2. amps-preamps
  3. 188078-14915

EAR 834P - Sale or try and repair...

I have an EAR 834P and the volume is decreasing on the left channel. I opened the case and the tubes appear fine. However, there is some browning on the breadboard on one wire (coming from the toroidal power transformer), to the single phase bridge rectifier, and resistor (breadboard: P5, D3).

I have done some simple soldering (ex., DIY bottlehead amp) just not sure about diagnosis this issue.

  • Does anyone have any ideas on a possible repair?

Otherwise, I plan to post it on the forum for sale. Just hate to take a loss on the price if it is a simple part replacement.

 

abp689
ellajeanelle's avatar
ellajeanelle
386 posts
 

You said that "the tubes look fine".  The condition of a tube can't be determined by looks alone.  They should be tested.  Have you tried swapping the right tube/s to the left and vice versa? 

jasonbourne71's avatar
jasonbourne71
1,310 posts
 

Could be an aging tube in that channel. Try swapping tubes!

czarivey
5,946 posts
 

Browning is from bad tube. Inspect elements around browning and replace bad tube(s) and affected circuit elements. Could be resistor(s), caps

abp689 OP
41 posts
 

Switched tubes around and having the same issue.

To czarivey's point, appears like it was a bad tube impacting (what appears) to be a resistor and rectifier.

I plan to order the two parts and will decide if I want to repair it or sell it to someone interested in modifying the unit. Seems like they sell for ~ $1250 used... not sure what a repair discount would be ($850?). 

FWIW: I really like the EAR834; extremely quite, very good spatial resolution and detail. I have had the unit for ~ 10 years and never felt the need to upgrade.

However, I would not mind a McIntosh preamp... so I guess I am at a crossroad?

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