EAR 834P Impedance?

Thanks for the tips guys.

Mark, I'm having the opposite issue with the 834's impedance; I think. I am experiencing a very good, but too "wet" sound. The highs, particularly lower highs sound too polite, blunted. The sound is begging for a little more openness and deliniation; experience points me in the direction of much higher cartridge loading, 47K? I am handy with a soldering iron, and am intrigued by the mods. BTW, the only tube rolling that I have done so far is replacing the front stock tube with a NOS Amperex (Holland) 12au7, with mixed results. Yes, a more refined sound, particularly in the highs, but the unit lost a bit of it's dynamic thrust. It's a little polite now; not a reasonable compromise in my book. I will keep experimenting. Let me explain what I am experiencing this way: I recently bought some Nordost Red Dawn IC's to try either between my CDP and pre, or phono stage and pre; frankly, I hated them. Very detailed, not really harsh, but WAY too lean. Not so surprisingly, they work reasonably well between the EAR and pre. Tightened things up quite a bit. Still not quite right, but closer to correct tonal balance.

Happy Holidays.

As far as mods go I will have to echo what Mark has already stated. I had my 834p modified by Steve Huntley at Great Northern Sound. His mods have taken it to a completely new level. Top that off with some NOS Mullards and your off to the races. Best and enjoy. Gary

Hi Frogman,

What cartridge are you using ?

When I was loading the Koetsu at 515 ohms the sound was downright boring. I experimented with 250 ohms, 200 ohms, 150 ohms, 100 ohms. 50 ohms and finally 10 ohms. Each change brought an audible improvement. At 10 ohms everything just gelled. You may be surprised at how a small change in loading can make your cartridge sound a lot better.

All the best,

Mark

Though this is a very old thread I want to share some info I've garnered recently that others may find useful:

On Jun 26, 2010, at 1:22 PM, doak wrote:

Greetings,
I've owned and used my EAR 834P MM/MC version for several years. I am seeking a definitive answer as to the cartridge loading it presents when switched into MC mode.

From Dan Meinwald of EAR USA:
It's a transformer load, not a resistive load, as the numbers are usually given. Translated to a resistive load, it's about 125 ohms.

Also, when in MC mode does the signal pass through the same 51K ohm loading resistors as does the MM signal.

From Dan Meinwald of EAR USA:
All that happens in MC mode is that the step-up transformers are switched in, which means the answer is yes.

This is very important to my getting the best performance out of my unit with my MC cartridge. I've been information on the stating that the MC loading is anywhere from 50 to 500 ohms.

From Dan Meinwald of EAR USA:
Many people speak without the knowledge to to back up their statements.

Dan Meinwald
EAR USA

Doak - I read your post above with interest but find myself somewhat confused.

My translation of the above is as follows:

- Set to MM, the 834's impedence is 51K.
- Set to MC with the XF switched in, the nominal
impedence is = 125 ohms.

Is this correct?

Mike