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Well, this is post #500 and I had hoped to use it to post my long overdue impressions of my three month old MAD EAR++ III. But, given enough time, things can change. I logged on yesterday to a number of PM's from EAR owners, and past and present prospective EAR owners regarding the status of the EAR++ III at Mapletree Audio's web site. Sure enough, it was no longer listed anywhere, although the EAR+ Purist was still listed. So, a quick message was sent to Dr. Peppard. I quote his response as follows:

Quote:

Thank you for your enquiry about the Ear++. I had too many products to keep track of, and with my order queue growing to unmanageable proportions, I have tried to simplify things by eliminating redundant or low-demand products, including the Octal 6 preamp and Ear++ III. The main reason for the Ear++ was to offer a preamp as part of the Ear+ Purist. The headphone amp performance is the main focus of the design, and the preamp ended up with too much gain for many solid-state power amps and required external attenuators, etc. The Ear+ Purist has passive preamp outputs which for high-gain, high-power solid-state power amps is a better way to go and at no extra cost.

So, I would like to go back to the draft of my initial impressions and edit them accordingly as many of them were focused on the pre-amp section of the EAR++ III. I believe that this change in MAD's product line is mostly for the better, as it should have no impact on audiophiles seeking just a headphone amp. The headphone amp design in the EAR product line is something that those seeking a tube amp should definitely consider. It is quite the performer, and those who have used it as such will most probably agree.

And for those seeking a unit that can pull double duty, I am inclined to believe that a passive pre-amp output would probably offer better performance than the pre-amp design that was incorporated in the EAR++ III. More thoughts and impressions to come as time permits, most probably as responses to questions posted, as big blocks of my free time continue to be limited.

 

[Afrikane]

Thank you for the update as to the status of the EAR++. I too had to quickly discard the idea of using the pre-amp section of the ++III. The noise floor was way too high with my amp, the attenuators that Lloyd kindly sent free of charge helped a little but ultimately not enough to make me use it as a pre-amp. For me this matters little, it was always just a nice extra function to have, my main purpose for the ++III was always for headphone amp duty.
I am ashamed to admit that I have not spent nearly enough time listening to this amp due to receiving another amp within a day or two of the Mapletree. From the intermittent listening I have done my overall impression is that it is a gem of an amp. I rolled out the stock driver tube for a Raytheon 5751 to great effect which gives me some optimism for further rolling experiments.

 

[mrarroyo]

I have had my Ear Purist + HD100 for about 9 months or so. I just love the sound. Is so smooth, punchy, and detailed. At $600 I think is a bargain.