this is a follow up from my previous review. i received the Encore last week and i've made a serious listening after setting up the unit properly.the unit which i got is the most recent update from EAD and it does not have the ST glass input which i plan to use with my EAD T-1000 cd transport. hovewer, EAD promise to exchange the unit in a few week. Nice customer service!
cosmetically, this unit is the most beautiful piece in audio gear i've ever seen. i've seen Jeff rowland gear which has the exact faceplate and i was inform ed the faceplate was design by jeff rowland! this unit comes with new remote which eliminates the previous problem. the remote is also equpped with learning capabilities but it is too "fancy"!!!
i set up the Encore with my ATI 1506 and Paradigm studio 100 version 2 using kimber hero interconnect and MIT T2 biwire speaker cables. digital is interfaced with kimber AGDL from EAD T-1000 cd transport.
as expected, this unit has a very warm and laid back sound. The highs is so smooth and the soundstage is so huge which make me think fro one second that i was listening to hybrid speaker. my paradigm never sounded so good before. i used to have an ANGstrom 200/205 combo which is excellent in music as weel as in surround mode, but this combo is a little froward and bright sounding. the encore is different. it reduces the brightness of my speaker and added detail and transperancy to the music. all of this were evaluated in stereo listening.
the surround mode are as good as other processor. i only concern about stereo because i listen to music a lot more than watching movie. this processor i recommended for those who don't care about DSP and modes like lexicon,citation etc.
i give 5 star for sound, 5 star for the "look" , 4 star for ergonomic and 5 star for customer service.

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The Encore is trully a great sounding preamplifier. Currently I have it mated with a Sunfire Cinema Grand, KEF Reference Speakers and Sunfire True Subwoofer Mark II. Its performance in both DD and DTS is excellent, but what trully sets it apart is its sound in Stereo mode which I find myself listening very often to. Ill also have to agree that it is a great preamplifier for the price!

the best sound home theatre

the very best audioo review

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rotel sony

its very very good in two 2 channel

buy buy
affare da non perdere

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proceed avp

its very good

its very good 2 chanel and a dolby digital and dts
surraund
buy buy!!!!!!

Great Soundstage, Awsome lookging, Extreme build quality.

Imperfect tonal quality. Not to bad though and really complicated to customise and get use to the remote.

I just replaced my Denon Avr-5700 that was handling preamp duties for a Used Encore from ebay. I know I made the right decision. The soundstage is wide and open sounding and movies can really sound viceral. Bass Mgmt. is flexable and is almost transparent. I would recomend pairing this preamp with some good acurate amps from Classe' Aragon or McCormack. I would also recomend using full range speakers for the best overall imaging and performance. From other perspectives it is beautifull and incredibly hard to tweak becuase of it's astetic prowess. You will get almost intimate with the remote so tell your wife or GF that you would like to start bringing others into your realtionship. If you lose the remote you are screwed. I have had problems with ground loops but after awile I was able to taim the problem. It's not the best that I have ever heard but for what I paid for it it's more that I could or should expect. If you get a chance to buy one for a good deal I would snatch it up, You won't regret it.
My Test System:
EAD Theatermaster Encore
Aragon 8008ST
B&K 3140
Panamax 1000+ Line cond. / Surge supressor
Vonschweikert VR-2000
Vonschweikert LCR-20
Energy C-6
Sunfire True Sub MkII

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Lexicon dc-2, Acurus Act3 ABM, B&K Ref 20, Sunfire Cinema, Denon AVR-5700

I recently mated the Encore with an ATI1505 amp. I have had them for about 4 weeks now, and their sound quality is absolutely astounding! I am running them through NHT 1.5's for the front left and right, with NHT's center channel speaker, and B&W inwalls for the surrounds. Now, the 1.5's are small speakers, but with this preamp and amp, they had the soundstage more the size of that you would get from NHT's full size reference 3.3's. I had a Marantz AV-600 preamp before I purchased this, and the difference is unbelievable- the sound quality is a thousand times better, plus this unit will never go obsolete! It is fully upgradeable to future technologies, which I am very excited about! I had considered upgradeing my AV-600 to DD and DTS through MSB's upgrade for $695, but I found out that the price difference is nothing, so I decided to buy the EAD Theater Master Encore and the ATI AT-1505 amp, and boy, am I glad I did. It has a very neutral and uncolored sound with singing highs and loud powerful lows - definitely a best buy! Go get one and you won't be disappointed!

I’ve had the Encore for a very very short time and what you
say is true of it sound but…my remote went to error in all
aspect except
delete
learn
Theater Master TM
TM-Setup
It was a nightmare and now EAD is out and not even one to put with any
new unit that are waiting for a shipment form Taiwan , I got
a bad remote.
If you running low on food you get more before you run out
or do you go out to lunch as EAD did on the remotes.
I want to love this company but how could they not have on hand a
RESERVE of remotes that runs the poor thing. (buttons need
to be bigger and the light need to go on sooner)
Clicking between source material decoding got to go.
But it was nice in the short time I’ve had it.
It was like the beautiful girl in fount of you singing and then her
heart stops with no way to revive her.
EAD consolation was for me in the meantime to buy a remote
that can learn and use that in the mean time (give me a break)
Bad taste so far

I’ve had the Encore for a very very short time and what you
say is true of it sound but…my remote went to error in all
aspect except
delete
learn
Theater Master TM
TM-Setup
It was a nightmare and now EAD is out and not even one to put with any
new unit that are waiting for a shipment form Taiwan , I got
a bad remote.
If you running low on food you get more before you run out
or do you go out to lunch as EAD did on the remotes.
I want to love this company but how could they not have on hand a
RESERVE of remotes that runs the poor thing. (buttons need
to be bigger and the light need to go on sooner)
Clicking between source material decoding got to go.
But it was nice in the short time I’ve had it.
It was like the beautiful girl in fount of you singing and then her
heart stops with no way to revive her.
EAD consolation was for me in the meantime to buy a remote
that can learn and use that in the mean time (give me a break)
Bad taste so far

The Encore is trully a great sounding preamplifier. Currently I have it mated with a Sunfire Cinema Grand, KEF Reference Speakers and Sunfire True Subwoofer Mark II. Its performance in both DD and DTS is excellent, but what trully sets it apart is its sound in Stereo mode which I find myself listening very often to. Ill also have to agree that it is a great preamplifier for the price!