EAR 834p Deluxe version or Audio Research Ph-5

For the love of music you could not go wrong with the EAR 834P. It has the musicality of well... real live acoustic music. I have not heard an ARC that compares. This little phono amp has excellent pin point sound staging and superb detail while not sounding analytical what so ever. Tim de Paravacini (EAR designer) has a product line that IMHO has the magic. It is colored though in its presentation but, I like its color. Not to mention, it's a bargain at this price point and you would be hard pressed to match its value with something else. If this is the one you opt for, you will not be disappointed. Happy listening!

I have heard the EAR and I really like it. I have talked to 2 Audio Research dealers and they both tell me the Ph-5 is better than the Rhea at twice the price. I'm just so curious about it. I wish I could find a dealer that handles both, but as far as I know there isn't such a dealer in the states. Thanks for your comments on the EAR.

Dear Taters: These phonopreamps are of different design.
The PH5 is an active high gain phono stage and the EAR is a low gain phono stage that uses a pasive step-up transformer for increment the gain. This SUT is an additional stage that do a severe degradation to the signal that comes from the cartridge: it put several veils to the sound.

My advise is that is better if you go for a staright forward handle of the signal like the PH5.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Thanks Raul, Two totally different opinions stated. No wonder audiophiles are so wacky!