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In the Forum: Analog Playback
In the Thread: About EAR 834P Modifications

Post Subject: The Power of Imagination?Posted by Paul S on: 12/14/2008

Sorry, Adrian, I did not hear either phono stage in my present system, nor did I A/B them, but I "compared" them in my "aural memory", with the actual listening sessions spaced several years apart. Back around the time of the FET 10, maybe a little before, Berning also put out a couple of units (TF10/TF12, I think) that could also be made to sound pretty good. Then everything got worse for a long time. When the FET got old enough that I could afford one, I wound up buying the AI M3A, which gave me the impression it could be a world-beater... if... and I got caught up in modding it for years, until I found a hot-rodded hair-shirt K&K that someone else had already done most of the work on. That was a lucky stroke; it was a nice change to have so little to do to dial the thing in! I have already written lots about the K&K in its own thread, and I will be happy answer questions about it there.

I heard the 834 compared to a Klyne in someone else's system. I did not wind up wanting it like I did the FET. I found the 834 to be somewhat thick, congested and slow, not special, and not just compared to the Klyne, which went too far the other way, especially with the big B&W speakers. I heard the FET with big Fulton speakers (very good, actually, just not efficient). I thought the FET had very good range and wonderful balance, and I do not mean that as faint praise. We tried two different cartridges and it made their differences and the weaknesses and strengths of each quite clear without creating "issues". Early MOSFET stuff was pretty fuzzy, and there was none of that. It was basically neutral without being boring, which I think is swell and all too rare; a good beginning, at the minimum. The best Fultons could do color as well as any speakers I have ever heard, and the FET made them sound alive on that level, and the same with that very rare "relaxed" low-level detail. I really wanted one, but at the time they were too expensive. Then, they all just disappeared.

Best regards,
Paul S

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