Sonofjim, my comments were based on what I thought was your budget. I don't know exactly what Raul and Jose are selling the Essential for, but it is well north of $10K. Well north.
Sorry, I didn't mean you weren't somehow good enough to own it. |
Mgreene,
NO offense meant, but I think you should back off on Raul's full function preamp. I have heard it, seen it, felt it, over a year an a half ago and I understand that there have been some improvements made as Raul and Jose keep working on it. It is an extremely viable product and I have no hesitation to say that it is probably one of the best, if not the best, SS units available today. I don't blame Raul one bit for not wanting to give you or anyone else what he and Jose have been working hard on for many years. There are many other areas in this hobby that I disagree with Raul on, but this is not one of them.
And I agree with Raul's and Audiofeil's assessments of the 834P. I owned one, did all the mods, rolled in some tubes, etc. I did sound better, but still kind of warm and fuzzy. But let's be fair, the 834P is at best an entry level phono stage. So I would say no, putting a set of Bent Mu stepups in front of it is not going to change how the EAR sounds. But these are some of the best stepups around so they can be used with many phono stages. |
$5 grand? Forget it, it is out of your league. :-) |
Mgreene, we seem to have a disconnect. My comments were directed to the 834P that the OP asked about. He asked if the MUs added to the 834P would equal "greatness". Well, ok, that is subjective. IMO and IME, my answer is still no. You seem to want to talk about the 839, but I'm assuming you mean the 834.
I could go to the trouble of designing an external PSU, splitting the circuit farther into two separate channels, etc., but it would no longer be an 834P. BTW, mine was not a deluxe model so it did not have the volume pot. |
Mgreene, I hope you enjoy your 834 for many year to come. |
Now lack of enthusiasm for the Bent Mu here. I don't own a stepup now because I don't need one. But I have heard how good the original MU sounds when setup well and they don't come around very often on the used market. I know John Chapman has been working a long time to get the new version right. I have seriously considered buying a pair if I get some extra cash. |
Just because it has a FET stage doesn't mean it will sound good or sound the best or even sound better than stepups. There is a lot more to getting a FET gain stage to sound as good as a stepup than just building the circuit. However, if it is done right the benefits of not having to mess with minute changes in loading to get things sounding right and not having an extra set of cables in the mix is very much worth it sonically. And there is no chance of experiencing ringing from the transformers. In reality we have just exchanged one set of problems for another set of problems.
The circuit that the 834 is based on is pretty good. I have not studied the RIAA part in any detail. I'll leave that to others who obsess over that. But if one has the intention of maxing out a phono stage based on that circuit it makes much more sense to me to start from scratch. If you look you can find the circuit online and also some enhancements to the circuit. Why buy the unit, then buy more parts, etc. Why not just do the job right and by-pass starting with a product that was meant to meet a price point? |
Mm2550,
I understand what you are saying about incremental mods. I've done them myself and done them on the 834. The mods do help make it sound better, but not great. IMO, putting the MUs in front of the EAR is like putting a rose between your nose and a piece of Limberger cheese. You may smell a little of the rose, but I guarantee you will still smell the cheese. I'm not saying the EAR stinks, just making an analogy to help explain my point of view. I believe the MUs deserve more than the 834 is capable of.
The discussion here has, to my thinking, morphed a bit into to what extent is modifying the 834P worthwhile. I don't think it is worth modifying the 834P beyond the normal list of mods usually done to those units. If the goal is to go beyond, I suggest starting from scratch or get another phono stage.
What does the Alaap or the Essential have to do with anything in this thread? I never suggested to anyone in this thread that they should go out and buy one of these so I don't know why this is relevant. |
making the FET/417A front end sound great is work - but not that hard Maybe you should start traveling around the world giving demos of your work. Perhaps you can find a market for it. |
If you have the coin then don't pass on the MUs just because you may use them with the EAR for a while. As I said before, I'm considering buy a set myself even though I have no need for them. I've not spent time with one myself but I think Rccc's recommendation of the Bottlehead seduction should be seriously considered. (I do have 2 pairs of their SET amps, 2a3 and 300b.) K&K, also Hagerman Technologies. But, maybe even better, if you're thinking of getting the MUs why not ask John Chapman? He's probably got something good, but maybe not for future mods. |
Mgreene,
I appologize, I didn't mean to come off that way. I'm posting quickly between tasks at work (it is what keeps me sane )so sometimes my thoughts don't get fully formed. |
