E.A.R. Acute Reliability

This response has nothing to do with the Acute CDP - I've never seen it let alone heard it. However Tim P's response to the inquiry about the lack of an instruction sheet or manual is, I think, a good reason to do so to the extent that it sounds consistant with my experience with EAR.

I have, but have not used in a long time, an EAR 834L line stage. I bought it, and appreciated it for its sonic signature. As HP said, reminiscent of my ARC SP10. But there the difference ends. This thing is one of the most poorly constructed units I have ever encountered in high end audio, right from the quality of the case, the imput selector, and cross talk from other inputs to the poorly attached RCA outputs. And, when trying to identify the correct tubes to use and their assigned sockets I could get clarity from either EAR, its then distributor, nor the 1 page instruction sheet which was inaccurate. Personally I would never buy from EAR again no matter the sonic potential.

FWIW :-(

As I noted above, I have had an EAR Acute for about 7 months. No, it did not come with an instruction manual. But since it was based on an Arcam player, I downloaded the Arcam CD73 instruction manual to understand the function of the buttons on the remote as well as the commands that the CDP would accept from a universal remote. I also have an EAR 859. As Rja mentioned, Dan Meinwald is very responsive.

"I purchased one of Dan's CES 2008 demo units which will be shipped to me directly from Las Vegas when the show is over. I can hardly wait."

Hi Airfla,
I purchased the other demo unit, also after considering the Acute, exciting isn't it. Waiting is really hard, but at least you'll get yours first as I opted to wait for the Bybee filters. When you receive yours, let me know what you think. Well, here's wishing us luck.

Regards

Phaelon

Thanks for the good wishes. Yes, the anticipation is kind of exciting. And I haven't got any quality sound in the interim because my transport died.

I was a little disappointed to hear from Dan today that my unit will ship with GE 5687's rather than Tung Sols because he is out of stock of the latter. He suggested that I contact Brendan at Tube World about a pair of Tung Sol's.

I've also ordered some Tenderfeet from Herbie's Audio Labs. What interconnects are you planning on using?

Airfla,
I wish more people would initiate and respond to threads concerning product/service reliability issues. To people without excess disposable income, it's just as important as sound quality. An EAR was on my short list for an amplifier upgrade but I'm rethinking that now.

I'll Email you regarding my interconnects as I don't want to get too off topic.

Regards