EAR 324 in my system.

[PHC1]

It's finally here.

Greg already posted about his so I'll just get straight to business. How does it sound? In one word, "superb". I can only compare to the Bellari tubed phono stage so far but the EAR 324 blows it out the water, no big surprise there. Open sounding, dynamic, resolving it has all the positive attributes of the solid state design. The transient response is head and shoulders above the little tubed Bellari and the 324 also has greater clarity and transparency with incredibly low noise floor. I don't hear a thing when the music is not playing, it is dead quiet.

Now, for the good part, I've done a bit of research into the phono stages and it was mentioned more than once that the 324 doesn't sound like SS or Tubes but somewhere in between. At this point and based on a few hour listening sessions so far, I've narrowed down the synergy of the Maestro Wood to the 324 loaded down at 33K and 220pF of capacitance as the most balanced sound with rich and full tonality and a great balance of detail and resolution without sounding lean or tipped up or muddy down low in the bass region.

I am very impressed with the 324 so far, it compliments and fits into my system very well, preserving the rich and slightly warmish sonic signature of the Maestro Wood cartridge while being quite a bit more resolving and dynamic over the Bellari. Great job Tim de Paravicini!

[jdandy]

Serge.......Nice photograph. Thanks. The EAR 324 is an attractive looking unit. It certainly offers plenty of options for whatever cartridge you choose. Having a phono preamp of this caliber would encourage one to own more than a single cartridge, I would think.

[Still-One]

Just out of curiosity did you consider either the Lamm or Ayre phono stages?

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Serge.......Nice photograph. Thanks. The EAR 324 is an attractive looking unit. It certainly offers plenty of options for whatever cartridge you choose. Having a phono preamp of this caliber would encourage one to own more than a single cartridge, I would think.

That was the plan Dan. Get a flexible phono stage that will have a sonic signature that pleases my taste and allows me to experiment with different setups/cartridges. I'm very happy with the results so far.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Stillone

Just out of curiosity did you consider either the Lamm or Ayre phono stages?

Jim, the Lamm is MC only and is not very flexible at all. If the cart works well with the Lamm phono stage, it can be simply jaw dropping. It is too early in the vinyl game for me to go to such a narrow range product. The Ayre is not in the same league with the EAR in terms of design. The EAR uses very high quality step up trannies in shielded cans with relays instead of switches for the primaries just for example. The Ayre is on par with many other phono stages in that price range, I've been told and now can hear for myself that the EAR raises the bar by a wide margin in terms of sonics. It does sound dynamite in my system so far.

[Masterlu]

So glad to hear & happy to help!

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

So glad to hear & happy to help!

Thanks for picking up the line Ivan. I'd never steer you wrong.

[Masterlu]

You take all the guess work out of making the wrong decision.

[PHC1]

Just did a back to back comparison of the Red Hot Chili Peppers "Stadium Arcadium" CD vs LP. No comparison, besides the fact that the LP exhibits no dynamic range compression like the CD does, the soundstage is both wider and deeper, the dynamics are bolder and uncompressed on the LP, drums have greater body and impact, guitar distortion is actually part of music instead of torture on the ears like they are on the CD. The LP wins hands down for musicality, harmonic texture and overall PRAT. This is what music really supposed to sound like, makes you want to turn it up, up and up as you rock out. The CD is just disappointing and makes you want to turn the volume down, down and shut it off...

The EAR phono stage has excellent bass in terms of texture and slam and an addicting level of PRAT with an impressive level of naturalness and "ease of sound" on the ears. I'd never guess I was listening to just a solid state phono stage with an MM cartridge. Most impressive.

[gregswaim]

Nice pixxx Serge! You'll be sure to notice the part in the owner's manual that talks about after market power cords- they don't recommend them.
I'm glad to hear that you found the 324 to be first rate. For me, it's the best phono stage that I've ever encountered.
Once you decide to upgrade to a better TT, you may want to consider one that will allow for up to 3 tonearms so you can have 3 different pickups. One for mono( consider Lyra), your Clear Audio Maestro MM, and a MC pickup. Talk about variety and top quality all in one box! The 324 delivers in spades.
In my opinion this phono stage ranks among the finest in the world right now.

I'm ordering the Lyra Argo i MC(stereo) for my LP12 on Tuesday, my dealer is closed on Mondays.