[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by replytoken That was my original plan. Then, I thought that I should try another tube for awhile to see if the problem was just that one tube. I'll probably figure out a solution (or a path to a solution) soon.

I first went the "Herbie's Halo" route and it helped. Since I purchased a GE grey plates which I plan to install shortly.

 

[Thaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo I first went the "Herbie's Halo" route and it helped. Since I purchased a GE grey plates which I plan to install shortly.

Same here, Herbie's Hal-O dampers all the way

 

[mrarroyo]

GE 5751 installed, BAM!

I should have done this sooner, more detail, and more extension. All that for $25 delivered (did not search for a better price).

 

[Sean H]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo GE 5751 installed, BAM! I should have done this sooner, more detail, and more extension. All that for $25 delivered (did not search for a better price).

Is it a black plate or gray plate? I'm running a black plate, a great tube!!

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean H Is it a black plate or gray plate? I'm running a black plate, a great tube!!

It looks grey, man my eyes suck. Does anyone have a pair for sale?

 

[replytoken]

Is anybody using their EAR++, or possibly an older EAR model, as a preamplifier? I am still trying to iron out a floor noise problem (as I described in another post), and I am about at my wit's end. While I believe that the issue may be stemming from my integrated amp being very sensitive as a stand-alone power amplifier, I will not have access to another solid state amp until later this weekend to test this theory.

In the meantime, I have ordered and swapped out my signal tube for a lower gain type (12AY7 instead of 5751). This eliminated some of the microphonics that the stock signal tube was displaying, but it has done nothing for the noise floor that some think is a tube rush sound. Do tube preamp owners just live with tube rush and high noise floors? Is it possible that another solid state amp may present the same problems? I have the EAR set at its lowest setting, 5dB, and Dr. Lloyd has checked his schematics to make sure the design is OK. Its a great sounding preamp and headphone amp, but at low passages the floor noise is very noticeable.

The only patchwork solution I have not yet tried is Rothwell In-Line attenuators. Some say they have minimal impact on the sound quality. Others believe they are very degrading. They are not readily available, nor are they dirt cheap. My wallet is already hurting, and my belief that things would synergize to an acceptable level is also taking a beating.

Dr. Lloyd and I went over the amp specs. several times so I am a bit puzzled. Also, the EAR is very quiet as a headphone amp. Is this problem isolated to my system, or have any other EAR owners had similar preamp issues? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, because the next immediate steps to resolve this issue can be quite expensive, and involved.

 

[Afrikane]

Man that must be frustrating. My ++III has been shipped, once I have it I will set it up for pre-amp duty to a PS Audio GCC250 report back on any noise floor issues should there be any. I am not sure how this will help you as the Rega and the GCC have very different specs.

 

[replytoken]

Well, I managed to get my hands on a Musical Fidelity X-P200 power amplifier today to try out with the EAR++ instead of the Rega. (As a side note, the X-P200 is quite a nice solid package, and it can put out a good 120W in stereo. If anybody is interested, there is a dealer showroom demo for sale in Seattle at a very nice price.) Unfortunately, the noise floor was still there. So, after a quick call to Dr. Lloyd, he is going to build and send me a pair of attenuators to place between the preamp and the amp. Sonically, he feels this is the best place to attenuate the signal as it will still allow me to pump a strong signal through to the amp, hopefully improving the signal to noise ratio. Alternately, he can rewire the amp to put the volume control after the signal tube, but he thinks the in-line attenuators should do the trick as long as my IC's are not too long. I am hopeful that this will solve the problem.

 

[pageman99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo It looks grey, man my eyes suck. Does anyone have a pair for sale?

If you need a pair of grey plates, I have some. You can email me if interested.

 

[augustwest]

Afrikane -

Have you received your amp yet? Any problems running it as a pre-amp?

- augustwest

 

[Afrikane]

Not yet Augustwest, some customs officer is probably trying to figure out what it is before releasing it for delivery. Ho hum.

 

[Frihed89]

This sounded good out of the box and has just gotten better in terms of openness and dynamics. I can only compare with my old Rega Ear. No comparison! It's hard to believe that anyone could be dissatisfied with this product. There's something for everyone unless you are a died in the wool Bryston "open and airy" SS type. If so, try something else.

 

[Afrikane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by augustwest Afrikane - Have you received your amp yet? Any problems running it as a pre-amp? - augustwest

It arrived today Augustwest. I set it up for pre-amp duty to do some noise floor checking for replytoken. Yup, hiss and hum galore in this mode but almost absent in headphone mode. I haven't done any serious music listening as yet. Although I will be using it primarily as a headphone amp I would still like to see this noise floor issue resolved because I did opt for this model due to it's flexibilty. I can foresee a time when I might want to setup a neat little bedroom rig with the EAR++ in the chain. In another thread we were wondering what the Racing Green looked like, well I ordered a LR1 in Racing Green at the same time. It would make an excellent colour choice for the Mapletree amp products. See for yourself.

 

[mrarroyo]

Afrikane and replytoken if I may suggest get a cheap cheater plug. Run your setup as you normally do and verify the hum/hiss is present, then turn either the source or the amp off and install the cheater plug on one, then reverse the polarity by turning the plug 180 degrees. If the hum/hiss is gone the problem was an easy to fix and you can send me a $100 honorarium check

 

[augustwest]

Afrikane -

Thanks for the update! Unfortunately, I decided to go a different direction for my headphone amp needs. I still have great interest in your thoughts on the EAR ++III. Would be interested, as I know others would, an in depth review of your thoughts on this amp. By the way I think the "British Racing Green" is a good pick color-wise.

- augustwest