DIY EAR 834p phono stage - a short evaluation/ test with those chinese PCBs

[Psychoman67]

Very good fault finding. I'm impressed. 

Where dya get the transformer covers?

I had a bit of a problem with a kind of fluttering distortion.
I found out that it was one of them virgin network power lines that was giving me the problem.

Glad you've almost sorted it.

Tony

[Drummerboy2]

Yeah, just process of elimination which I do every day at work.  I got the Transformer cover from Go-Parts.com

I also found out after installing the Sumiko Amethyst on the wand due to a mishap to my Grado Reference 3 with trying to find the fault that the Sumiko is way more quiet than the Grado and output is louder. I was a little pissed cause when I bought the Grado it was a Out of box display, never used but it was a low output which it was supposed to be the 4.0mV output cartridge. The Sumiko is only 2.5-3.0mV and was way louder and zero noise. So there was two more parts to this problem on top of the others.

The Sumiko matches very with the EAR 834P clone and I'm enjoying it very much. Music comes from a "Black" background and a tad warm sounding but still with good detail and clear presentation. Reminds me a lot of the Shelter 901 I have but that too needs the stylus replaced due to a mishap years ago.

Hopefully you can get your EAR 834 up and running!

[pine-nut]

Other than making the top cover look nice with a piece of walnut on top, adding a couple zip ties and making a plate to cover the hole in front, I just finished mine. No buzz or hum, great, full and rich sound. This does sound better than my Chinese pre-built 834 clone. Sometimes I surprise myself..
This sounds really sweet!

[Drummerboy2]

Other than making the top cover look nice with a piece of walnut on top, adding a couple zip ties and making a plate to cover the hole in front, I just finished mine. No buzz or hum, great, full and rich sound. This does sound better than my Chinese pre-built 834 clone. Sometimes I surprise myself..
This sounds really sweet!

Nice build! Good layout.

After I switched out the stock PS PCB with one that I had upgraded the parts, I got hum that I could not get rid of. Then I noticed when I was troubleshooting the EAR Clone that I was getting what seemed like fautl or something wasn't grounded. So I grabbed the stock PS pcb and was looking around it seeing how they did the ground on the separate chassis with the PT and PS board. Then I saw it, they didn't use the proper grounding point by the big caps they use a mounting hole on the other side by the rectifier and sold bridged to a through hole that was tied to ground. I removed the solder bridge and put a jumper with sold core wire to where the mounting hole on the thick ground plan and used the screw to tie the ground to the mount which grounds the chassis. Worked great and zero hum now with volume control on the Phono preamp and preamp all the way up. So another example to use the main ground plan for the star ground point like its supposed to be. I bought this pre made from the seller.

Now I have a new chassis to build from when I ordered my EAR 834P kit back when covid first hit. I have the Antek transformer that is called out in the build list and other components. So this will be a fun learning experience again, I already have written down the issues I ran into with the upgrading of the stock unit and they upgraded version sounds really nice and better than the stock unit did. I planned the layout and will start on the chassis soon since I received my new Zhili bare pcb. I will start with the power supply first since I have already build the upgraded one and works fine.

[pine-nut]

Nice build! Good layout.

After I switched out the stock PS PCB with one that I had upgraded the parts, I got hum that I could not get rid of. Then I noticed when I was troubleshooting the EAR Clone that I was getting what seemed like fautl or something wasn't grounded. So I grabbed the stock PS pcb and was looking around it seeing how they did the ground on the separate chassis with the PT and PS board. Then I saw it, they didn't use the proper grounding point by the big caps they use a mounting hole on the other side by the rectifier and sold bridged to a through hole that was tied to ground. I removed the solder bridge and put a jumper with sold core wire to where the mounting hole on the thick ground plan and used the screw to tie the ground to the mount which grounds the chassis. Worked great and zero hum now with volume control on the Phono preamp and preamp all the way up. So another example to use the main ground plan for the star ground point like its supposed to be. I bought this pre made from the seller.

Now I have a new chassis to build from when I ordered my EAR 834P kit back when covid first hit. I have the Antek transformer that is called out in the build list and other components. So this will be a fun learning experience again, I already have written down the issues I ran into with the upgrading of the stock unit and they upgraded version sounds really nice and better than the stock unit did. I planned the layout and will start on the chassis soon since I received my new Zhili bare pcb. I will start with the power supply first since I have already build the upgraded one and works fine.

I didn’t use the grounding scheme described in these threads - I used my own, based on one of the Chinese pre-builts, only with a few changes. I thought simple may be best, and I could always add more ground leads if this didn’t work. The Mogami microphone cables (both in and output) have shielding soldered one end only and each PCB is grounded to chassis. That’s about all.. It’s perfect!
No noise other than some “tube rush” when volume gets cranked up. The more I listen to this one, the sweeter yet punchier it’s sounding. Only about 10 records on it so far - and I love it!

[Drummerboy2]

I didn’t use the grounding scheme described in these threads - I used my own, based on one of the Chinese pre-builts, only with a few changes. I thought simple may be best, and I could always add more ground leads if this didn’t work. The Mogami microphone cables (both in and output) have shielding soldered one end only and each PCB is grounded to chassis. That’s about all.. It’s perfect!
No noise other than some “tube rush” when volume gets cranked up. The more I listen to this one, the sweeter yet punchier it’s sounding. Only about 10 records on it so far - and I love it!

Same here, the more I listen the better it's getting. It's starting to really open up now. I will write back after more hours how it finally turns out.

[pine-nut]

Same here, the more I listen the better it's getting. It's starting to really open up now. I will write back after more hours how it finally turns out.

Very cool!
I still need to get mine finished up but it’s just cosmetic stuff. It sounds better and more fluid to me than the Schiit Skoll I recently bought and the Skoll sounds pretty nice.

[pine-nut]

Here it is finished up.


[url=https://i.imgur.com/sART8KW.jpg]

Other than a couple tubes being microphonic, this is my most amazing sounding phono preamp. It’s very rich, full and exceptionally detailed.
For those folks thinking about building one - just do it…

[Drummerboy2]

Here it is finished up.


[url=https://i.imgur.com/sART8KW.jpg]

Other than a couple tubes being microphonic, this is my most amazing sounding phono preamp. It’s very rich, full and exceptionally detailed.
For those folks thinking about building one - just do it…

I agree with you as my EAR Close with upgrades now has come into its own and is the best sounding Phono preamp I have had in my system, even beating out the SPL Audio Phonos, and I did a side by side comparison. Just been enjoying pulling out LP's and listening for hours. This is what I wanted in a Phono Preamp and I finally got what I wanted. This EAR clone plays all styles of music very well. Yesterday I ran it through it paces and put on some R&B and Classic Rock and turn it up to loud listening levels, never got congested or messy, Actually it sound better at higher volumes! I could do that with the stock EAR Clone.

Today I will be adding the Final touches of the last upgrades, TKD volume Pot, the 30uF film caps, and the Silver Mica caps in the RIAA section. then I'm done.

[Drummerboy2]

I agree with you as my EAR Close with upgrades now has come into its own and is the best sounding Phono preamp I have had in my system, even beating out the SPL Audio Phonos, and I did a side by side comparison. Just been enjoying pulling out LP's and listening for hours. This is what I wanted in a Phono Preamp and I finally got what I wanted. This EAR clone plays all styles of music very well. Yesterday I ran it through it paces and put on some R&B and Classic Rock and turn it up to loud listening levels, never got congested or messy, Actually it sound better at higher volumes! I could do that with the stock EAR Clone.

Today I will be adding the Final touches of the last upgrades, TKD volume Pot, the 30uF film caps, and the Silver Mica caps in the RIAA section. then I'm done.

I replaced the Alps Pot with a TKD pot and while I was at it I replaced the Gain knob.

[norelco]

Sharing my completed and another successful project 

[Drummerboy2]

Just finished yesterday.

[spaceistheplace]

A quick note:

User spaceistheplace has been dealing with some health issues and requires his "audio room" space to be cleared for another use.

All remaining TMOQ 834p (about 3 dozen?) boards have been provided to diyaudio user "tronan" for distribution. These include the tube PSU, SS PSU, and the evolved TMOQ 834p boards. Please inquire with him for any further needs in this regard or support / questions etc.

Additionally, a clearout of some of his items can be found on the swap meet here.

Would appreciate if any forum mods see this, that this information could be passed around. Spaceitheplace was an active member here for many years, and heavily involved in the 834p thread in particular.