How well respected our EAR products

VERY respected,Tim is in the top 10 all-time......YMMV,Bob

Another vote for poor distribution/customer service, as I once sent an email inquiring about the dealer/retailer network by state(s), never received a reply. This company can do better by answering potential customer request(s)!

keep me posted & happy listening!

I had a problem with response to a proprietary, broken "stand-off" screw on an EAR integrated. It sounded good with my Quads, but was assembled with not-so-good parts and this part broke, newly shipped, in factory packing. I would think, "not my fault".

I was referred to the factory where I had the distict displeasure of speaking with Mr. Paravicini AND his attitude. (It's amazing that they can both be in the same room at the same time!) I told him this wasn't my idea, his rep at the time couldn't get the part quickly and told me to call, that's how I got the phone number.

Didn't matter, I got the full "Tube God" Paravicini attitude. No thanks to him, I fixed the thing and sold it immediately.

I've been in high end for 40 years and owed a ton of gear. I got rid of EAR due to that attitude and likewise will never own Levinson after they left me stranded with an $8k "modular, always up to date" DAC. Every time I use my system my gear reminds of the people behind it and I want nothing to do with EAR or TP.

There are plenty of good folks who make good gear and stand behind it. No reason to support egomaniacs who blame the user when their product breaks in normal use or companies that leave you stranded. Fool me once, shame on you...

FWIW, I owned an EAR 834L line stage. Sounded good but build quality was very poor and service/information from dealer and manufacturer were non-existent. It had a piecemeal death and I finally pitched it!

I've owned a lot of EAR products - - guess I resonate with their idea of good sound. Started with the V20 Integrated, added an Acute CD player (closest to vinyl at that time that I had heard), added a 324 phono stage, short flirtation with the 868 preamp with phono, added an 890 amp (long love with that one), and a pair of the 509 amp monoblocks. I would agree that Tim's attitude about parts selection and build quality is evident in the gear, but listening to his gear you can hear that he knows quite a bit about getting great sound.

I had zero problems with any of the gear listed above, so I don't know how the service side of the organization performs. But I have spoken many times with Dan Meinwald, the importer/distributor, and he was always helpful and forthcoming in advice (about tubes, possible mods, etc.).

FWIW I no longer own any EAR products, now prefering VAC gear and Lampizator. But I do have high respect for the EAR line for sonic reasons.