Does EAR324 phono stage sound like tubes ?

Nolitan, actually I agree with you. OK, to make it clear...I have three separate TT/arm setups and any three of my carts ready to play at all time.

Shelter 901 & Denon DL-103SA is mainly responsible for records with poorer surface conditions. (Both are sturdy and stable on old-worn records)

ZYX Omega-S mainly for less ideal recordings or whenever I want a bit smoothness and sweetness. And it's a little bit forgiving for poor recordings.

MY Sonic Lab Ultra Eminent mainly for the best recordings with the best surface conditions. If "set up & step up properly"(it seems not that easy for all inmates, though), the cart & phono combo is just the most "musically authentic" one(comparing to live performance, of course) I have ever heard. IMHO, MY Sonic Lab (including its OEM products for Air Tight)deserves vinylists' serious attention!

This's how I achieve what I want the presentations. Again it's a different approach...;)

Dan

DAN,

If budget allows, that is a very ideal approach. that way you got the situation covered as the vinyl presses of past and present are very different and different carts reacts differently to each different pressings.
Cool set-up!

Hi all, I recently acquired an EAR 324 myself, and think it sounds very fine, musically speaking. (My previous phonostage was a PSA GCPH -- obviously not in the same league price-wise, but I insist on mono and polarity switches in addition to externally adjustable loading and balanced output, so my choices are extremely limited.)

However, there is a disappointing level of hum when in MC mode (i.e., when the internal step-up transformers are engaged). It's not bothersome at the lowest-gain "40 ohm" transformer ratio, or at moderate listening volumes in general. But at the "15 ohm" and "4 ohm" high-gain settings, although it never interferes with the music, at higher listening volumes it does interfere with the silences.

This is a problem I've never had with my previous phonostages, or with the outboard Bob's CineMag SUT that I auditioned for a while with the GCPH. The hum vanishes when the 324 is in MM mode, with preamp volume increased to compensate for the lower gain. So I'm thinking the hum may be inherent to the 324's internal SUTs. I've tried many combinations of cords and cables, power conditioning or not, ground lift, different cartridges, sources other than my regular turntable, even installed it in my bedroom system as a double check (where it was less audible, due to its not being a full-range system), but can't make the hum drop to an acceptable residual level unless I insert shorting plugs into the MC inputs -- obviously not representative of normal operating conditions.

Any comments or questions would be welcome...

i did have the opportunity to listen to the 324s with and without a SUT.I cant hear any hum. Its one of the very quiet phono stage i have heard.
There might be some other problem lying around in the chain.

I used to have the EAR 324. I would not say that the 324 is very quiet. It is somehow quiet, but it is not very quiet. When the 324 was in my system, I could hear some hum if I turned the volume all they way up, without music of course. There was no hum with the volume dial set to normal listening levels, but I didn't feel comfortable with it. I do not hear anything with the volume all the way up from either the Benchmark DAC or the Einstein phono preamp.

The 324 seems to add some distortion, which is easily perceived from the mid-range and up. This distortion helps the bass notes have some more texture though. I think the 324 kind of distortion is what helps this unit to sound real, so it should not be read as negative.

I would certainly not call the 324 sound "tube-like", unless we're talking about 1990's tube units. IMO, today's tube units neither sound like tubes or solid state, they just sound right and free of distortion. Of course, what sounds right to me be not sound like that to others.

Having said that, I'm very happy with the Einstein phono preamp. In my system, it is definitively dead quiet with more dynamic contrast than the 324. It does take quite a while for the Einstein the break in, but once it does it totally gets out of the say to the point you no longer think there is phono preamp in the chain.

I would also add that the 324 would be more system-dependent than the Einstein because of its unique sonic signature.