EAR Acute Classic CD player Page 2

My only gripe regarding ergonomics is that, with the EAR's disc drawer open, its Open/Close button is difficult to see and to access. Thankfully, as with every other CD player of my experience, applying pressure to the drawer's front edge had the same result as pressing Close. So I did that.

Listening, CD player
One of the first discs I played through the EAR was a recording of Mahler's Symphony 1 that I've raved about more than once in these pages: the one by Dimitri Mitropoulos and the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, recorded in 1940 (Sony Classical Masterworks Heritage MHK 62342). The first time I played it through, I heard a lot of things I liked, mostly of a musical rather than a purely sonic sort: Through the EAR, the drama in the symphony's opening pages seemed more pronounced than ever, each long-held note charged with unmissable tension. Momentum and timing in the brisker passages were faultless. And the EAR did a good job of communicating the sense of touch in plucked strings, and of allowing various instrumental voices to pop out from the mix—in those regards almost matching the performance of the Luxman D-06u (see "Conclusions"). On the downside, however, and apparent from the first notes, was an excess of high-frequency texture in the sound of virtually every instrument or instrument group: The Acute Classic made this disc sound slightly grainy, in a way that I am sure is not characteristic of the recording itself.

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There followed several days in which I continued to run in the EAR with disc after disc. Yet the graininess persisted, as I noted in comparisons with my Sony player. This excess grain was especially easy to hear in the vocal sibilants in "Class" and "Funny Honey," from the original-cast recording of the musical Chicago (RCA Victor/BMG Classics 68727-2)—in fact, to some extent, all of the vocal numbers on this disc spotlighted the flaw. The same shortcoming was even more evident in "Nothing But the Truth" and "Beyond the Pale," from Procol Harum's Exotic Birds and Fruit (Castle ESM CD 291)—a pity, given the good musical momentum and distinctly wider-than-average spatial reproduction the EAR wrought from this stereo disc.

Throughout the above listening trials, I'd set the Acute Classic's volume control at about 12 o'clock, and the volume knob on my Shindo Masseto preamp more or less where I normally set it: at around 9 o'clock. (My Shindo electronics are high in gain, and the Auditorium 23 Hommage Cinema speakers I'm presently using are far more sensitive and efficient than the norm.) I then tried different combinations of volume settings, and—without getting bogged down in a tedious, multi-paragraph discussion of the sound of each combination (apologies to those readers to whom that sounds like a holiday in paradise)—I found that the graininess was slightly less objectionable with the EAR's volume knob turned all the way up and the preamp's knob turned down to about 8 o'clock. But under those conditions, of course, channel-to-channel tracking was poor, owing no doubt to shortcomings in my preamplifier's volume potentiometer at the extreme low end of its range.

Thereafter, I found that while I was never able to entirely eliminate the grain, I could effect a further, extremely slight reduction in it by following EAR's suggestion and directing the Acute Classic's output straight to the inputs of my Shindo Haut-Brion stereo amp, thus bypassing my preamp. Used in that manner, the EAR sounded its best in every way: the least amount of treble grain, the most saturated tonal colors, the best tonal balance, and the best and the largest and most convincing soundstages. That's how I left the installation for the rest of my listening.

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Still, in the days that followed, I heard that artificial-sounding texture and consequently fatiguing trebles in: tenor Jon Villars's highest, loudest notes in Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, with mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung and the Minnesota Orchestra, conducted by Eiji Oue (Reference RR-88CD); Del McCoury's lead vocal and Jason Carter's fiddle in the Del McCoury Band's recording of Richard Thompson's "1952 Vincent Black Lightning," from Del and the Boys (Ceili Music CEIL 2006); and Gene Ammons's tenor sax and drummer Art Taylor's ride cymbal in "Hittin' the Jug," from Ammons's Boss Tenor (Prestige/JVC JVCXR-0033-2). All three of those are normally good-sounding CDs made from good-sounding recordings—but the EAR's treble grain rendered the Ammons disc especially difficult to enjoy.

Listening, USB DAC
After a few weeks of using the EAR Acute Classic as a CD player, I tried it as a USB DAC—and was disappointed to find that its sound continued to be plagued by an excess of high-frequency artifacts. In an AIFF file of "Crazy Man Michael," from Fairport Convention's Liege & Lief (ripped from CD, A&M 4257), Sandy Denny's voice was uncharacteristically abrasive, as were Dave Mattacks's percussion and the overtones of Dave Swarbrick's viola solo.

I moved on to "Up to Me," from Jethro Tull's Aqualung (ripped from the audiophile-reissue CD, Chrysalis/DCC GZS-1105), and heard more or less the same: gritty, exaggerated trebles that ill served Ian Anderson's sibilants, and lent an unpleasant edge to his acoustic guitar and Martin Barre's electric guitar.

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Finally, I listened to the CD layer of the SACD/CD of Hillary Hahn's recording of Elgar's Violin Concerto, with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Colin Davis (AIFF ripped from Deutsche Grammophon 00289 474 8732). It wasn't long before that familiar treble edge became apparent in the sounds of massed strings and brass instruments—and, sorry to say, Hahn's brilliantly played violin.

In a final effort, I disconnected the Acute Classic from my system and used my review pair of AudioQuest NightHawk headphones, via the EAR's headphone jack, to listen again to all of the above files. Despite what I hear as the NightHawks' decidedly dark overall sound, the grainy and, ultimately, edgy trebles endured. At that point in my time with the Acute Classic, I bailed.

Conclusions
As promised above, here are the rankings so far:

Of the three players and one transport/DAC combination I've so far reviewed for this series, the one that most pleased me was Luxman's D-06u ($9990): Its sound was unfailingly and realistically vivid, it was capable of putting across fine momentum and flow with recordings that possess those qualities, and it offers a USB input and a greater-than-average variety of useful controls, including selectable filters and a switch for inverting signal polarity, just like that.

In second place are Audio Note's CDT One/II and DAC 2.1x Signature CD transport and D/A processor ($9600). This combo wasn't quite as sonically vivid as the Luxman, but its musical momentum and flow were second to none. But it lacks a USB input.

In third place is Metronome's CD8 S ($10,000), whose ergonomics and styling are my favorites so far—but its sound was just a bit less accomplished than that of the Luxman and Audio Note, and I never quite got over the strangeness of a product that has a DSD-ready DAC but can't play SACDs.

There is playback gear that endears itself by making it easier to understand and enjoy music that I otherwise don't care for. (I'm reminded of the first time I used the EMT OFD15 pickup head, which made beautiful, compelling sense of one of Chopin's orchestrated works: music to which I had been, before then, indifferent.) Then there are those products that go so far in the other direction that they put me at arm's length from music I already love.

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Sadly, the EAR Acute Classic ($6795), in fourth place, is one of the latter. As I listened through it to Fairport Convention's "Crazy Man Michael," I was twice disappointed, given my fondness for previous EAR products: For years, I owned and enjoyed an EAR 890 power amplifier, and to this day the EAR 834P is the phono preamp I most often recommend to friends and readers. Perhaps John Atkinson's measurements will reveal a reason for the uncompelling sound I heard from the Acute Classic, but as it stands, it is not a product I can recommend.

COMPANY INFO
EAR Yoshino
US distributor: EAR USA/Sound Advice
1087 E. Ridgewood Street
Long Beach, CA 90807.
(562) 422-4747
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
georgehifi's picture

Art Dudley: "Finally, I listened to the CD layer of the SACD/CD It wasn't long before that familiar treble edge became apparent in the sounds of massed strings and brass instruments—and, sorry to say, Hahn's brilliantly played violin."

I've yet to hear the cd (pcm) layer sound good, on a dual layer SACD disc, also when being converted by a delta sigma converter even hybrids.

Cheers George

cgh's picture

Good of you guys to post the manufacturers comment.

Solarophile's picture

But why is it that there seems to be an over-representation in equipment failures with these uber expensive audio devices?

Costing around $7k, you would think each unit would be of impeccable quality control and testing before leaving the door. Sure, the jitter FFT doesn't look great. But that higher noise floor thanks to the tubes isn't exactly pretty either.

PAR's picture

" Costing around $7k, you would think each unit would be of impeccable quality control and testing before leaving the door."

I would guarantee that this unit left the factory after some impeccable QC. However in real life units sent for test are not always fresh from their maker, particularly where expensive gear is involved. Much of the latter is only made subject to a confirmed order as it is not viable for the (usually small) manufacturer to have lots of costly inventory hanging around hoping for a buyer.

The result is that often the item under test is the only sample available in the given country. It will probably have been tramped around the country for demonstrations and may even have been lent out to customers known to the importer/dealer and considered a serious potential purchaser. So it most likely has suffred from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

I listen regularly to an earlier version of the Acute owned by a friend and IMO it sounds excellent , far better than many competitive players. I have even played it back to back with my dCS stack and , again, it mostly held its own insofar as subjective enjoyment is concerned.

I am confident that a retest of another sample will remove doubts. Of course it does have a valve output stage so that has to be taken account of for the measurements. That is just the nature of the beast and all of its betubed relations

John Atkinson's picture
PAR wrote:
The result is that often the item under test is the only sample available in the given country. It will probably have been tramped around the country for demonstrations and may even have been lent out to customers known to the importer/dealer and considered a serious potential purchaser. So it most likely has suffered from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

This is increasingly the case. One amplifier we recently received for review had overlaid UPS labels identifying 2 other writers who had had the amp before us. As Stereophile is the only publication that measures the products it reviews, for an importer to send us a used and possibly broken sample is rolling the dice. As in this case, it wasn't worth them taking that risk.

As I say in this 2007 essay on our review policies, www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/307awsi/index.html, "All products sent to Stereophile and its reviewers . . . are deemed to be for review. It is also assumed that they are representative of current production quality."

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

georgehifi's picture

This does not sit well for me, as a good Stereophile review is the No 1 review a manufacturer can get to open the retail flood gates.

Hell I would have been devastated (and broke) if Sam Tellig didn't give my product a great review, I hung on every word of the review more so than the birth of my son.
And before anyone says I gave him a freebee, NO! he had to buy one from me before he even did the review.

To send to Stereophile some thing that has been around the world without double /tripple checking it first and making sure it's even better than a retail one, means the manufacturer doesn't give a s**t about how the review turns out, to which I highly doubt.

Like I said it doesn't sit well for me, as I've seen so many times with a bad reviews, the manufacturers comments saying it was faulty we'll send another one. REALLY!!!!

Cheers George

Allen Fant's picture

Not surprised at all- AD.
I have been wanting to demo one of these spinners. Last year I sent an email request to Dan for a list of dealers/retailers. To date, I still have not received a reply?

mjazz's picture

I heard the player first at a local hifi show and it sounded pretty "digital". I then borrowed the player for a week and I had more or less the same experience like Art. It was not just right in the highs. It sounded like old digital.

A pity, because I thought I finally found a good follow up player for my Meridian 808i.2, but the meridian sounds in my ears so much more natural than the EAR (through an EAR 912 pre).

It would be a -bad- coincidence if the player I had at home was broken as well....

fortescue's picture

I had been looking forward to this review, especially given the kind words others have written about this CDP and about its predecessor. It's certainly been on my own audition list despite the fact I already own a fairly high-end Audio Note transport and DAC - I could really use the space apart from anything else!

The harsh review was a bit of a surprise, but the biggest surprise of all was the measurements section: looking at it, it's as plain as day that the unit you tested was broken. Surely it would have made sense to have had a conversation with the manufacturer BEFORE publishing?

You might think it makes you look all grand and objective, but actually you let your readers down when you pull a stunt like this. If the player is genuinely a poor performer then giving the manufacturer a chance to supply another sample, then confirming your findings, is surely a more credible way forward than reviewing a clearly broken bit of kit?

I would think you have been in the journalism game long enough to know that a petty exercise like this just makes you look a bit dumb, possibly even dumber than a manufacturer who wasn't organised enough to send you a fresh sample.

ChicagoJEO's picture

I have to disagree. When Stereophile receives a product, it's the manufacturer's responsibility to insure that the reviewer gets a properly functioning unit. As a consumer, I don't have the test equipment (and well-trained ears) to tell when something is malfunctioning, if it happens at the relatively low level that was the case here. If Stereophile starts getting the manufacturer to buff up the unit to a higher level, I think that's a kind of collusion that would give the product a review indicating a quality level the average consumer is not likely to experience.
If the unit is exhibiting bad behavior that any consumer would be likely to recognize (bad artifacts, or simply not even functioning at all), then it's appropriate for them to return it to the manufacturer, as that's something the average consumer would also be likely to do.

John Atkinson's picture
fortescue wrote:
the biggest surprise of all was the measurements section: looking at it, it's as plain as day that the unit you tested was broken.

Plain to you, perhaps. The high distortion I measured was within the manufacturer's specification, as was the high headphone output impedance. The poor performance of the digital section was no worse than that of some other products we have reviewed.

And while the maximum output level was higher than specified, we didn't think that in itself was reason to think the sample was broken, as it was identical in both channels. Yes, this may have been due to a manufacturing fault, but as I wrote in the essay linked to in an earlier posting, "It is assumed that [products sent to Stereophile and its reviewers] are representative of current production quality." If it turns out that a product is not representative, then we feel that the fact that neither the manufacturer nor the distributor has effective QA is a relevant fact.

fortescue wrote:
Surely it would have made sense to have had a conversation with the manufacturer BEFORE publishing?

The manufacturer and distributor were sent a proof of the review; the result was the "Manufacturer's Comment" you can read on this website and the promise to send another sample for a follow-up review. That followup appears in our March issue and will be appended to this web reprint next week.

fortescue wrote:
You might think it makes you look all grand and objective, but actually you let your readers down when you pull a stunt like this. If the player is genuinely a poor performer then giving the manufacturer a chance to supply another sample, then confirming your findings, is surely a more credible way forward than reviewing a clearly broken bit of kit?

You seem to think that our responsibility as reviewers is to present a manufacturer in the best possible light. You are wrong. We are critics, not consultants.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

fortescue's picture

Well I guess we'll see ... I had been keen to audition this player having heard only the original Acute CD and thinking highly of it. I guess we'll soon find out whether I should bother or not.

galahad's picture

John, I really appreciate your sentence: "We are critics, not consultants.". I would add: "We take reviews, and measurements, extremely seriously.", because customers (i.e. readers) ALWAYS come before manufacturers...
That said, you've been way too "clement" with this poor (to say the least) machine...
Listening is subjective, whereas specs are objective, and when a machine costing thousands of dollars presents absurdly below-average specs, I wonder how some "reviewers" (not you at Stereophile, to my great pleasure) can say it's "beautifully sounding"! The EAR player's specs and measurements are simply appalling (THD, S/N ratio, crosstalk, linearity, etc.) and on Stereophile's website itself we can find many digital players and DAC's that cost less than a tenth and whose specs are incomparably better...
My review would be: "Save your money and keep away from it, unless you really can't live without such a nice faceplate." The price requested for such a technically inadequate machine is so high that I would even refuse to do a listening session!
I thank you John for your correctness, and again let me say, for the sake of "absolute honesty", that such machines as this model by EAR should be curtly labeled as "grotty", and the manufacturer (in this specific case, NOT generally) a "duper".

Alessio Zanelli
Italy

Fleschler's picture

I own the Acute (original) with superior NOS tubes and A/C cable (stock cable makes it sound horribly wooley and leaden). I heard it with stock tubes at Prana sound booth at the Los Angeles Audio Fair 2017. I was surprised that it sounded so good, better than my original unit with stock tubes. I would gladly buy this newer unit when my wears out.

As to Georgehifi who spawned so many negative comments about EAR on this forum, he is a troll forum writer. He is a well known troll on Audiogon. I have encountered his utter negativity on the Black and Blue Fuses Synergistic Research forums. Along with a few other trolls, they try to derail the positive characteristics of tweaks which do not have scientific data to prove their value to audio listening. The latest negative comments derides fuses, hallographs and other means of enabling equipment and rooms to sound better. Luckily, 90% of the forum writers are in agreement as to the validity of the improvements in their systems using these tweaks.

As to this EAR CD player (and CD layers sounding as good from SACD discs as CD layer only discs), I give a two thumbs up for sounding GREAT! at the LA Audio Show.

Fleschler's picture

I am also cognizant of the utterly positive AD review of the second Classic unit. However, he states that he played the Acute units full open in volume. I read somewhere, maybe Dan told me, that the preferred output setting for the player into a pre-amp is at 2 o'clock, not full open. I tried full open when I first had it and it sounded somewhat strident. I've had the Acute for 10+ years now set at 2 o'clock which is plenty of gain. I assume that the Classic should also be set that way into a pre-amp.

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