Suggestions for Phono Stage

Suggestions for Phono Stage - EAR 834P review

Hi,

Need your help guys... thinking of upgrading my phono stage as I've just got my hands on a Scoutmaster and me thinks the trusty Lehmann is letting me down slightly. Sounds abit 'SS' if you like. Suggestions between £500-£1000. I'd probably go for a tubed version as my music tastes for LPs are mainly classical, so getting the timbre and dynamics right is key. Bass is of less importance.

EAR 834P springs to mind but like many other famous names, it tends to get its fair share of praises and cirticisms. Any recommendations of less famous/fringe brands?

Thanks in advance.

JJ

 

2 spring to mind, Trichord Diabalo and the Whest unit, having heard both, there isn't much about to come even close.

 

I agree with Tony, having spent the last week with the Whest in my system.

At first I had a dreadful job trying to get rid of RFI as this phono stage is very sensitive to it. The answer was to power down all my other electronics (CDP, DVD, Digital Surround Controller). Once this was done there was no RF pickup at all and the sound is sublime and certainly a bargain for the £1250 asking price.

The Whest phono stage is very quiet (noise-wise) and definitely quieter than any tube alternative.

I have not heard the Trichord stuff.

Steve

 

Wow... just finished reading reviews on the Whest. Might even tempt me away from the valve stuff. But at that price I could also get the top-spec Cole from diyhifisupply. Anyone with experience of these and any other suggestions (using valves)?

JJ

 

Don't discount the 834p, it's a really nice phono stage.

 

Both the Whest and Trichord stuff are very good, I bought the full monty Diabalo, more musical to these ears, oh and dead quiet too.
I'm a bit biased, though if you your in the market, audition both. There are top notch gear.

 

JJ,

given your system, it's worth bearing in mind that Kevin swears by the MicroGroove Plus. Why anyone would want something better is beyond me. Nice deck BTW. Do remember that the Scoutmaster/JMW9 adds a little warmth anyway in comparison with the Regas of this world.

 

I have a Microgroove Plus, too. Works fine in my system, plenty of detail, low surface noise, nice natural sound, though of course it would depend on the rest of your kit.

I've got an elderly Audio-Technica AT-OC30 on my Roksan and I'd probably look at changing that before I changed the phono amp.

Paul
Roksan Xerxes/Artemiz/AT-OC30/TE Microgroove +
Denon DVD 2900/Chord DAC64
Border Patrol Control Unit/P21
LV Avatar OBX-Rs

 

I've got the 834P deluxe, which I've found to be most musical - more so than the Trichord and other SS offerings apart from the Brinkmann Fein, which would be my choice at under £1000.
Have heard the Sutherland is getting rave reviews as well, though it's a direct import jobbie and about £1500.

 

Got myself an EAR 834 in the end. MM version only. Mainly because of budget reasons and can upgrade later to MC whenever that happens. Thanks for the help. I will need to try and demo the Whest one day.

JJ

 

fine buy, can't go wrong with them really, if you want to go mc, get a step up anyway, that's what the ear use, and the mc's in the ear aren't up to much cop strangely, as TDP is a transformer genius among other things.

 

I know. This will sooth my upgraditis for a while. The MM can be fitted with the internal transformer though you're right, they don't seem to be that fantastic (by TDP standards). The external step-up costs abit of a bomb though. Would be more tempted to try the Whest at that stage.

Anyways, the 834P should be here tomorrow. That will keep me happy and I could change the tubes, capacitors etc for a while.......

JJ

 

Friend of mine has the Whest, and we compared it with the Slee Era Gold V (Using my TT and Shure V15V m/m cart) and honestly there wasn't any difference, if you need it for m/c you could allways add the slee elavator xp head amp, at around £1k for both I suggest you add this to the shortlist along with the diablo and whest.

 

Haha... thanks for the honest feedback analoguekid. You can't believe the hype these days. The EAR has just landed... will post my experience cf. Lehmann shortly.

JJ

 

i can recommend a

sonneteer sedley just picked up a pleasant one from a nice guy on ebay. it's a versatile fully loaded mm and mc solid state type but works great in my system.no negatives i can hear and it seems to match any cart i can plug inti it!

 

Wow... first impressions... chalk and cheese.

My vinyl system has sudden jumped to life. I was seriously worried initially with my TT as it was rather lack lustre. The main thing that improved was the soundstaging. It just opened up massively... and with that the dynamics really hit you now. Not that there wasn't any dynamics before but now the music just grabs you and moves you along.

I think it must be a synergy thing and that valves will definitely go well with valves in the end. Having said that I think I am getting an overdose in mid-range wonderfulness/lushness which might be slightly OTT. Might have to look into tube rolling to solve that issue and at the moment I am thinking of experiementing with 5751s rather than different 12AX7s. Also, the tubes currently are stock tubes labelled TDP and they barely light up when switched on which makes me wonder how much life there is left. Bass is not bad. Played the 1st track of Virgin Suicides from Air and it sounded full and round but the edges of bass notes were not that well defined. Bass was realistic though eg, tone of double bass etc.

So in summary, a great improvement over my Lehmann Audio Black Cube but slight emphasis in the midrange as would be expected from a valve stage...

JJ

 

in mho, tubes don't necessarily have an emphasis as such, as much as just not sounding recessed.

also i posted about this previously, but there is also the new minimax phono stage that is supposed to sound fab. i haven't heard it yet, but at some stage i might consider experimenting...

as for the tubes not lighting up much... the small signal tubes, especially the 5751s, don't light up that much. the only bit that really lights up is the heater, which in the 5751, is mostly concelled by the plate structure. usually in signal tubes, it's the top of the heater element poing out the top that you see, but i've noticed in the 5751, that it protrudes much less than in some other tubes.

 

I would recommend the Naim Prefix.

 

but only if it's on the right foundations.....

 

Well done on the EAR - I'm still very happy with mine and probably wouldn't part with it for much less than a LAMM!