After the sale of my latest SET amp to a local he came back to order a tube MM phono stage. The EAR834p kit was a top of the range selection with very high-end parts on a extremely well produced PCB. It comes partially assembled but to complete it I added the taller parts on the back of the PCB to allow the tubes to poke through the top.
Because they run the tubes at 6V the current draw on filament is at an amp. I had to make a special external PS to handle the current. The PS get quite hot but the preamp runs dead quiet due to choked dual Pi filtering. A 5H choke and 400uf of high voltage caps insures that and heavily filtered filament DC.
Initially I thought it rivaled my EAR834p kit phono stage of a few years back (still in play) but after listening to both I would be happy with either. Though forced to take just one I would take the newer Zoi over my current unit.
Looks great in Indian Dark Red and sounds big and full in sound. Excellent depth and really well presented detail with fine treble. Not the cheapest kit on the market and the sale price to the buyer was $710. I feel, based on the sound and quality of parts a fair price. I have thought about making one for myself, its that good.
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