ATC CA2 vs. EAR 834L

So, anybody compared the two? I just picked up the latter on home dem and will compare it with my CA2 at home tonight. It's a good deal - 2nd hand but mint condition, box and manuals, and from a reputable dealer so some degree of backup - and all for 300 quid! Correct me if I'm wrong, but that is a good deal right?

It's the plain black case one, which IMO is MUCH more attractive than the awful bling look of the deluxe one (and seemingly all other EARs...) Then again, I think ATC speakers are attractive so that should give you some idea of my aesthetic preferences.

I've had some difficulty determining what the difference is between the plain and deluxe 834s... People (wishful-thinking audiophools?) generally seem to think the latter has better components and thus produces better sound quality. EAR seem to think otherwise, stating only that the deluxe has shinier cabinetwork, extra inputs, and a neon power light!

Anyway, I'm gonna be giving it a serious thrashing tonight and try and determine how it stacks up against the ATC. I'm meant to return it tomorrow so I really won't have as much time with it as I like... If it shows promise I may well buy it on the credit card - just to give myself some more time with it! Then I can sell on the loser and probably not lose any money.

So yeah, just wondering if anyone had any opinions to put forth before the big test?

Cheers,

Dunc

 

I had an 834L into Active 10s and swapped it for a CA2.

The 834 is very good, not stereotypically valvely at all, but I thought the CA2 was a tad more transparent and it has remote control.

-- Ian

 

I think the 50's are attractive too, in a hardcore way.

I've heard the CA2 with 50's. I wouldn't give it shelf space. Yes, it is accurate and controlled, neutral etc. But it's rather flat and dull. The music sounds closed in. I'd say this is hifi - not so much music.

Now put a valve pre with the 50's and you have a whole new ball game. On the diy valve I heard the music comes alive. Soundstage becomes huge and the music seems to leap outside of the speaker boxes. The sound seems to be live, flowing, fun and real. In summary it has become music, not just hifi. Only downside on this particular diy pre had loose bass.

Andrew.B has recently bought an EAR 864 to go with his 50's. He swears by it and confirms the bass is as tight as solid state to boot. There seems to be a real synergy between a valve pre and solid state active speakers. You seem to have the best of both worlds here - a natural front end combined with ultimate control and clarity at the other.

Didn't know about the non bling EAR option. It was for this reason I wanted to get an Audio Research valve pre - black industrial looks, valve naturalness, and allegedly tight bass control.

I'll let Andrew.B know about this thread....

 

Duncan, perhaps you also want to do a home demo of the Croft Vitale SC pre-amp that I happen to have going spare? PM/email me if interested.

 

EARily good

Thanks Paul for the intro.

I expect Dunc has read my ravings on Pink Fish already. I like the CA2 for its neutrality and delicacy but I understand why some may feel it is a bit "bloodless". To me it was better than a Naim 82/Hi but not as good as a 52/Supercap. So great value and I still have mine.

The EAR864, which is a bling combination of the 834L and the 834P plus a bit more, has near-solid state tightness in the bass, quite a bit more depth/impact, sweet-as-you-like mids and doesn't roll off the top (unlike some valve preamps). It is really good with my ATC50s.

I went for the 864 (2nd hand for £895) rather than the 834L because it has balanced outputs which make connection to the ATCs simple and because it has a phono stage which should make it easier to resell if necessary. The blingness isn't too bad in the flesh/chrome if you put it in a black rack with smoked glass shelves - like mine - since it reflects the black back at you, which tones it down a tad. I think that mine has the standard Sovtek valves inside. Haven't opened it up yet but I have ordered 4 different fancy valves from Watford Valves so I can try lots of different combinations and see which I like best.

The only thing I miss versus the CA2 is the remote volume control.

I'd be interested to see what you make of the 834L.

Andrew

 

Thanks for the swift replies, guys!

This particular unit appears to have an MM phono stage built in, so I'll be giving that a try versus my Graham Slee 2.

Ditton, you have PM! BTW, what are your thoughts on the Croft? What have you compared it to and how did it fare?

Dunc

 

Over time, that turned out to be the killer for me. Otherwise I'd have kept the 834.

-- Ian

 

I had the 834 l and p at one time, I found the linestage really good for a valve one, some have been really bloomy..sjs and audionote, but I liked the ear, really neutral, and almost passively transparent..I compared the 2 and coudln't really tell. It uses 3 stages, modelled of the marantz 7, and feedback. 834p was great too, but a bit dark for my taste.

no xp of the atc, but its a good amp. complicated elaborate circuit, seen the schematic.(I have a theory that has generally rung true to date that the more elaborate, the more clinical, hence simple amps like english transistors...naim, and also valves sound more musical.)

 

I think the 864's line stage circuit is different from the 834L's. Certainly the 864 only uses 2 valves in its line-stage (one ECC82 and one ECC83) whereas the 834L uses 3 valaves - it has a second ECC83. I'm not good enough at electronics to be able to contribute much more on the specifics though. I did check with both the US importer and Tim himself that there was only one 82 and one 83 in the line circuit on the 864, since I am about to do some tube "rolling" and wanted to roll the right ones!

Andrew

 

the 864 is a combination of the 834l and 834p, only the last stage of the 834l is changed to a transformer rather than a valve.

it has 2 voltage amplifiying stages, and the last valve (834l)/ tx (864)provides current amplifying.

834p is an 834l with a few xtra caps to provide the riaa curve.

 

just to add my penny's worth on the Croft Vitale SC, although its previous owner, Alanbeeb, would be able to say more.

in short, it seemed to add texture when put between Dax Decade and AudioLab 8000S. I home demo'd and we became engaged. Enjoyed the first date and the honeymoon, then realised that it really was not part of my plan. At the time I was concerned about digital loss from use of Decade at low volumes, but with harder speakers to drive now that does not occur - and I go direct from Decade to poweramp, and now with the ADX can handle analogue sources such as tuner. (Confess that I've not put it back in the chain since I got the BC Evo4.)

Also, it has 3 valves, two for TT use and one for line level. It would be better off with a TT person.