Mitch Singerman EAR 834p mod

the retail cost of an 834P plus full Singerman mods is over $3300, and that doesn't even include excellent NOS tubes. The sound may be pleasant, even euphonious, but no one claims the 834P is accurate or detailed. There are far better phono preamps available at that level.

Frogman, Thanks for the description. That is the info I was looking for. Question, was that description for level 1 or level 2 or both or beyond? I was looking at the level 1 which is quoted at $250 and maybe the level 2, which is another $125, according to the website.

Lloydc, with all due respect, what does your response have to do with the OP's question? For someone who already owns the 834P as the OP does, and likes the basic character of the unit, an additional $375 investment for mods that have received an awful lot of attention, and substantially improve an already very good unit is a no-brainer IMO. But regardless, I'll play: I think a realistic RESALE price for an 834P (non-deluxe) is probably around $900 + $375 or so for the mods. For that kind of money (not $3300), I can't think of anything that I would rather listen to. As to the EAR's sound, I don't know what you consider to be accurate or euphonious, but clearly we have very different notions of what those are

Frano, you are welcome. I had the Level 2 mods done; well worth the extra $125.

Salectric, there is the Affordable Audio website, which I read is Mitch Signerman's business. It doesn't give a lot of detail but does tell you what he does for his mod.

Frogman, fair enough, I did not address the OP's question directly. I inferred that the OP was trying to make a decision on whether to do the mods, so I shared an opinion based on my own decision to go another direction. I used retail prices for illustrative purposes, but my thought was that if you have c. $1200 - $1500 to spend, you have many choices on Audiogon, many of which may greatly exceed the potential of a modded 834P. When I had an 834P and was considering the upgrades, I bought an AR PH-3 SE which had been upgraded by Great Northern (for $1250 – 1500, cannot recall exactly), on Audiogon. A bargain, perhaps, but similar in price to the ballpark figures you suggest (i.e., an 834P with upgrades, but not including serious power supply upgrades; I sold my 834P Deluxe on the Gon for $875.) The AR is vastly superior in every way to a stock 834P, and really opened my eyes to what I had been missing. I have not heard a modded 834P, but I talked to Mitch, and have no doubt that his mods improve the stock 834P (but I recall that including power supply mods would cost considerably more than $300.) I have been in the OP’s shoes, and am very glad I didn’t get the 834P mods done, so I am trying to convey that experience to the OP.