Power!Power!Power!

72
TONE AUDIO NO.53
Specifically, I truly enjoy the superb
delicacy in the treble and the
wonderfully clean and smooth midrange,
with plenty of bass weight
and articulation. These qualities are
found across the board, regardless
of musical genre. I call up a
slew of Ben Harper albums, which
are always a great test for gear,
since he bounces between earnest
acoustic stuff and blazing Zeppelin-influenced
rock, as well as soul,
punk and alternative. His sublime
Diamonds On the Inside, from
2003, even throws in some hardcore
’70s-style Bob Marley jams
and ballads. I am very impressed
with the ECI 3’s ability to navigate
these winding musical waters with
absolutely no effort, and its ability
to render the music with zero
mechanical artifacts. This is not a
mechanical sounding solid-state
amplifier by any means.
Digging deeper into my music
collection leads me to Gábor Szabó,
the hugely influential Hungarian
jazz guitarist. His ’60s and ’70s
albums are littered with pop tunes
of the day and standards in mindbending
psychedelic arrangements.
His album 1969 sounds
exactly as the title suggests, with
quaint embellishments in the fashion
of the time, like sitars, tablas
and Eastern modalities. The ECI 3
keeps Szabó’s tone creamy and
fluid, yet it maintains a high level
of resolution all the while.
I decide to pull a joker from
the deck, cueing up Shine a Light,
FEATURE
the soundtrack to the 2008
documentary on the Rolling
Stones. Mick and the gang
are unusually energetic in this
show, but the CD mix tends to
come off as a bit messy. This
is not the case when listening
to it through the ECI 3. I hear
Bob Clearmountain’s mix in a
whole new light, so to speak:
The guitars bite, the drums
crack with authority and there is
plenty of bottom end. Jagger’s
vocals are dead center in the
mix, with the horns and backup
singers positioned well across
the soundstage. The ECI 3 rocks
out, and does so with class.
Operationally, the ECI 3 is
plug-and-play all the way and a
pleasure to use. (continued)
March 2013 73