Thinking of modding my 834p, or should I move on?


I have an 834p deluxe and it needs a small repair. The cost of the repair isn't that much off of having some additional modifications performed, and once the board is desoldered, I was thinking...I may as well go whole hog! However, I am wondering if investing nearly 1k in modifications is really cost effective. I use a Koetsu Black and am thinking of moving up the Koetsu line and/or buying a Grado Statement Statement. I've read quite a few times that the 834p transformers are not that great. The Deluxe sells for around 900-1000 used, so for 2k I could perhaps buy the EAR 324 used or look at something else, unless at even 2k, the moddified 834p would be a solid investment. I like the sound, but I admit I don't have much experience with phono stages at all, and this is the only tubed one I have experience with.

Any input would be welcomed.
zanth
After reading hundreds of posts about which caps,resistors,and tubes to use I have decided that there is no right or wrong way to mod. the 834p. You can tune it to you liking. I used Hovland couplng caps,Blackgate power caps,fast recovery diodes, and vishay metal film resitors.
I love the way it sounds in my system. This is a great way to get your feet wet with DIY.

Tim
I can't but second all the modders' -- go ahead & pick up the soldering iron. Skushino & Pauly in particular give excellent directions. I strongly suggest you follow Thorsten Loesch. Do print out Loesch's instructions and follow them carefully. I have myself referred to Thorsten's proposed mods about a year ago in this forum but can't find the reference. I think I was linking to "Romy the cat's" ("goodsoundclub.com") but am not sure.

I suggest you keep the original step-up trannies though -- or replace with Lundahl (better). The S&B Skushino's using and the Bent unit is using are superior by far, of course, but extremely expensive. Buy some music with the extra savings:)
Thank you for all the encouragement guys! I have a bit of soldering experience and did fix one of my aging Melos amps year back. Maybe I should give it a try! As for the Lundahls, are there any that could be swapped into the chassis for a straight one for one switch?
Hi,

I did a quick scan of (used) phono stages currently for sale on Audiogon, around $2000 (your pricing breakpoint). A partial list includes:

Klyne 7PX, Thor TA3000, Whest, Canary Audio, Herron VTPH1mc, Joule Electra OPS2, Pass Labs Ono, Art Audio Vinyl One ($2400), Klimo VIV, and Pass Labs XONO.

This is a surprisingly varied assortment of phono amps, including both tube and SS products, and different circuits. There are of course, many more for sale at less than $2000. Additionally, you mentioned the EAR 324. I don't see these for sale as often, but if memory serves me, they could be had around $2k.

If I was in your shoes, the wide variety of choices wouldn't make my decision any easier. UNLESS I first clarified what I wanted in a phono stage, and then found one that met my needs. For instance, Dan_ed mentioned a preference for a FET mc stage over a tube stage. This would narrow the field considerably to units like the Herron. On the other hand, I once owned an ARC SP-9, which has a FET input, and couldn't take it. Implementation has a huge impact in this price range, because these units are NOT cost-no-object designs. bty, I would love to listen to Dan_ed's Doshi phono stage because a friend, with similar sonic preferences to mine, has and loves his. bty, the same friend has (had) and loved the EAR 834P after mods and the Wright phono stage. He and I tend to value ability to convey emotion over absolute resolution of detail.

Unless you have the means and perserverance to obtain many phono stages to compare yourself, I suggest choosing one or two that interest you, listen yourself, then pick a winner and sell the other.

And I really don't want to advocate someone else buying gear just because it happens to be in my system. In fact, I myself probably would not invest $2k in the EAR. I have about $750 total in mine (the unit itself plus parts for the mod) and I'm content until (or if) I decided to pull the trigger on something in the $4k - $5k range, where I would expect significant improvements. IMO.

Cheers,
Scott
Zanth

Bumping this forward as I ran across an interesting capacitor shootout at http://www.vhaudio.com/21capacitorshootout.pdf . It is on Chris's website, but is an english translation of a Chinese hifi mag article i.e. non biased.

Regard
Paul