@bkeske care to comment?
A friend has an EAR834P MM version and prefers the built-in phono stage on an integrated.
14 responses Add your response
Thanks man, saw this post, but also felt the OP was looking for someone who has heard both. I have not heard the Ear. I do have the Trumpet, and like it a lot. I've had it for 3 years now. Personally, I think it is still one of the best values on the market today in it's price point. Over that 3 year period, I have swapped quite a few tubes (both the 12ax7 and 12ay7's) to arrive at the overall sound signature I prefer. It is nice to have both the 12ax and 12au's, as they affect different things. After a year, I also was able to snag a used SBooster power supply, and that improved things as well. One you get the Trumpet tweaked to your personal preferences, for me, it can be a wonderful addition to your vinyl rig setup. All that said, the stock tubes are not bad either, but believe me, there is a difference going to old venerable tubes as an option. The Trumpet reacts very well to different tubes, where some units may have been voiced to a certain tube and replacing *can* sound worse. That is not the case for the Trumpet. One of the best things about the Trumpet vs some of its completion is the various options for resistance loading and gain. Looking at the Ear, those options are very limited. Using MC carts from .25mV up to a couple MI carts at 2.4mV and above, it can handle them all. I have not found as cart yet I could not optimize to my liking. Having not used the Ear, of course, I can not make a comparison between the same carts feeding each. If the Trumpet has a downside, I would say it is noise floor vs some, but that is also dependant on tubes used and cart gain necessary. Personally, that does not bother me much as it seems to 'go away' when playing music. If I had to guess, between the buying the stock Trumpet, purchasing various tubes, and the SBooster power supply, I have probably spent a tick over $2,200 in total, but still have extra tubes to try out again in the future. And I do still swap just to see if what I remember still holds true to my preferences. |
@bkeske Good stuff. Interesting info on the Trumpet. Yeah, the Ear is basic and has no loading options. |
The EAR classic is using built-in step-up transformers (SUT) for MC gain. These transformers are likely to be much cheaper than the transformers in their wonderful standalone MC-4 SUT box ($2200 on its own), and don’t have any of its loading/gain flexibility either (4 gain levels!). If you’re going to compare the Trumpet MC’s MC stage (JFET) in isolation to an EAR MC-4, then I’d say the MC-4 wins for most MC cartridges (not all!), but the Trumpet hangs very close on overall musicality - closer than most. Having not heard the EAR Phono Classic myself (like @bkeske ), but having a Trumpet MC and an EAR MC-4 (and MC-3) and a slew of other phono gear to extrapolate against - I’d be surprised if the Classic’s built-in transformers can match the Trumper MC’s JFET stage in musicality - and certainly falls far behind it in flexibility. The built-in transformers were an oft-decried weakness of the prior 843P phono stage (assuming they’re similar here). As @bkeske noted the noise floor of the Trumpet MC is a little higher than you’d expect from a SUT + tube MM stage combo, or even other JFET + tube MM stages. That’s its main weakness. I’m not a stickler for ultra-low noise so I pay it little mind. It’s also tilted to a warm sound, which I like, and you can tweak this with tube rolling. |
I've had the Trumpet twice (and sold it twice for financial reasons as expenses came up). If I ever have the financial freedom, I'll order another from Jim without a second thought. It's a beautifully transparent, revealing pre without being brittle or clinical. Conversely, it's not overly warm either. Like, @bkeske, I swapped out the tubes for the Telefunkens and Bugle Boys I preferred and they really contributed to making vinyl an immersive, beautiful experience.
|
Hi all, how critical are the (4) 12ax7s to the tone of the Hagerman? I'm assuming the 12au7s are doing the heavy lifting tone wise but maybe I'm wrong? If I wanted to open up the sound, make it more transparent with more pronounced highs can I get any recommendations? I'm currently running '60s Raytheon 12au7s and a mix of NOS RCA/Teles in the 12ax7 slots (also do these need to be matched?) Thanks!
|
I have heard changes generated in a Phonostage as a result of the design put in place for the Phonostage > Power Amp Interface. I have referenced this experience within other Threads on the Gon. In a nut shell the Wire used as the Signal Path in the umbilical is PC Triple C. The Cable Terminations were exchanged from the Manufacturers to Low Eddy RCA Connectors. The Phonostage Chassis Input / Output RCA's were exchanges from a Solid Copper RCA Connector to a Solid Copper Low Eddy RCA Connector being the dame brand as used on Cables. There are other control measures in use that can be read about within other Threads. The outcome being the Low Eddy Interfaces, where the assessment has been of the End Sound being produced, has substantially surpassed the Pure Copper Chassis RCA and Manufacturers RCA option. I have now learnt that investing in this area, is as important as investing in the Circuit. In the case of the H'man, the circuit already in use may be discovered to be more that adequate when an Interface between downstream devices is addressed. Swapping out Valves can be costly, I know the types which are needed and have been demo'd a large selection of iptions from the 50' - 70's. I know the cost of the 60's Vintage ECC 83 Valves and getting the selection correct for a Phonostage can for the unsupported be extremely costly. I have bought Vintage Valves for owned Phonostages of which one design has a circuit that used the ECC 83 Valve Type. Each Valve when received to be used in a Phonostage has been checked for being near prime as an example. Valves selected for committing to a purchase are almost identical in their measurements taken on each Valve Half and across each Valve selected to be used. A Quad set of perfectly matched Vintage Valves or more recent production Valves, expected to be supplied is a Fantasy. As a buyer it is not even a guarantee to get the correct circuit match of Valves if substantial monies are parted with to a very very trust worthy seller. When without a support to be able to investigate what is purchased, the buying comes with an extremely high risk for the not achieving a matched circuit. I own Valve Hybrid - Valve Input / Out and SS Phon's, I take the first amplification, adding gain, to the Cartridges sent signal in a way that is very very focused on what is the best basics that I can put in place for the circuit. I now have a new objective, which is what is the very best basics I can put in place for the interface between required umbilical's and other devices. |
fastricky, I have never seen a schematic of the Trumpet, but chances are the 12AU7s are not doing any "heavy lifting". Chances are they are used as cathode followers in that circuit. A CF does not add gain; its job is to convert voltage to current or in other words to provide a low output impedance so as to drive downstream components (a linestage most likely). Because the CF does not add gain, it is less likely to color the sound. Now to repeat what I have said here many times before: 12AU7 is not a great sounding tube, no matter how much you pay for them or how exotic the brand. You can usually replace them with 6FQ7 or 12FQ7 (depending upon the filament voltage in the component), which are relatively cheap and to my ears audibly better sounding even as a CF in an output circuit of a phono stage or linestage. That is my opinion based on trials and errors in more than one instance. |