sut with phono pre, does it keep the pre's signatu

I would double check w/ EAR or your dealer to make sure this is OK to do in the first place. I also own the Choir Audio SUT-H7, and agree it is a great sounding unit. I haven't heard the Bob's Cinemag, but it has quite the following. Certainly the H7 should be better at 3X the price. Generally an SUT is used in to a MM input, rather than a MC input. Not sure if your 834P has a MM though. What is the reason you want to try an SUT ?

I am not sure whether or not I am going the SUT direction. It was suggested by the previous owner of the EAR. He said that the MC section is the weak link on this unit. I realize that it will go through the MM but I just didn't know if you only get the tone of the SUT or also the tone the base phono pre you are using with the SUT.

You will get a combination of the two; this is inevitable as no component is totally neutral. This does not mean that it will be worse than the EAR alone; just different. The MC section is often weaker, I used a Bob's with my Musical Fidelity NuVista M3 instead of the built in MC and it was better.

Thanks for the input. I am tube rolling at the moment but also thought about giving Mitch a call to find out about his affordable mods to the EAR