E.A.T. E-Glo I integrated amplifier Page 2

The low-riding E.A.T. never failed to captivate when playing well-recorded jazz, electronic, or classical music on vinyl. It drew me deeply in to every recording. Its resolution, impressive spatial abilities, and tonal guts made listening to my most beloved records thrilling. 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.

While my Tavish Audio Design Adagio phono stage is being serviced, the Luxman EQ-500 phono stage has taken up residence. Where the Tavish sounds warm, liquid, and lush, the Luxman is highly resolving, airy, and powerful. I acclimated to the change before I started listening to the E-Glo—but there's no question that the Luxman further accentuated the E.A.T.'s virtues. The E.A.T./Luxman/EMT/Kuzma combination creates the largest soundstage with the most robust, best-resolved images I've heard in my system. Especially with classical LPs, the E.A.T./Luxman combo immersed me in music. The E.A.T.'s transparency, resolution, quick timing, and big soundstage (with proportionately sized images) made the most of good recordings while directing worse recordings to the Goodwill pile.

1220eat.porter

The impression of a large, spatially deep, wide soundstage inhabited by large images was sustained when I went digital, streaming files from Tidal. Gregory Porter's All Rise (Blue Note, Decca 00602508620157, Tidal 24/48) and The Avett Brothers' The Third Gleam (Concord/Loma Vista 7219552, Tidal 24/48) sounded a mite diffuse compared to vinyl, but the soundstage and imaging qualities were similar. The E.A.T. delivers a consistent, top-tier imaging experience.

1220eat.louis

Back to vinyl. As I write this, Chad Kassem's Acoustic Sounds Verve reissue series has been shipping for a few weeks. The first batch, scheduled for July but released a little late, was Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson and Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto's Getz/Gilberto. August brings two releases from John Coltrane: Ballads and A Love Supreme. September's two records are both from Nina Simone: I Put a Spell on You and Pastel Blues. Coming soon: Clifford Brown and Max Roach's Study In Brown, Peggy Lee's Black Coffee, and George Russell's New York, N.Y. All titles in the series are cut from the original analog tapes and pressed at Quality Record Pressings.

I dropped the reissue of Louis Armstrong and Oscar Peterson's Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson (LP, Verve Records B0031689-01) on my Kuzma player. I needed a shovel to lift my jaw up off the floor.

In triode mode, the amp delivered Pops's and Oscar's performance with pristine clarity, black backgrounds, large-scale acoustic bass, and brisk guitar and piano. Armstrong's gruff vocal appeared huge and dead center, every slurred nuance and guttural phrase alive and human. I uttered "wow" several times as I enjoyed the E.A.T.'s portrayal of this LP, including Louis Bellson's tactile drumming and Pops's tart, lustrous trumpet solos.

Jim Austin, Michael Fremer, and I all detected some distortion on Armstrong's voice in a few inner groove selections, but overall I found this record to be dynamic and transparently recorded—and forcefully delivered through the E.A.T., with (like most LPs through this combination) energy, good tone, and exemplary drive.

In triode mode, the E.A.T. reproduced sounds in the upper-midrange-to-treble frequencies as penetrating and brilliantly burnished. Cymbal crashes were explosive, and instruments and vocals were reproduced with fine leading edges, which imbued the music with a high-rez, physical, and nearly 3D quality. The midrange was generally full and transparent—as it was on the Armstrong/Peterson disc, its upright bass delivered with excellent touch, if also a touch of overhang.

Flipping the switch to Ultralinear mode made the sound more immediate and upfront but with a smidgen's loss of delicacy. Both modes sounded good, but for the rest of my listening I stuck with triode.

1220eat.miles

Though the E.A.T. consistently supercharged the upper-mids and treble, it never sounded etched or bright. Aided no doubt by the Luxman phono stage, the E.A.T.'s energy lit up cymbals, snare drum, percussion, strings, and brass. This was paired with an unparalleled (in my system) sense of air around instruments and ambience of the recording space. When I played Miles Davis's Relaxin' (1958 mono LP, Prestige PRLP 7129), I could almost see, and could definitely hear, the walls of Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs studio and the placement of each musician—this on a mono LP. Even in mono, the front-to-back layering of the instruments was easy to hear: Miles's trumpet was palpable and intimate; John Coltrane blew his tenor hard a degree or two behind him, alongside Paul Chambers's resolute bass lines. Above it all were the shimmering ride cymbal and snare drum jabs of Philly Joe Jones. The E.A.T.'s intimate, fast, expansive portrayal of this Miles Davis classic floored me.

1220eat.ormancay

In stereo, the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy in Afternoon Of A Faun/Daphnis and Chloe, No.2/La Mer (LP, 1959 Columbia Masterworks MS 6077), is the album that first convinced me of the E.A.T.'s spatial splendor. Here, the music was super-vivid and large-scale, the soundstage immersive, instruments sweeping before me and around me, stirring and tangible, their images at times diaphanous, at other times meaty and palpable. The E.A.T. reproduced the exceptional spatial cues of this large-scale recording with startling ppp-to-fff dynamics. I felt I could hear the span of the recording hall—the Ballroom of the Broadwood Hotel in Philadelphia—to its farthest recesses. Reverb tails were fully replicated, providing an enormous sense of space.

I hope JA's measurements reveal low levels of distortion, because that's the subjective impression I had. The E.A.T. allowed me to hear all the way "to the moon on gossamer wings," as Sinatra sang (footnote 3).

The E.A.T.'s reconstruction of Antal Doráti leading the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra performing Iberia/Interlude and Dance No.1 La Vida Breve (LP, 1958 Mercury Living Presence SR90007) provided a similar perspective. Iberia played with scary, almost violent dynamics. Instruments were presented with good textural shading and were extremely well layered in the large soundstage.

1220eat.3

My only quibble with the E.A.T. E-Glo I was this: It possessed somewhat less bloom and tonal saturation than some other tube-driven products in a similar price range (and up). The E.A.T. offset that disadvantage with a presentation so thrilling and engaging that it was only later, away from my stereo, that I realized that I'd been missing something. That said, it matters: To me, that tonal saturation is the flesh and blood of live music, the heart-color of inspired musicians' personalities expressed through metal, resin, wood, and wires. The E.A.T. had it, just not as much of it as, for example, my Shindo separates.

Compared to the Cary SLI-80HS integrated amplifier
At $4495, Cary's SLI-80HS integrated amplifier costs almost exactly half what the E-Glo I costs. Like the E-Glo I, it comes stock with four KT88 power tubes. It uses two 6922 (input buffer preamp) and two 6SN7 tubes. The Cary specifies 40Wpc triode, 80Wpc Ultralinear, but falls significantly short of those specs, according to JA's measurements.

1220eat.switch

Where the E.A.T. was forceful and direct, the Cary was slightly more laid back and forgiving. The E.A.T. created high-definition images with more explicit leading edges; the Cary's images had softer edges and less interior definition. The E.A.T. was a mite dry compared to the Cary's more saturated tones, and the Cary was sweeter-sounding overall. The E-Glo I offered superb transparency and tons of air and space, while the Cary was slightly more diffuse but perhaps more colorful. Each produces its own version of excellent sound.

Conclusion
In its ability to create a supercharged musical presentation within a large soundstage populated by big images, allied to superb definition and resolution, with good tone, the E.A.T. E-Glo I gets so many things right in such a balanced, forceful presentation that I'd say it's worth its asking price. Enthusiastically recommended.


Footnote 3: "Just One of Those Things" has, of course, been recorded by pretty much everybody, from Louis Armstrong to the Pogues (with guest artist Kirsty MacColl). I counted 40 versions on Qobuz. A fun evening could be had just listening them all.—Editor
COMPANY INFO
European Audio Team
US distributor: Vana, Ltd.
Nesconset, NY
(631) 246-4412
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
Metalhead's picture

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.

tonykaz's picture

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

Jack L's picture

Hi

Bingo.

I can't agree with you more !!!!

Listening to tube is believing

Jack L

thatguy's picture

"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.

Ortofan's picture

... 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

tonykaz's picture

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

thatguy's picture

The tubes are outside of my budget (especially for a item that wears out) but they are beautiful hand made tubes
https://youtu.be/Cd2jMzErw9I?t=46

tonykaz's picture

$1,800 for a single KT88 isn't pricey, it's other worldly.

I'm trying to discover what seems to be rather well hidden $ commitment levels relating to this EAT Company and thier product line.

They appear to be a highest Caste, velvet rope type outfit. I called the USA office but no-one there.

Tony in Venice

thatguy's picture

I ran into the same issue when trying to find prices; they aren't big about putting them out there but I thought I saw $1800 for a set of 4 tubes. Which would be in line with their $1500 extra on this amp to get it with those tubes.

That is still a lot of money so I'll just make the picture of one of their tubes my desktop and live vicariously through reviews like this.

edit: found it: "$1795.00 Per Matched Quad" They only sell them in matched quads so I guess the single ended people like me are out of luck anyways.

tonykaz's picture

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

thatguy's picture

"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.

Jack L's picture

Hi

Take it easy. You're not a tube man, no wonder! Any tube amps operate on a few hundred voltage. IMO, tube amps sound better than solid state amps. That's why so many music lovers, including Yours Truly, go for tube amps only. You ever read any news of tube users electrocution ?

FYI, the phonostage I design/built & am using at home for a few years now, operates on 600V++ !!! It sounds superb on playing my 1,000+ classical music LPs collection. NO sweat ! Have I ever worry a bit of electrocuting myself ?? Never !!

Jack L

thatguy's picture

yeah, that is exactly what my post said: that tube amps run on several hundred volts. The first one I built has 700 VAC coming off the transformer before the rectifier. The next one on the bench is over 800. You'd have to be in a pretty small town for the news to cover someone being electrocuted working on an amp.... But I doubt it happens very often either way.

Herb Reichert's picture

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

Ortofan's picture

... version of second harmonic sauce?

Jack L's picture

Bingo !

Jack L

eriks's picture

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.

Jack L's picture

Hi eriks

What critically decides superb sound quality is not passive components, like coupling caps, resistors, inter-wiring. It is the choice of active
gain devices, e.g. vacuum tubes, transistors etc., & the right circuit design to make these active gain devices sound best.

With the above done right, any very expansive parts & components are only icing on the cake.

Trust my decades' audio amps hands-on design/build experience, backed up by my addiction to classical music !

Listening is believing

Jack L

eriks's picture

Hi Jack,

Shame you are wrong. :) Trust my decades of hands on speaker and electronics building and experience. :) Solens are bright and irritating.

Best,

Erik

Jack L's picture

Hi

May I ask what electronics you've built ?

Jack L

eriks's picture

From theater processors to tube preamps. I don't mean home theater processors either. :)

Best,

Erik

Jack L's picture

Hi

Sorry, I only go for home audios: design/building phonostages, linestages (passive & active), & power amps, using TRIODE tubes only.

Techically & sonically, TRIODES beat any other active devices used in audio as only triodes acquire no-bent LINEAR signal transfer curves.

So please tell us more about yr design/building tube preamps !

Listening to triodes is believing

Jack L

eriks's picture

Hi Jack,

I've been down this road before. Here's what I suggest instead. Anyone who thinks caps are really not very important, use Solen coupling caps for a month, then switch to Mundorf MKP. They are both really inexpensive and worth the self-englightenment.

The audible delta between those two brands is rather large to me, as coupling caps or speaker caps. I've never tried them in amps, but I can't imagine it would be much different.

I'm comfortable that most audiophiles will find this worth the trouble.

Another thing to keep in mind is that caps only seem to be equal commodities when you have neutral or reasonably acceptable caps. Put in a bad sounding cap, and suddenly the cap becomes the most important component only because, perversely, it is so poor sounding.

Jack L's picture

Hi Erik

For best sound, use caps of the right design for the right application.

For HV filter of a tube amp, for example, I would use oil-filled capacitors instead of electrolytic caps most most commonly used even in very very expensive makes.

Why? Oil-filled HV filters sound much much better than electrolytic caps which are physically much smaller than an oil-filled caps & are less costly.

The problem is not many tube amp designers got critical ears to hear the difference!

For signal coupling, I would definitely use polyester (PE) & polypropylene (PP) film caps for tube amps for better sound.

Jack L

Jack L's picture

Hi

Not all caps are made the same way & therefore sound different.

So what dielectric used in the Solen caps you found "bright & irritating"? Polyester, polypropylene films, metallized or not etc etec ????

FYI, I've installed metallized polypropylene (PP) film caps (US made) for the bi-wired stand loudspeakers X-over network boards. I've used compact German VIMA polyester film caps of large capacitance in the passive RIAA EQ loop of the tube phonostage I've been using for many years now.

The caps I used sound smooth & balanced.

Jack L

eriks's picture

I've tried both the Solen polypropelyne and I thought they made a polyester cap (LONG time ago), so I could be mistaken.

I've been told the high-end versions sound much better by builders I trust, but those somehow never seem to make it into mass production gear I've seen. Once I found Mundorf MKP's I didn't look further for cheap good caps. I use Clarity for speakers though, except in the bass low pass filters, where I've been known to use Axon (Solen's cheap brand?) which works really well there.

bwright's picture

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...

Jack L's picture

Hi bwright

Sorry to disagree.

I am a die-hard TUBE DIYER. BUT but I hate "warmed & indistinct" tuby sound.

So ALL my design/built/upgraded tube phonostages, linestages & power amp sound fast, see-thru transparent, open, precision imaging, wide-deep-high soundstaging. In other words, they all sound accurate like the very best sold state amps but beat them musically !!!!!!

Listening is believing

Jack L

X