Does EAR324 phono stage sound like tubes ?

Thanks, guys, for your thoughtful responses. I guess another one bites the dust, since I was interested in the 324 only for the purpose of running it with MM and MI cartridges and was salivating at all those front panel choice of capacitance and load resistance. It is very odd to read that a device that uses BOTH input and output transformer coupling could possibly sound "grainy". I would have thought that the output transformer, in particular, would ameliorate any transistor-like coloration. (At least in my mind, "grainy" = transistor.) Plus, I would have thought that TdP was incapable of designing anything that sounded grainy. Because of my particular MM and MI wants, the 88PB would not be a good choice, either.

Lewm, we should investigate what other gears and the characteristics of the listening room in which Ken Kessler auditioned for that particular review. Do you have any ideas as I couldn't find anything of it yet? Art Dudley seemed to have used one MM (Linn Adikt) without much implications on audible distortions, right?

IMHO, if 324 is mated with EAR tube amp, Audio Note pre amp, or some Class A solid state(e.g. Pass Lab XA series) power amp, its solid state personality won't be any problem at all. This may not be true if it is hooked up with VTL TL-7.5(tube), Siegfried(tube) and Rockport(ring radiator tweetors)...

To me, 324 sounds like a solid state as it really is, but it's NOT thin sounding nor harsh. But be cautious when someone uses certain ceramic or metallic speakers or maybe some high efficient horn speakers in a very "lively & spacious" listening room.

All in all, it was a versatile solid state phono amp which "still" justifies its price tag, and targeted for MM/MI die-hard fans who seem to have no other choices within the same price range.

Best regards
Dan

Nolitan,
I have MY Sonic Lab Stage 302(for 1-6 ohm) and Phase Tech T-3(for Shelter 901, it's cheapy miracle match!)

VBR
Dan

Good points, Dan. Kessler did reveal the identity of his comparator phono stage, but I cannot now recall what that was. Possibly the Linn Linto. Also, Nolitan appeared to agree that the 324 could sound grainy. I use OTL tube amps and ESL speakers, probably a good match for the 324, which would feed into the linestage section of my Atma-sphere MP1 preamp, in balanced mode.

Compared to tube phono stages, yes the 324 did sound a tad grainy if you really listen to it carefully.
However if possibly fed thru an all tube system, i don't think you can hear it. Nonetheless i did appreciate the flexibility of its inputs (i wish more manufacturers) would adapt those kind of settings. Makes life easier if you have multiple cartridges.