ENBEE ZX1 PRE AND ZX80 Pre-Power

frend2001

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Joined
Jul 12, 2010
Messages
422
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63
Location
Indore, India
There comes a time in every audio enthusiasts life that he's totally surprised by some gear.

I've been reading about the handmade amplifiers of Mr. Y.M. Nishi Nakra of Delhi and his ENBEE amplifiers.

The production had stopped long ago and these units are seldom on resale as most of sales were concentrated around Delhi only.

Finally got my hands on it. It was well under my experiment budget so took the call and got it shipped to Indore.

The units are well laid out for a homegrown product and God do they sound good.

Well Good is a relative term here.......they sound different.

I feel to audition any audio device we must audition it with tracks which are frequently played by us. As it's easier to spot the difference.
The vocals are so distinctly separate from the music and every instrument is getting the attention. The vocals have body here man. There is not muddying in music.

Maybe I'm still high on euphoria but I swear I could differentiate between crash and clash cymbals.

The stereo imaging is very crisp and defined. It's not a complete dual mono design but there's very little cross talk.

Last night plugged it at 9 and threw at it, everything I had got. All genres. The works.

It handled everything with ease.

Couldn't stop till half past midnight. The sound was very sweet without inducing any sound fatigue.

The amp is quite. No hiss, no noise even at volume being at 12 o'clock. After Norge this is second Indian amp that I experienced.

Liking something is a relative term is audio but this thing sounds so different from various Sony, Kenwood, Marrantz amps I've listened to.

And I like it infact I am smitten.
 

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Yes, they have been highly regarded in audio circles. Sadly no one to continue the good work.
Has been very favourably mentioned many times on the forum.
FM apk of Ahmedabad has a complete Enbee setup
 
Looks fantastic!
Congratulations on snagging them.
If you can, can you post a pic of the back?
And if ever you open them, please post a pic of the internals. Would love to see them!
 
Chip of the old block.Enbee has received very good reviews while they were manufacturing amps and speakers.Sad no one is there to continue the tradition set by Mr.Nakra.Congratulations for acquiring this.
 
I was informed by someone that these systems are still made, as the main worker and craftsman of Mr. Nakra is still present. Though very seldom. But I have not been able to verify this. Is it true? I spoke to Mr. Nakra's daughter just a day after he passed away. Did she have a desire to continue the business?
 
the other one has a 12" woofer in one cabinet and 2 tweeters and 2 mids in a pole. unfortunately the picture of that speaker is not getting uploaded. I'll try again tomorrow.
 
so finally could manage to upload. Due to the humidity, the dust could not be removed completely but they look a lot neater otherwise.
 

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I've changed the crossovers of the weird ones. They are 3 way now. 2 tweeters are changed to silk dome. If the sound was engaging earlier then it turned to Devine after the change. My friend pushed me to try that. The difference was immense. Late Mangeshkar OR Late Tai was suddenly singing in a more enriched voice (no offence meant). So the basic says that the tweeters should face you for better HF, but these speakers somewhat defy that logic and work more on reflection. The sound is soothing. The towers on the other hand are 4 feet tall, with the tweeters hitting you at ear level. They sound very real. but no fatigue what so ever. As Mr. frend2001 pointed out, the separation is extraordinary. Throw in an active sub and the whole range is covered with ease. I have heard some good systems in my life time but have decided to live with these for various reasons. One being, my bias towards Indian made stuff and the other, if I go looking out for this sound elsewhere, then I might have to shell out double the amount or more. If getting these repaired is a pain then think about a vintage Mcintosh or a foreign brand dying on you. With a TECHNICS SL1210 M5G, a THORENS TD125, YAMAHA CD player, MARANTZ 5.1, POPCORN HOUR, an EPSON projector pus 1 ENBEE ZX1 connected to 2 ENBEE ZX80 power amps, a KLIPSCH SUB and my back up ENBEE 50 RMS integrated and preamp, my rig is still under 3 lakhs, with all repairs and upgrades. It is real hard work to maintain them, but till I can, I would.
 
There comes a time in every audio enthusiasts life that he's totally surprised by some gear.

I've been reading about the handmade amplifiers of Mr. Y.M. Nishi Nakra of Delhi and his ENBEE amplifiers.

The production had stopped long ago and these units are seldom on resale as most of sales were concentrated around Delhi only.

Finally got my hands on it. It was well under my experiment budget so took the call and got it shipped to Indore.

The units are well laid out for a homegrown product and God do they sound good.

Well Good is a relative term here.......they sound different.

I feel to audition any audio device we must audition it with tracks which are frequently played by us. As it's easier to spot the difference.
The vocals are so distinctly separate from the music and every instrument is getting the attention. The vocals have body here man. There is not muddying in music.

Maybe I'm still high on euphoria but I swear I could differentiate between crash and clash cymbals.

The stereo imaging is very crisp and defined. It's not a complete dual mono design but there's very little cross talk.

Last night plugged it at 9 and threw at it, everything I had got. All genres. The works.

It handled everything with ease.

Couldn't stop till half past midnight. The sound was very sweet without inducing any sound fatigue.

The amp is quite. No hiss, no noise even at volume being at 12 o'clock. After Norge this is second Indian amp that I experienced.

Liking something is a relative term is audio but this thing sounds so different from various Sony, Kenwood, Marrantz amps I've listened to.

And I like it infact I am smitten.
Congratulations
Im egerly looking forward to have an audition of this beauty
 
Well I have been postponing a peek inside the Enbee ZX80 power amp since long.

Finally opened up and here are the pics....

IMG_20190129_204810.jpg

The filter caps are only 5000uf so planning to double them both atleast then the electrolytics are on change list too.

IMG_20190129_204646.jpg
The amo has separate driver boards for each channel.

Pay attention to the relay. It's vintage one, used to be used in Yezdi bikes, nonetheless.

The tranny is beefy affair but there are many places where cost cutting is evident. Plan to replace things with quality components in due course.

Although the amp is totally silent but I feel there's a definitive muddiness in lower frequencies hence upgrade of filter caps planned.

The amp uses two 2N3055 transistors in each channel, mfg by CDIL (India) and looks to be a class AB design. Experts do chim in.

Since I just love the laid back warm sound of the amp so don't want to mess up the sound signature by unnecessary upgrades, my plan is to check and replace failure prone parts first.
 
Here is mine which has been lying in storage for a couple of years after my old TT blew. Planning to rig it up again soon.
 

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