Hey, lend me an EAR!
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to original
review at www.soundstage.com
In
the past, I viewed standalone phonostages with
more than a bit of skepticism. In fact, I used
to look askance and squint my eyes at them the
way I do other questionable "geegaws"
that permeate our modern lives. My cynical self
(which is pretty prominent most of the time)
tended to see them as another high-end wheez
along the order of DACs, cable break-in devices,
cables with "exotic" dielectric materials,
boxes to end the plague of jitter, and most
subwooofers. Now that I've irritated almost
everyone I'll stop. Oh, did I forget to mention
lettuce dryers?
It's
not that I didn't realize outboard phonostages
had their function as well as their practicality.
Woe the poor audio wretch (and haven't we all
been one of those at some point or another?)
who bought the groovy linestage only to realize
he was casting furtive glances at the shelf
full of LPs gathering dust. Then there's the
well-healed audiogeek who uses the mini-millivolt
moving-coil cartridge hand-made in the Far East
by monks, carved from some rare log. I knew
outboard phonostages were for these guys, but
not for me. Ever the practical audiofool, I
figured one just bought a preamp with a good
onboard phonostage and got on with one's LP-loving
life, the bonus being that you didn't have to
worry about things like another interconnect,
which of course saves losing sleep over whether
your wire of choice is truly optimized for the
phono-preamp interface. I also subscribe to
the theory that, to a fair degree, the less
wire in a system, the better.
However,
I look at myself as living proof that you can
teach on old (analog) dog new tricks. That's
where the EAR 834P and Exposure 13 phonostages,
the latter of which I reviewed a while back,
come into the picture. They've definitely made
me rethink my stance on the whole outboard phonostage
topic. Playing with both products has challenged
my old view of spending money to optimize the
cartridge over using some fancy phonostage in
every instance. Don't get me wrong here. I'm
not advocating buying some cheapie magnet cartridge
and pairing it with a nice phonostage like those
I mention as the road to LP heaven. But what
did amaze me is the results that can be had
by using a quality standalone phono unit with
a respectably good cartridge in the say, $300-$400
range (which is where my Audio-Technica ML150
falls). All this brings home the point to me
what a great hobby this is -- there's always
something to obsess over! Oh well, enough navel
gazing -- there's a review to write.
The
EAR 834P is the handiwork of the company head
and main designer Tim de Paravicini. His name
may be familiar because he's been involved in
everything from tape-deck restoration to building
tube mics to mastering LPs for folks such as
those at Chesky. Although he's worked with both
tubes and solid-state devices, his reputation
looms large as a tube authority. Tim has also
been a staunch advocate of vinyl playback, creating
a fair degree of controversy at times on numerous
topics within the audio-design community in
the UK. In fact Tim's reputation as vinyl and
tube expert was what got me interested in hearing
the 834P.
The
unit measures 5"x9"x3.5" and,
if I had to guess, weighs in at around 8 pounds.
(I don't keep a scale around as life has enough
anxiety already.) I'm not an electrical engineer,
but build quality seems very good, with above-average
parts, although I didn't notice many of the
parts deified by those who live and die by DIY
audio-accessory catalogs. The 834P uses three
12AX7 tubes and a small toroid for the power
supply. The power supply is shielded from the
rest of the innards and takes up a large portion
of the interior. One unique thing about the
unit is that it contains an internal moving-coil
step-up device. This is activated by a switch
on the rear of the box and allows you to go
between moving-magnet and moving-coil cartridges
easily. My AT150 is a moving-magnet design,
so my main listening was done in this mode.
The impedance is 47k ohms and the loading is
fixed, so the unit doesn't really allow for
you to change impedance for different moving
coils. EAR USA head Dan Meinwald mentioned that
the 834P can be special ordered to accommodate
very low-impedance moving coils such as those
from Ortofon.
The
834P uses a detachable IEC power cord, so tweakers
can go ape to their hearts’ content. The
gold-plated RCA inputs and outputs appear to
be of high quality, and there's a phono ground
lug on the rear as well. I experienced no hum
problems at all with 834P in my system. Yes!
The
834P comes in two basic variations and finishes:
black with an on/off switch and with or without
an Alps volume pot, and chrome with only a gold-plated
on/off switch. The sexy-looking chrome-finished
model sets you back ..... as opposed to the
black unit’s ...... There is also a moving-magnet-only
version, available only in black and without
volume control, for ...... Knowing this hobby
as I do, I'm sure there are those who will swear
the unit with chrome finish sounds better. The
black 834P can also be special ordered without
the volume pot for the average user with a preamp.
This is the wisest path, cost and sound-wise.
The sample I reviewed was the black model with
volume pot. This does allow users the opportunity
to use the 834P as strictly a preamp to drive
a power amp. In terms of my listening, I used
the unit in all three configurations. This was
encouraged by Meinwald in my initial conversation
with him. I should also point out that when
using the 834P into a preamp, Meinwald suggested
leaving the volume pot turned up all the way
for best performance. Warm-up time seemed to
be about 20 minutes, and I noticed a fair degree
of improvement in sound quality if I left the
thing on for long listening sessions.
All
listening was done via my trusty Linn LP12/Valhalla/Cirkus/Ittok
LVII combo with the Audio-Technica ML150 moving-magnet
cartridge. This all resides on the Sound Organization
wall-mount turntable shelf. Preamps used were
the tubed conrad-johnson PV10a and an Exposure
19 solid-state linestage. Amplification consisted
of Exposure 18 Super and NYAL Moscode 300 amps,
all of which came out of my trusty Spendor 2/3
speakers. Cabling used on the 834P consisted
of meter runs of Kimber PBJ and Nordost Flatline
Red Dawn. Oh, I also use a Roomtunes Justarack.
Whew!
The
first LP I threw on was the was the new Classics
Blue Note reissue of Ike Quebec's Soul Samba
(Classics/Blue Note 84114). I liked what I was
hearing even though first encounters with a
new component can be disorienting in some ways.
At this point I'll mention that I still had
the volume pot online and full up. Musically
this is an amazing record featuring Ike's warm
soulful tenor sax and Kenny Burrell's tasty
guitar comping on a set of bossa-nova tunes.
The mood is very "late night" (I think
they used to refer to this type of stuff as
make-out music). There was plenty of detail,
though things seemed a bit restrained in the
pace department. The audioweenie in me began
to wonder if the 834P leaned towards the lush
end of the sonic realm. I went back to my CJ
PV10a preamp and came to the realization that
the EAR was just smoother and had less grain.
It then hit home with me: The brutal truth that
those who say all tube gear has a similar sonic
signature are "wrong ‘em boyo."
Still, the main thing was that I was groovin’
to the music. Waiter, another vodka and tonic
please. I think part of the reason I needed
a drink was the realization that the 834P overall
was whuppin’ the phono stage of my c-j
preamp.
I
threw a number of different records on the platter
including Classic’s reissue of the Webster/Edison
We Wanted to do One Together (Classics/CBS CS
8692), Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s The
Year of the Horse (Reprise 46652-1) as well
as my fave Boccherini Guitar Quintets on Philips
(Philips 9500789). All were enjoyable, yet something
was not quite there for me. It was hard to pin
down as I didn't notice any sonic aberrations
such as soft bass. Besides, I hate that kind
of sonic analysis where every aspect of a unit’s
sound is laid out for the anxious audioneurotic
whose every buying decision hinges on what reviewers
write. To quote former prez George Bush, "not
gonna do it."
That's
when I took the next step of using the 834P
strictly as a preamp after several days in use
with my c-j preamp. This is where things start
to get interesting. In this mode I had the volume
control at about the two-o'clock position as
this seemed to work best in my system. The best
analogy I can use is that of fine tuning the
focus on a TV set. Oops! I just used one of
those dopey visual analogies applied to audio
that I hate so much. Boy, am I a sell out. Getting
the c-j preamp out of the path wrought serious
improvements in the EAR's overall performance,
allowing it to better work its stuff on my phono
signal.
Beside
improvement in the usual sonic parameters like
soundstage and image depth, every record made
more sense musically. The best way I can describe
it is the difference between a piece of gear
you think is nice as opposed to one that makes
you hate to shut it off and go to bed or work
or wherever else you go. The EAR was more exciting
to listen to. Bass lines were now more forceful
and dynamics less restrained. One LP where this
really hit home was on the reissue of the Mercury
Living Presence version of Prokofiev’s
Love for Three Oranges (Classics/Mercury SR
90006). I had listened to this while the EAR
was running into my preamp with the pot in the
signal, and I enjoyed it. As a straight preamp,
the 834P really allowed the ebb and flow of
the piece to come through. I started playing
more records (always an important sign).
The
next step in this whole process was to go whole-hog
and actually remove the volume pot from the
signal path and run the 834P into my preamp
again. In this mode the EAR seemed to retain
the strengths it possessed as a strict preamp.
However, this time I had the flexibility of
playing CDs if I so desired plus the advantage
of having one volume control interacting with
my system.
A
sure sign came to me that things were happening
with the 834P was when I put on the 180gm pressing
of Chick Corea's Remembering Bud Powell (Stretch/Concord
SLP2-9012-1). There's a break in the cut "Mediocre"
where drummer Roy Haynes does this amazing drum
solo. The way the solo filled the room made
me laugh out loud. Things weren't just sounding
good but tasting good as well. I threw on my
UK Decca copy of the Stones’ Beggars Banquet
(UK Decca 4955) and listened as the Stones’
mini history lesson "Sympathy for the Devil"
unfolded. The 834P allowed me to hear even better
the interaction of all the percussion parts
in a song I've listened to hundreds of times.
I realized that all this high-end stuff can
be fun for other things besides hearing room
reflections in purist recordings.
Being
a moving-magnet person, I was still curious
to hear what the EAR could do with a moving-coil
cartridge. So I lugged the thing over to the
house of a friend who uses an MC and whose system
I'm very familiar with. He uses a Dynavector
17D2 on a Well Tempered ‘table. The Dynavector
is an extremely low-output coil (around .15
millivolt), and I was intrigued to hear how
the 834P would work with such a low-output cartridge.
Let me say three words here -- like a champ.
In the past a few people warned me about using
very low-output MCs with tube phono stages.
I think they've been using the wrong phono stages.
We listened to a bunch of Coltrane and classical,
and at no time did we hear any so-called tube
nasties. What we did hear were some great records
over a few hours.
Another
thing I should point out about the EAR is that
at no time did I get the sense that I was listening
to a tube component. What I mean, and should
clarify here, is often tube gear is associated
with a sort of mellow non-detailed sound. This
is a generalization that is, of course, broad
but used often by many as a put down or to signify
a piece of gear as being euphonic (another overused
term ). The 834P is a well-designed modern tube
component. Sonically I wouldn't call it analytical
as it struck a great middle ground between detail
and musicality. The EAR never seemed to make
poorly recorded material sound easy. Yet its
emphasis on music-making sure helped me make
sense of the less-than-audiophile LPs that tend
to dominate my collection. In terms of use,
I don't think you'll find an easier phonostage
to use. Although tube, it's a plug-in-and-play
unit that should ease the fears of most tube-o-phobes.
Interestingly,
the EAR runs very cool and my laying of hands
on it barely revealed its inherent tubeosity.
This translates into long tube life for you,
the home user. In fact, EAR-man Meinwald estimated
several years of use from a set of 12AX7s. The
834P does have something for everyone in that
tube rollers can get down to their hearts’
content. I used the 834P with the stock Yugos
because (1) I'm not really a tube roller and
(2) I believe that you, the average audioweenie
like myself, should rest assured that a reviewed
stock unit delivers a high level of performance
(it does, by the way). There’s a mantra
that I would like more reviewers and manufacturers
to repeat: "Not everyone who likes good
sound is a HOBBYIST." So yes, the stock
Yugos are fine in my opinion. But for those
of you with a cache of Telefunkens and Bugle
Boyz in the safe, you go!
Overall
I really enjoyed listening to this unit. Not
to be redundant, but for me, the EAR 834P landed
in that fine ground between detail and music-making.
It delivers high value for the dollar based
on its performance. Yes there are units that
in some ways outperform it, but at two to three
times the price. The question for me would remain:
Does the price of some more-expensive phonostages
really translate into more LP enjoyment? To
my ears (no pun here) the 834P makes more music
than the phono stages in some $3k preamps I've
listened to. So for those of you who want to
get serious and want something better than the
entry-level stuff but don't have serious money,
the 834P requires a listen. Besides, you can
take the cash you'd spend on a more-expensive
phonostage and buy more vinyl.
...Tony
Fafoglia
Postscript
Through
the good graces of my tube buddy Carter, I replaced
the stock Yugo 12AX7s with some old-stock RCA
12AX7s, and I hooked up a VansEvers Power Cord
to replace the Radio Shack unit I was using.
All I can say is that this phonostage really
responds to TLT (tender lovin’ tweaking).
The top end is more open, and the space thing
that tubes seem to excel at is even more enhanced.
The bottom tightened up as well. Looks like
I've become a...oh, heck...if you can't beat
'em, join 'em!
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