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Phono amp gain too high? (EAR 834p)

Hi everyone,

I have long been interested in trying the EAR 834P, and I recently came across the old Stereophile review of it.  In the measurements section, the gain for MM carts was 49.2db and 68.2 for MC.  That seems to be an inordinately high gain if I'm not mistaken.  I don't  know how to determine whether this would overload my integrated amp.  I am running an LFD LE V and a Clearaudio Maestro V2 (3.6mV).  I can't find specs on the integrated as far as gain and input sensitivity.  As I understand it, there is no active preamp in the LFD, but I can't even confirm that.  Is there someone with better technical understanding who can help?   

Thanks for your thoughts,Scott
smrex13
abnerjack
101 posts
 
I second and third the above endorsements of Keith Herron's wonderful phonostages.  I have the VPPH-2 and couldn't be happier.  Keith indeed is great to work with and often has used/demos available.  Also here is a link to used sold listings on Hifishark http://www.hifishark.com/search?q=herron+vtph.
I hope we're not pushing too hard.  By the way, no relationship to Herron, just a satisfied customer.

smrex13 OP
423 posts
 
Thanks, Abnerjack.  Good to get confirmation on Keith's gear.  Will look into it shortly...
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 
By the way, most of the difference between the VTPH-1mc and the -2 is in the mc section, which was significantly revised and improved in the -2 version. The difference between the -1mm and -2 when using a mm cartridge should be minimal.
yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
2,678 posts
 
Scott,
FYI, My friend had an EAR and it had a volume control to lower the gain. He had it plugged into his power amp without using a preamp. He was using a 5mv cartridge and it sounded great ! If you buy one used make sure it has a variable volume,as some of them do not.
cleeds
2,065 posts
 
yogiboy  " ... If you buy one used make sure it has a variable volume,as some of them do not."

A volume control on a phono preamp? That doesn't sound like a good idea - it's likely to lower the system's s/n ratio. It's better to properly match a phono preamp to the line stage so that the line stage can't be overloaded. Then, adjust volume from the linestage.
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