Integrated Amp Reviews

Excellent review.

I like the way you compared and contrasted the amp with different manufacturers.

Although I am set on equipment I cannot imagine anyone springing for this beautiful integrated being anything but ecstatic and happy with the purchase.

Sure, it's been a bad year but the UK is now getting the vaccine and we should too.

Bad year aside, I can't recall any Audio related authorship as outstanding as this. I'll bet Steven King would praise our MR.KM. which should worry us, hmm, CNET lost it's great reviewer and the NYTimes is always hunting talent. fingers crossed.

Can we have doubts about longevity ? Great sounding tubes can have disappointing life-spans. ( even not so good ones can die young )

I can't reveal any promise or pledge from the Manufacturer or Importer or our Pulitzer level reviewer. hmm

I'd like to understand the life spans for all those tubes that the EAT team create and their quality policy.

Tubes are the singing voice of Audio gear ( my opinion ). The better sounding the tubes the better and way more addictive the music system.

Thank you for reporting.

Tony in Venice

"The E-Glo I made me want to search through the waves of vinyl records all over my apartment and let the amp have at them."

To me that is what listening to music is about.

It is great that not only is it a visual work of art but that it is also a joy for listening. The closeup pictures reveal impeccable attention to detail.

... EAT did not include a phono stage.
Instead of spending $10K on this unit, I'd find a way to scrape up the extra $2K in order to buy a Luxman CL-38uC and MQ-88uC preamp/power amp combo.
https://luxmanamerica.com/product/cl-38uc/
https://luxmanamerica.com/product/mq-88uc/
https://www.stereophile.com/content/luxman-classic-cl-38u-preamplifier

and pricy separates at that.

EAT make 3 Phono step-ups from $2,000 to $6,000 which kinda make them just above entry level. phew.

I'm getting the notion their Tubes are pricey.

Tony in Venice

These devices still might be viable if they have an established Life-Span, a supported guarantee system which would make them Re-sellable and generally useful.

A matched set of 4 could be parted out or stored on a shelf if these are Lifetime Investments.

Still, these are not Impulse purchase buys.

If I were still in the Retail or Import Audio business, I would buy-up boxed sets of these tubes and probably sell a couple sets a week.

Musically, I consider the little pre-amp tubes to be the singing voice, not the Amp Tubes. However, Horns work well at very low or low power levels.

How long will these tubes live? How many hours? How well does the Manufacturer support or will they support over the looooooooonnnnnngggggg span of times that Audiophiles live?

I suspect that wealthy folks don't need or expect assurances like what regular audiophiles rely on.

My life experience is that tube gear will have deteriorating tubes but vintage tubes have outstanding singing voices that perform well for decades.

The Safe path is SS & streaming.

Tony in Venice

"I suspect that wealthy folks don't need or expect assurances like what regular audiophiles rely on."

There are plenty of people for whom this would be about the same financial impact as me putting a dollar in a vending machine.

"The Safe path is SS & streaming."

But safe is not so much fun ;)
And speaking of safe: 400+ volts DC wakes me up way more than 120 volts AC when my mind wanders while working on it.

"You can use milk instead of butter – but you'll be sorry."

Looking at the caps used I could almost predict this line:

"Though the E.A.T. consistently supercharged the upper-mids and treble"

Shame that a more mellow and transparent option isn't available. Mundorf MKP may be a tad darker, but the smoothness in the treble more than makes up for it after break-in. They're reasonably priced, and about the same physical dimensions. If they were going to chose a low cost audio brand poly cap this or maybe Clarity would have been much better options.

OTOH, of course, system synergy matters a great deal and with the right speakers this may be moot.

I've always been impressed with EAT - if you look at the span of offerings, this is a product line curated by an audiophile.

Given what was written about the EAT, I may end up buying the E-Glo I myself. And I suspect the current VTL IT-85 or Line Magnetic 518ia would have been a better comparison than the Cary. They both sit in the accurate end of the integrated tube amp spectrum, as opposed to the warmed up and slightly indistinct sound preferred by many purists.

And I have to agree with Tony In Venice about the older NOS power tubes. Most of them are built to last and sound incredible, compared to the newer generation. Well worth the money, particularly the EL34s, 6550s and 845s. As for the EAT KT88 quad's price tag, well, it's probably around the same cost as buying 4 good used GEC KT88s. Given EAT's focus on quality, their tubes could be just as good. Look forward to hearing them someday...