Does EAR324 phono stage sound like tubes ?


i like the idea of being able to adjust the loadings of the phono stage... but does ear 324 sound anything close to being tubes ?
anyone who has would appreciate it- also considering the 834p or 88pb but the tube swapping is a bit hassle for finding good nos tubes...
the different load settings seems a good idea.
thanks !
nolitan
Hi Shoshis, assuming you're listening to MC mode in the "15 ohm" or "4 ohm" positions through a full-range system, then that sounds like you've probably got a quiet unit there, but I'll add that the hum, if you had any, wouldn't be most apparent through the tweeters -- that's primarily the random noisefloor, which is also quite low in my unit. The LF hum I have however can be very clearly detected, not only audibly, but by placing a fingertip on a woofer cone, where as a defined sinusoidal hum it feels very different from the lower random noisefloor shown in MM mode.

BTW, I noticed in Atkinson's comments in Stereophile he mentioned that he "did not find any interaction between the phono inputs". This doesn't seem to be the case with my unit however -- with a signal present at Input 1 and Input 2 unconnected, I can nevertheless hear the music faintly through the speakers when Input 2 is selected on the front panel. Conversely, when listening to Input 1 with MM mode selected at the rear panel, I can still hear some mild frequency response modification when changing SUT impedance taps at the front panel -- which correlates with the fact that the rotary-control switching transients can also still be heard, so clearly the SUTs aren't totally removed from the circuit by the rear-panel switch.

Also, when I turn my 324 off, after a slight delay I get a dying-quail high-frequency tone though the loudspeakers that lasts for a second or two, at a volume high enough that, if I don't mute or turn down my preamp first, would give me cause for concern for my tweeters. Anybody else notice this?
I really have to place my ears next to the tweeter of my Thiel 3.7 to detect anything other than dead silence. That said, my First Sound preamp is as dead quiet as well.

To sidetrack a little, does the Ear 324 use a fuse in the unit?
The EAR 324 and **PB sound completely different from one another. The 324 is leaner and more detailed. The 88PB is richer with much stronger bass.