EAR 324 vs Einstein The Turntable Choice

I finally have the choice to audition the Einstein (unbalanced unit) against the EAR 324 on my system. No contest - The EAR wins hand-down. It makes the Einstein sound flat and CD-like. The conclusion - the kind which is TOO obvious - came in just 10 secs playing the same track on the EAR after the Einstein.

I would say the Einstein has a similar sound to the Ray Samuels F117 Nighthawk.

**I did not leave the Einstein on standby for 24 hours before auditioning. I'm not sure if doing it will help but I doubt it - The performance gap is just too big.

Did you check for phase inversion and set the loading the same ? Try different loading ? I have found with my Klyne it prefers to be loaded much higher than normal, ie 47k for most moving coils.

That I didn't try though. Another irksome thing is the great amount of heat generated with the set on standby all the time.

I think it is "dangerous" to draw conclusions after only a very brief listen to two components, especially when it sounds like you are not being rushed to make a decision. The aphorism "all that glitters is not gold" is applicable to audio components; what you think is so compelling about the EAR after a very brief listen might end up being a source of irritation in the long run. So why not take your time and a few days of listening to each before jumping to conclusions? One reason I say this is because by all accounts, and all other things being equal, the Einstein should be superior to the EAR 324. I have no dog in this fight; I have never heard either.

What I do like a lot about the EAR is its front-panel adjustability for cartridge loading, so if it really is competitive with the Einstein, I would choose it for that reason.

As a former Einstein dealer, I can tell you the phono stage (balanced version here) is anything but flat and CD-like, nor is it tubey. Shsohis, since you didn't describe at least the associated cartridge and line stage preamp, there is no way to know, but I strongly suspect you had the incorrect load resistors, which take only a few seconds to change, and it's easy to know when you've found the ones that are just right. The EAR isn't in the same league by any stretch.