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Electrocompaniet EMC-1: let's talk?

"The history of the player is:
24/96 (original)
24/192 (upgraded DAC)
24/192 UP (upgraded DAC plus various internal component upgrades).

The "SE" and "MKII" designations refer to the 24/192 UP and 24/192 players. Neither of these are actually official names given by Electrocompaniet. Someone (dealer or customer) referred to the EMC-1 players as "SE" and "MKII" some months back and the names just kinda' stuck."
The above from the horse's mouth, an authorized dealer. After having gone through hell selling my Dodson 217 MK II D, competing w/guys mistakenly advertising their units w/out mentioning they were upgraded and not the latest model, I'm a bit sensitive to mis-categorizations, no matter how innocent. (Anyone playing these games should be pilloried in front of an array of Bose speakers).
128x128jayme
brianmgrarcom
1,317 posts
 
I don't know if this helps, but mine states on the back, EMC1-UP.
subaruguru
1,376 posts
 
Jayme.
It's not too hard. The new DAC (UPCC-1) was put into production in late spring of 2001, having the so-called "UP-DAC" (for upsampled DAC), and going from $4k to $5k. These units came to be known here as the MkII. For awhile in Europe you could buy BOTH 24/96 and 24/192, the latter more expensive, of course. I believe that in August 2002 all production of these EMC-1 have the latest analogue upgrades...with the accompanying price rise from $5k to $5500 here in the US. List price in Europe used to be about
$2200 ($4khere) up to Spring 2001 (when I got my 24/192).
Now it's about $3k ($5500 here). I'm about to get my 24/192 modded with the analogue "UP"-grade soon...anyone tell me if it TRULY sounds better? How? Thanks.
jayme's avatar
jayme OP
52 posts
 
Subaru guy: thanks for the further clarification. Regards.
fs_audio
148 posts
 
Hey, I don't appreciate being called a horse ;-) In all seriousness, Jayme has a VERY valid concern. A customer obtaining an EMC-1 that is advertised as the latest, and is not, is a very real possibility (whether the seller does it on purpose or not is a whole other can of worms). For example, I am 100% certain that the used player currently listed on Audiogon, based on what the seller states in the ad (even though it says "UP" on the player), is NOT the latest version. The EARLIEST that the latest upgrade became available to the public was late this summer (August timeframe). As is indirectly stated above, there are some players out there WITHOUT the latest upgrade that DO have the "UP" designation, so that is no guarantee.

So, what is the best way to tell?

*** OPEN ONE OF THE LEFT OR RIGHT COVERS AND CHECK THE CAPACITOR BRAND, IF THEY SAY "ELNA", THE UNIT IS NOT UPGRADED ***

I can say with 100% certainty that ALL EMC-1's shipped from the distributor to dealers since at least September are the LATEST version. So if you are buying an EMC-1 from an AUTHORIZED dealer and they took shipment from the US distributor in September or later, it WILL be the most recent version of the EMC-1.

I realize this is somewhat confusing and a big pain, but I hope this helps. Please don't hesitate to let me know if anyone has any questions.

Best Regards...Mike - Father & Son Audio
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