EAR 834 deluxe too thin – Gold Note PH 10 as a solution?

Alright, couldn't find the Mullard NOS yet in Germany. Seems to be available in England. So maybe I go for 2 (or 3) of the ones recommended above:

5751 RCA NOS/USA double mica, black plate - NOS Rare & Vintage

I will reconsider it one more time (till tomorrow) since it's not really cheap. But probably I can sell them again in case they won't improve it the way I hope them to do. To be honest, I'm skeptical since it needs to change a lot, not just subtle changes, but I like my EAR (in general and it's ability to make voices shine) so it seems reasonable to give it a try. But still, 250,- Euro for one try are not really just a little money.

 

Check their return policy, as I mentioned on Page 1. You might be able to return them minus a restocking fee.

 

Another thing, some people like 12au7 in the V3 position rather than 12ax7. From my own experiments I have to conclude I prefer a good 12ax7 in there (as designed by TdP). Putting in my NOS Siemens 12au7 added a coloration (distortion?) that did not sound right to me. Perhaps the Siemens was to blame.

 

Has the EAR enough gain for the Dynavector?

 

Good question. Anyone who's got a clue/expertise?

 

And what setting did you use on the Gold Note?

 

It's loud enough if that's the question. Not different to the other preamps I tried.

Listened to the Gold Note at 470 ohm today. Seems to fit.

 

No information about it. All they say is "Consumers are entitled to the right of cancellation. Detailed information about the right of cancellation is provided in the Seller’s instructions on cancellation." But no further information.

 

Phew it is not just me then..... mismatch main amp/ and T/T?

The EA834P has truck loads of gain- what is the Simply Italy driving speaker wise?
Does the unit sound 'thin' on MM and MC?

 

Hm, good idea. Haven't check MM, just MC. Will try tomorrow, otherwise I'll be single again in a minute...

You mean which speakers I got? Those ones: Max 1 - Unison Research - Official Website

They are called "Max" since my dealer (his surname is Max) constructed them for Unison. He constructed them especially for the Unison Simply Two. Again, he's really a guy with tons of experience and he knows a lot about tubes – it's his life. So I'm curious if he's really wrong and different tubes can change the sound that massively.

You can see him here in the picture when the Max 1 were introduced, telling why and how he constructed them: Eine Riedenburger Box aus Italien

Well, in German

 

I think the important thing we've learned is that the EAR is really useless and you should send it to your pal Funky54 to help you clean out your listening area.

 

Maybe next week Invoice included. Good to have someone who pays for the new tubes in the end!

Seriously. I would love to pay 250 Euro instead of 1200 which means the EAR will play equally well or even better than the Gold Note in the end so that there's no need to invest that much money in a new preamp. Especially since I was in love with the idea of keeping it all valve. I even got records (classical music) which were produced "transistor free".

 

Ok, amp speaker interface is good- one suspect out of the way........

 

Email them.

 

As I said above, I will call them tomorrow. Maybe returning is possible which would make everything way easier. In case it's necessary. Then I could compare them directly since I will keep the Gold Note a few more days.

 

i don't see that anywhere but OK. Let us know what their answer is.

 

Of course I will.

 

I only have a "clone" of the EAR 834P but I have compared it with the real one a friend has and with the same kind of tubes they sound almost identical, sound differences are minimal.
One inexpensive and good choice for the EAR 834P are NOS Matsushita 12AX7 for the V1 and V2 positions and a Matsushita 12AU7 for the V3. They make it sound balanced, smooth and detailed.
I'm one of those who think the use of a 12AU7 as a "V3" instead of a 12AX7 makes it sound better, more detailed, fuller, with a wider sound stage and not boomy.

 

Alright, just call them (tubeampdoctor), I can return them within 14 days. Perfect.

Talking about these tubes: https://www.tubeampdoctor.com/en/shop_Other_brands_OEM_Tubes_Preamp_doubletriodes/5751_RCA_NOS_USA_double_mica_black_plate_5612


Btw. If the Gold Lion would have worked (there's some controversy on that one) in the middle position I would have ordered only two tubes from above which would have given me the chance to replace the Gold Lion with the Mullard as soon as I got one. But probably it makes sense to test it properly and therefore order three of the RCAs.

Update: Just ordered the unmatched ones (will hopefully be dispatched today). Three of them. If they are good and maybe even work with the Gold Lion, I could also only return one.

Thanks again for your assistance! I appreciate it a lot. And I'm sure that this will also help other people searching the net for information someday. I will report back as soon as they are here and I had a chance to listen to them.

 

So I checked it with MM. It's the same.

If I'm lucky, the tubes should already be here by tomorrow.

 

Same? That's interesting. Usually mm setting with an mc cart gives a bloated sound, right? Your finding supports my feeling that one of your tubes is malfunctioning.

 

Maybe I have to listen to it again, but to me it sounded the same just quieter so I had to turn up volume.

 

Are you are using MM on MC or vice versa?

 

My cartridge is MC (Dynavector 10x5 Neo ) => Dynavector 10x5 NEO and the EAR is switched to MC normally.
For testing purposes, as proposed I switched the EAR to MM.

 

Well, yeah... the MM setting will have less gain so you'd need to crank the volume more to compensate. How much more volume do you need to use to get to the same point?