EAR 88pb, Opinions?

Sonics aside, I would be careful about buying EAR gear. I had an EAR amp and it was very very difficult to obtain access to the el34 tubes. I recommend asking for a photo or two of the inside of the unit to see how it is assembled. IMHO.

The 88Pb is a wonderful sounding phono stage. I little forward, but superior in the way it plays music. You would probably use the 4 ohm tap for the dynavector.
The colume control is handy as the 4ohm tap has a lot of gain.

It is competitive with anything in the 5 - 10k range, just depends if it suits your tastes.

>>It is competitive with anything in the 5 - 10k range<<

It is grossly overpriced.

Considering the fact that I owned and home auditioned a good number of very highly regarded preamps up to $12,000, and didn't get from them the kind of complete satisfaction the EAR 88pb gives me for much less money, I'd say the EAR is a real bargain. I agree wholeheartedly with Downunder. Not only does the 88pb sound wonderful, it also provides top notch imaging/soundstaging. I feel it sounds best using either Tungsram 7DJ8s or JJ Tesla 7DJ8s. For now, I prefer the latter, but others might differ.