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
jasonbourne71's avatar
jasonbourne71
1,173 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?

theflattire
174 posts
 

I would fix it or find someone to work on it.  Maybe change the resistor and rectifier and drop in a new set of tubes and see what you got.

IMO, worth fixing.

For reference, there's a used working black face EAR here locally going for $750.

elrod
244 posts
 

If you're considering having someone fix it, I'd recommend emailing Mitch Singerman at itchmay1@yahoo.com

He knows the 834P  very well. He fixed mine and did a wonderful job on it. I can't recall exactly what the issue was with it, but when I eventually sold it, the new owner just raved how wonderful it sounded.

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