2. analog
  3. 195328-10525

EAR Phonobox = HORRIBLE

I just put one of these in my system. I can't believe how bad it sounds. I must be doing something wrong?? It sounds like someone put a blanket over my speaker. Sounds is recessed, muffled, rolled off, no highs, no sparkle. Dead and drab. No frequency range.

I was using the phonostage on the PS Audio Sprout which is a $700 integrated and that sounded 100 times better.

My DAC through the system knocks it out of the park. I can't believe it's supposed to sound this way. What could be going wrong????

1. Cart = Clearaudio Performer V2

2. Phonostage = EAR Phonobox

3. Preamp = PS Audio Stellar Gold Preamp

4. Amp = Carver 1.0T (heavily modified)

5. Speakers = KEF LS50

Cable Mix of Kimber/Audioquest mid level

Any thoughts????

 

 

 

pawlowski6132
pawlowski6132's avatar
pawlowski6132 OP
603 posts
 

Ok,lewm, you are right. And, I figured out what I did wrong.

I'm too embarrassed to even put it in writing here. Is there any way to remove a thread.

frown

Sorry for wasting everyone's time and THANK YOU for everyone that took the time to help.

viridian's avatar
viridian
5,328 posts
 

Lew, as I said, it seemed unlikely that the impedance mismatch would cause the

On the EAR phono stage when low gain (MM) is selected the input impedance is fixed at 47K and cannot be changed, except by selecting high gain (MC) where the input impedance is, again, fixed at 470 ohms, set by adding a 1:10 transformer ahead of the tube stage.

OP, it is not a waste of anyone’s time as some of the suggestions will help the next person with issues. Everyone here was just trying to help. We have all done it, glad you got it sorted; that’s what it is all about. Enjoy the music.

lewm
13,773 posts
 

Viridian, Sorry for my somewhat vitriolic response.

dogberry
824 posts
 

Come on, OP, we want to know!

pawlowski6132's avatar
pawlowski6132 OP
603 posts
 

So, there is a push button on the back to switch from MM to MC. On initial listening, I THOUGHT I was listening to MM but, I was on MC (with a MM cart). So, it sounded like crap.

I pushed the button again and it sounded great.

So, in reality I moved from MC to MM and the expecte resuts.

All good.

 

More to discover