E.A.R. 834P

Talk to Mitch Singerman, he is an expert at modifying the 834P. He will be able to give you some good advice on it. I believe his mods include Hovland caps and JJ tubes, among other things.

I have a friend who has one.Compared it,by audiophile committee,with his Aesthetix(the lower priced model,about four thou)and is now looking around for quality NOS tubes,for it.It was far,and surprisingly,preferred to the Aesthetix.Any current,quality mods,would be a fine choice,should you keep yours.

Best!

SirSpeedy,

I can understand the choice you and your listening friends made. I had a fully modified 834P when I bought my Aesthetix Rhea (used) and it was quite remarkable how well that little black box did when A/B'd against the Rhea. Especially for MM cartridges. I think it could use better step-ups for MC's.

BTW, Stltrains, Mitch did my modifications as well. He remarked that at that time it was the most extensive mods he had done to the 834P. I still have a little baggy with all of the resistors and caps he changed out. The best thing it has going for it is that the circuit is very simple. Many DIY'ers have built their own units with outboard, dual power supplies and such using that circuit.

My vote is the GCPH. I have had both the Ear 834P and now have the PS Audio GCPH. For me its hands down for the GCPH; better sound and better flexibility. My 834P seemed to lack depth relative to what I heard from the GCPH. The Ear was good but for my taste the GCPH is better.

I also appreciate the ability to use the GCPH gain control as a volume control and bypass the rest of my system for pure analog sound. Even when I did not bypass my system I appreciatted the GCPH and it wasn't even "broken in" yet.

My table is a SOTA Nova V vacuum, Origin Live Incognito arm, Shelter 90x cart. The GCPH fit quite nicely to this gear, offering plenty of easy adjustability depending upon what I wished to hear and as to how I wished to set my VTA according to the type of music I was into at the moment.

Just when I was getting happy with my phono preamp I found a good deal on a new Art Audio Vinyl One (tubes). The Vinyl One sells new for about 3 times what the GCPH does so it should and does sound better on my system. I like it better than both the other units mentioned although I probably did not give the GCPH a fair audition as it is not "broken in" yet with about 20 hours of play time on it. It goes up for sale as soon as I have a chance to post it. It's a disease this audiophile stuff.

Dan,I was not at the comparison,but was told about it,recently.I don't want to take anything away from the Aesthetix stuff,which has always sounded fine to me.

BTW--Just got(Friday)my cute little stylus pressure guage,we see advertised on Audiogon,these days.A few of my pals got it too,as I've mentioned,but I got to re-set my pal's arm with it.Truthfully,it is very accurate,and incredibly easy to use.We compared it to my friend's Winds guage,and it was "almost" exact.Close enough to not be a problem(actually within 6/100 gms).Who knows which guage is really the more accurate,so a good deal for 95 bucks.

My only concern is that it looks to be a bit cheaply made.I would have been glad to pay another fifty bucks,to have a higher quality plastic/fit and finish.The measuring tray is "tin" thin,but the owners manual actually claims that aspect,as some kind of selling point.Maybe it equates to more accuracy.Of course if it lasts as long as I hope,than my criticisms are moot!!

Best!