Tube fans might want to get their passports in order. We've received word that the European Triode Festival 2004 (ETF.04) will take place in Langenargen, Germany in December. The festival, which describes itself as "a gathering of tube audio hobbyists and professionals," says it will host participants from all over the world.

When we last heard from Englishman <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/990paravicini">Tim de Paravicini</A>, whose <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/404ear">EAR 890</A> amp I reviewed in <I>Stereophile</I>'s April 2004 issue, the veteran audio designer suggested that he could make a transistor amplifier equal in performance to any of his successful tube designs. Whatever else it may be, the new EAR 324 is my first chance to test that claim: a stereo phono preamplifier without a single tube in sight. It isn't TdP's first all-solid-state product: That would be the line-plus-phono EAR 312 preamplifier, introduced to no small fanfare a little over three years ago. For all intents and purposes, the 324 is a standalone version of the phono section of that $18,000 flagship: The designs are virtually identical&mdash;excepting, of course, their casework and power supplies.

When we last heard from Englishman <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/990paravicini">Tim de Paravicini</A>, whose <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/404ear">EAR 890</A> amp I reviewed in <I>Stereophile</I>'s April 2004 issue, the veteran audio designer suggested that he could make a transistor amplifier equal in performance to any of his successful tube designs. Whatever else it may be, the new EAR 324 is my first chance to test that claim: a stereo phono preamplifier without a single tube in sight. It isn't TdP's first all-solid-state product: That would be the line-plus-phono EAR 312 preamplifier, introduced to no small fanfare a little over three years ago. For all intents and purposes, the 324 is a standalone version of the phono section of that $18,000 flagship: The designs are virtually identical&mdash;excepting, of course, their casework and power supplies.

When we last heard from Englishman <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/990paravicini">Tim de Paravicini</A>, whose <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/404ear">EAR 890</A> amp I reviewed in <I>Stereophile</I>'s April 2004 issue, the veteran audio designer suggested that he could make a transistor amplifier equal in performance to any of his successful tube designs. Whatever else it may be, the new EAR 324 is my first chance to test that claim: a stereo phono preamplifier without a single tube in sight. It isn't TdP's first all-solid-state product: That would be the line-plus-phono EAR 312 preamplifier, introduced to no small fanfare a little over three years ago. For all intents and purposes, the 324 is a standalone version of the phono section of that $18,000 flagship: The designs are virtually identical&mdash;excepting, of course, their casework and power supplies.

When we last heard from Englishman <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/990paravicini">Tim de Paravicini</A>, whose <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/404ear">EAR 890</A> amp I reviewed in <I>Stereophile</I>'s April 2004 issue, the veteran audio designer suggested that he could make a transistor amplifier equal in performance to any of his successful tube designs. Whatever else it may be, the new EAR 324 is my first chance to test that claim: a stereo phono preamplifier without a single tube in sight. It isn't TdP's first all-solid-state product: That would be the line-plus-phono EAR 312 preamplifier, introduced to no small fanfare a little over three years ago. For all intents and purposes, the 324 is a standalone version of the phono section of that $18,000 flagship: The designs are virtually identical&mdash;excepting, of course, their casework and power supplies.

When we last heard from Englishman <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/990paravicini">Tim de Paravicini</A>, whose <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/404ear">EAR 890</A> amp I reviewed in <I>Stereophile</I>'s April 2004 issue, the veteran audio designer suggested that he could make a transistor amplifier equal in performance to any of his successful tube designs. Whatever else it may be, the new EAR 324 is my first chance to test that claim: a stereo phono preamplifier without a single tube in sight. It isn't TdP's first all-solid-state product: That would be the line-plus-phono EAR 312 preamplifier, introduced to no small fanfare a little over three years ago. For all intents and purposes, the 324 is a standalone version of the phono section of that $18,000 flagship: The designs are virtually identical&mdash;excepting, of course, their casework and power supplies.

When we last heard from Englishman <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/990paravicini">Tim de Paravicini</A>, whose <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/404ear">EAR 890</A> amp I reviewed in <I>Stereophile</I>'s April 2004 issue, the veteran audio designer suggested that he could make a transistor amplifier equal in performance to any of his successful tube designs. Whatever else it may be, the new EAR 324 is my first chance to test that claim: a stereo phono preamplifier without a single tube in sight. It isn't TdP's first all-solid-state product: That would be the line-plus-phono EAR 312 preamplifier, introduced to no small fanfare a little over three years ago. For all intents and purposes, the 324 is a standalone version of the phono section of that $18,000 flagship: The designs are virtually identical&mdash;excepting, of course, their casework and power supplies.

Consider the plight of solid-state muscle amps. Often derided as brutes lacking sophistication or subtlety, particularly by the SET set (<I>ie</I>, fans of single-ended triodes), these powerhouses are taken for granted and often, like Rodney Dangerfield, they get no respect. And once upon a time, the stereotypes were true. Every veteran audiophile has at some time heard an immensely powerful transistor amp that had the soft sonic allure of a sheet of sandpaper, a lumbering oaf of a component with nothing whatsoever to recommend it save for a bulging set of mighty moose muscles.

Consider the plight of solid-state muscle amps. Often derided as brutes lacking sophistication or subtlety, particularly by the SET set (<I>ie</I>, fans of single-ended triodes), these powerhouses are taken for granted and often, like Rodney Dangerfield, they get no respect. And once upon a time, the stereotypes were true. Every veteran audiophile has at some time heard an immensely powerful transistor amp that had the soft sonic allure of a sheet of sandpaper, a lumbering oaf of a component with nothing whatsoever to recommend it save for a bulging set of mighty moose muscles.