Description: Moving-coil/moving-magnet phono preamplifier, available with or without front-panel level control. Input sensitivity for 1V output at 1kHz: 2.2mV (MM), 220µV (MC). Maximum output level: 30V. S/N Ratio: 80dB (IHF, unweighted).
Dimensions: 5" W by 4" H by 11" D.
Serial number of units reviewed: 0911596 (auditioning), 97081016 (measuring).
Price: $895–$1295 (1997–2003). Approximate number of dealers: 9.
Manufacturer: Esoteric Audio Research, Huntingdon, UK. US Distributor: EAR USA, 1624 Sunset Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90405. Tel./Fax: (310…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: System Context
The LP front end used in the preparation of this review consisted of a Goldmund Studio/Syrinx PU-3 Revised/Koetsu Urushi LP front-end feeding the EAR's MC input. Other reference equipment included an Audible Illusions L1 line-stage preamplifier, Audio Research Classic 60 and VT100 power amplifiers, and Acarian Alón V Mk.II speakers. Interconnects were MIT Digital Reference and MIT CVTwin Terminator 350, with tri-wired Acarian Systems Black Orpheus speaker wire.—Robert J. Reina
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The EAR 834P we received from Bob Reina arrived defective (it had extremely low gain). Since he'd clearly had no problem with it, we can only assume that it was damaged in shipment. EAR sent us a second, more recent sample. It was slightly different from the original unit: The front-panel level control had been deleted, and the front panel itself was far better finished. The interior layout was nearly identical, though the main circuit board (screen-printed with a "1996" copyright date as opposed to BJR's sample's "1995") was somewhat larger (with a larger case to…
Michael Fremer wrote about the EAR 834P Deluxe in August 2003 (Vol.26 No.8):
I've been meaning to review this Tim de Paravicini design for years. Finally, egged on by readers, here goes.
Double your money and more than double your pleasure with EAR's now venerable but still vital 834P, a three-tube (12AX7) moving-magnet stage that also has, for moving-coil use, a pair of step-up transformers (3–50 ohms) available at the push of button. The 834P in basic black will set you back $995; the chrome Deluxe version costs $1295 (I've seen it discounted to $995).However, I can't guarantee…
"But I Thought You Were My Friend!" (Footnote 1)
The relationship between audio reviewers and equipment designers is tricky at best. Reviewers judge a company's products and report their impressions to equipment-buying readers, often with significant consequences---positive or negative---for the manufacturer. Conflicts often arise because the manufacturer and reviewer have completely different agendas; the reviewer is responsible to his readers, the designer to his company.
This relationship is even more complex when a reviewer and manufacturer establish a friendship. With…
But will this company's actions affect the tone of any future reviews of their products? Not a chance. If this company has a new product that is superb, the praise will be just as glowing. If the product is poor, the criticism will be no more severe than if this incident never happened. It is just as great a sin to overly praise a product from a friendly manufacturer as to overly damn a product from an unfriendly one. The cardinal rule operating here is that the readers' interests come first---before anything else. The reviewer also has a duty to the more abstract concepts of serving audio…
A letter in response appeared in Vol.14 No.12, December 1991
But I thought you were my friend!
Editor:
Robert Harley's "But I thought you were my friend!" article ("As We See It," September 1991) raises some interesting points. As a supplier of hi-fi equipment, I fall into the category of manufacturer vis-à-vis reviews.
Generally speaking, I am friendly with the press. Some of my favorite people even work for your august magazine. Sam Tellig (an old friend) has often taken pot shots at my products, and Corey Greenberg (friendship pending) even had the audacity to give a…
The advance of plasma-display technology speeds on, and the Pioneer PDP-501MX is at the front of the line. This is the first plasma monitor on sale in the United States that is capable of displaying high-definition images, making it the world's most advanced, commercially available product of this type.Squeezing almost 1 million pixels into even a 50" display (measured diagonally) is quite an accomplishment. As soon as I pulled the unit out of the box and set it in its unobtrusive tabletop stand, I connected it to Panasonic's high-definition tuner box and fed the monitor an over-the-air HDTV…
The company also notes that the monitor's electronics have several exclusive features, including one that is said to increase light output by prompting both the anode and cathode (front and back) of each plasma cell to fire. Other plasmas light only the cathode. Pioneer makes no specific claim about the degree of increase, but the monitor seemed plenty bright to me.
Pioneer also claims that each cell in the display is offset a bit, slanted sideways about 22 degrees. This is said to mitigate the "screen-door" effect—all those square cells giving the faceplate a screen-like imprint. I didn…
It turns out that the proper color settings for HDTV are woefully off for NTSC. Fortunately, the monitor has four memory locations for user-specified picture settings, which lets you store different settings for HDTV and NTSC. This solves the problem. Still, after storing the picture settings for each input, users must wade through menus to make the change every time they go from NTSC to HDTV, which is likely to be a frequent transition in the new world of digital television. If this problem of the disparity between the two signals is not solved soon, manufacturers are going to have to make…