A morning with Firebottles shiny bits!

[Bigman80]

Had Alan over today. He brought a few bits to try out. One being a Chinese EAR834 PCB kit, built into a rather nice separately sourced chassis. He had done a bit of work on the circuit to improve the EAR, so we had a good listen.

Here are some Pictures:







Overall i thought this was a very good unit if a little heavy sounding. Bass authority was excellent but i felt the HF probably just rolled off a touch, especially compared to the Vivant. That said, it really was very enjoyable .

You can buy one of these pre built for about £150 (I'm told), give Alan £100 to improve it and for £250, you have what can only be described as "a legendary" Phonostage. What great value can be had, if you know where to look!

Next up we tried his new "Miniblocks" or "LinDee" which they are officially called

I heard these previously and they didn't really "pop" as the youth say. However, a few changes to the internals and bigger capacitor values has made a significant difference.

Here are the pics!




Bass now had some balls and whilst they didn't shift the earth like the Krell (what can?) they certainly disrupted the dust in the room! Alan reckons these are £250, hes on to a winner, i am sure.

Hardly a hint of the artificial, which i picked up with the originals. Very good stuff, much improved and perfect for a second system or a starter.

A good morning indeed.