, toroidal transformer oversized, and a group of capacitors with 40.000 microfarads.

According to the manufacturer, the ECI-3 guaranties stability with loads up to 0,5 ohms, due to the delivery capacity for peak current up to 60 amperes. The ECI-3 debit 75 watts in 8ohms by channel, 120 watts in 4 and 180 in 2 ohms.

The total harmonic distortion is inferior to 0,2% in nominal potency, and its frequency response goes from 0 Hz to 65 kHz.

You shouldn’t assume that the fact I heard the ECI-3 over the Easter holiday influenced me in any way to choose the title of this section. The naked truth is that the sound signature of all Electrocompanient products is present in the ECI-3. That relaxed sound, silky but warm, which, to the minimum sign of dynamic variation, fully responds with no hesitation.

This is, doubtlessly, a kind of behavior that we find only in the great amplifiers, regardless the price. That is why the auditions became inebriant and alive, making you want to keep on going forever. The more I have the opportunity to know the extensive line of products from Electrocompaniet, the more I’m convinced by the quality and musical knowledge of its designers. The fine adjustment, only achieved by trained ears, gives the sound personality of the Electrocompanient; and such personality only reinsures the quality of the designer in charge.

The sound is extremely translucent, clear, detailed, and with stretched acute. The bass, don’t hold the impetuosity from the AW 250, but are correct, quick and precise, which keeps the rhythmic pulse always highlighted.

Due to all those qualities, the ECI-3 doesn’t choose musical tendencies nor styles; arranged in a system with a good CD player and a good pair of speakers, the ECI-3 will fulfill the needs of any audiophile.

Actually, compatibility is also another merit of the Electrocompaniet. I’ve plugged the ECI-3 to several speakers (CUB, Countour 1.3, Aura ( see the test in this same issue Etalon etc.), to two digital sources (Jupter-YO, Maestro and DaCapo ), with several cables (Nordost, Van den Hul, NBS and Kimber), and there was always total synergy. This sets it in a privileged position, once compatibility is a criteria which often hardens the choice for amplifiers, especially for the beginner in search for the Holy Grail.

When listening to the ECI-3 working in a balanced input, I liked it even more. I could experience a clear improvement in the speed and width of the sound space (stage). Once the first CD players with balanced output are becoming available, for around US$ 1.500,00, the ECI-3 will take advantage of this situation showing that it’s possible to acquire a system with audiophile quality spending little more than US$ 5.000,00 (speakers and cables included). Something unthinkable three years ago.

To enable my readers to understand the level in which the ECI-3 is placed, I picked up my notes from the Plinius 8150 test, an integrated that intensely charmed me and still is a serious reference to the US$3.000,00 price range.

The Plinius, having double the potency of the ECI-3 (150watts per channel), shows bigger breath, impact in complex symphonies and a more accurate rhythmic sense. However, the ECI-3 has a transparency and a richness of details in the middle region very refined, and a acute extremely hard to find in this products price range. The acute have a soft decay, providing the clear perception of the most subtle happening, even silence. It was surprising the audition of the track 4 on our newest CD – Tom Jobim; the plates work was reproduced fully.

Recalling the earlier mentioned common doubt of the beginners and experienced people, about how much is necessary to spend in order to be completely satisfied with the high-end equipment, I believe with this test I reached the core of the matter: The profound mutation that the regular market is facing, whose most important consequence is the huge variety of options, such situation leading (fortunately) the prices way down, while the quality goes in the opposite direction. There have never been, like now, so many options of excellent integrated, speakers and CD players, between US$ 700,00 and US$ 3.000,00.

This way, in order not to spend more than the necessary, it’s good to search, define exactly what do you expect from the equipment and listen to at least three options before choosing your buying.

The ECI-3 is definitely an amplifier in an intermediary price range (from 2 to 4 thousand dollars) with quality and features able to compete with products from the top line. It can also be used for a good preamplifier in a future upgrade, if connected to any power from 3 to 5 thousand dollars, without becoming the weakest link of the chain.

For those who haven’t had the opportunity to listen to a Electrocompanient before, here is a good one: start from the ECI-3. An integrand extremely able when it comes to treating the signal, synergic with numerous types of speakers, CD players and cables, elegant design and compatible with future upgrades. What else can you expect from a genuine pure blood for less than three thousand?