JDS Element 2 Thoughts?

Acidleak · November 28, 2019, 11:24am

Recon the EL AMP II is worth buying if I have the the first gen EL AMP?

M0N · November 28, 2019, 2:30pm

If you feel your current amp is lacking, yes. If not, no

Acidleak · November 28, 2019, 2:57pm

That’s one way of looking at it I suppose…

M0N · November 28, 2019, 3:00pm

Well I mean the original El amp is pretty dang good, and the new one is a bit better, but you are still getting like most of the performance from the original el amp. It is a step up from the new one, but I don’t know if it would warrant an upgrade for everyone

j.fopps · November 28, 2019, 3:35pm

I have a feeling you wouldn’t hear an audible difference

M0N · November 28, 2019, 3:42pm

I would say it would depend on the headphones if there would be a big benefit

JEFF_JEFF · April 7, 2020, 4:14pm

is this worth upgrade from element 1?

M0N · April 7, 2020, 4:57pm

Hmmm personally I think it’s higher preforming but I would actually say no, I think if you wanted to upgrade, you could get the El ii stack but realistically I would just stick with your element until you get a headphone that would benefit more from a higher tier amp

JEFF_JEFF · April 7, 2020, 5:52pm

so its not worth it if im just gonna use my 660s?

M0N · April 7, 2020, 5:53pm

IMO no. I think if you wanted to try something different though, you could pick up a tube amp to try on the 660s

JEFF_JEFF · April 7, 2020, 5:55pm

gotcha thnx ! the used element 2 is like 300$sh everywhere and i get this element 1 for 160$ LOL

LeDechaine · April 23, 2020, 6:08pm

FBizzle · April 24, 2020, 2:59am

I kind of want that

DagoRed · April 24, 2020, 4:13am

I could see myself having a simple desk with that stack and being perfectly happy too.

LeDechaine · July 5, 2020, 10:44pm

Zeos: “everyone’s talking about the Atom but remember, the EL 2 dac/amp stack is their top of the line”.

Also said he could have chosen any DAC, like the 1000$+ VMV D1, to power all the speakers he reviews, but he chose these JDS Dacs.

Also, huh, are the EL and Element 2 different things? Damn. And I thought Topping E30s Eigital to Analog Converter was weird

fabiokelm · October 29, 2020, 3:15am

Question to other owners of Element II: does it get hot after like 1 hour playing? It’s not like impossible to touch, specially since the knob is fine. But the sides are pretty toastie, I wonder if it’s like that or there is something wrong with mine.

Delta9K · October 30, 2020, 9:15am

I have no experience with the EL2 - but my Atoms (DAC & AMP) get pretty warm. I read they get warm, but they are much warmer than I expected. I was sort of counting it up to the Atoms being in a sealed plastic case. I always assumed the metal chassis of the EL2’s would be better.

Klmahn · October 31, 2020, 2:31pm

I would say warm but definitely not hot. What is annoying though is that the power supply is warm even when the unit is off, which seems to imply it’s drawing power for no good reason. I emailed in and apparently this is normal…

Klmahn · October 31, 2020, 8:21pm

Also, against conventional wisdom, I turned on my speakers before turning on the Element II and got a loud pop/thump. Isn’t the muting relay supposed to safeguard against this?

fabiokelm · October 31, 2020, 9:12pm

Haven’t experienced that, but I will say using the pre-outs of the Element seems noticeable noisier than the line out from my FX audio. Which really gives me pause for a second.

As for temperature, I think that running it at low gain is generating more heat than at high gain. It’s possible the circuit dumps current somewhere else when you lower the gain. This with the fact I live in a very hot country can be the reason I was seeing temperatures a lot higher. And yeah, you’re right about the power supply being warm all the time. It’s really wasteful, JDS labs should think about a way to correct that… Now I’m thinking about a way to turn it off when I’m not using it.