Phono 3 vs Ear 834p

[lschoonaert]

So I'm a tube lover... Everything in my setup has tubes (Ear 834 into Mac c1100 into mac 2301's). I have been looking into a phono stage that beats my Ear 834p - the ARC phono 3 has been on my radar, but it's about 8x the price, anybody here has any experience with both? Or ARC phono 2 (se) that would convince me to ditch my Ear?

[cleeds]

More often than not, you get what you pay for. The ARC Ref Phono 2SE is a phenomenal phono section - the best I've ever heard in my system. I'm sure the Ref Phono 3 is also outstanding.

[tima]

1. Consider the requirements of your current cartridge(s) (gain, load, etc.) and what cartridges you might want to try.
   
2. Where would you'd like to go in the future with your analog front-end? If you have or plan for a quality 'table and 'arm, a better phono stage may help you hear the benefits of those.
   
3. Read reviews of the ARC Ref 2, 2se and 3. Get a handle on the feature set of these phono stages. They are all very nice units. Compare to your Ear 834P.
   
4. Across the reviews, look for commonalities among the sonic descriptions of the ARC gears to see if you get a sense of their character. How does that compare with what you hear from the EAR?
   
5. Also take a look a used ARC PH-7 or a PH-8.

Its been a while since I heard an EAR 834. In contrast to an ARC phono stage I suspect you'd find it a bit colored and less resolving.

There's probably one or more tube positions in the EAR where some nice NOS 12AX7s could yield some improvement.

[lschoonaert]

Hi Tima,
That is really really good advice, you really broke it down properly - as for my turntabtle this is what i have

- clearaudio innovation compact
- clearaudio magnify tone arm
- clearaudio maestro v2 cartridge

As for the cartridge specs, what exactly should i be looking for in a phono stage?

Many thanks,
Luk

[tima]

I'm thinking you have a nice moving magnet cartridge and it likely loads at 47k Ohms.

If you might switch at some point to a moving-coil cartridge then there is consideration of the phono-stage's capacity for the gain needed to support the cartridge's output. Moving-coil gain is smaller than moving magnet and usually measured in milli-volts. Moving magnet cartridges typically have at least 2.5mv of output whereas moving-coils can be as low as .2mv with many in the .4 - .7mv range.

There is also the issue of the ability of the phono stage to provide an impedance load close to what the cartridge desires to see.

Some phono-stages use a passive step-up transformer (SUT) to achieve some or all its gains. Some use an active circuit. Some do both.

The power supply in a phono-stage is just as important as the ones in your power amps and line-stage.

Some phono-stages offer more than a single gain setting and some offer the ability to specify an impedance load for the cartridge; some include both features. Such phono-stages usually accommodate both moving-magnet and moving-coil; these usually offer at least two sets of inputs, one for for each cartridge type. Then there is the relative convenience of making changes to the phono-stage; some ask you to manipulate jumpers or dip-switches, others let you make changes via the remote control.

So there's a very high-level pass over the topic of matching a phono stage and a cartridge. There's a ton of information available on the topic. You might enjoy my review of the original ARC Ref 2 - top of the line at its release - which lays the groundwork for what follows.

Keep in mind that the greatest amount of amplification in an analog system often comes from the phono-stage. Its quality is important.

[triode12]

If you really want a top notch end game full tube phonostage, then look no further than the Aesthetix IO. There is currently one on Audiogon for $2900 which is a bargain. The unit is dynamic, transparent and musical. You can set the gain and capacitance on the IOs via small jumpers.

The PCB design hasn't changed since 1994 and you can improve on it's already top notch performance simply by upgrading the output caps from the standard yellow to either TRT Red Dynami caps which will put it on par with the IO Signature or the TRT Gold Stealth caps which will take it to the Eclipse level.

This can be done either through the factory or if you know a good tech, just buy the parts off Parts Connexion and get the tech to install them (cheaper).