Rega EAR Headphone Amplifier, Final Analysis

After taking a close look at the insides (see previous post) and listening to the Rega EAR headphone amplifier for about 3 hours I can finally give you my reader my definitive take on the product.

I tried four different pairs of headphones:

• AKG K 701
• AKG K 240 Studio
• Shure E4C
• Sony MDR-V600
  

and 2 different source components. I compared the EAR to my SUMO Athena non-headphone enabled preamp, as well as to the direct outputs of my Creative Labs Jukebox Zen 2.0. I actually chose the Athena because I knew that it had limited low impedance drive capability. I figured that it would emulate what a poorly designed headphone jack would do to the sound. On the plus side, it's pure class A and has about a 600 Ohm output impedance, which is pretty darn low for a line level amplifier. Still, it should have been blown away by the EAR.

After a few hours of listening, and after looking closely at the insides I can't recommend this product. Either in absolute terms or price / performance wise.

Compared to the Sumo Athena, it adds too little. The only times I could tell it was a better driver for the headphones was with the 29 Ohm E4C's. Compared to the direct outs, it seemed to muddle the sounds and rob bass drums of their midrange strike and impact. With the AKG 701s it seems to get harsh when there are complicated passages with a lot of upper midrange. Overall, it's a noisy piece of gear, which makes sense given the limited filtering done in the power supply. You can't turn it up too much before the hum of the power supply is clearly evident. The Sony MDR-V600s made the noise problem even worse. They are the most sensitive headphones I have and have a lot more treble than the AKGs which made the hiss from the Rega almost unberaable.

My sample even has some weird oscilation going on when you turned the volume up just a bit, which would disapear, but come on, guys. It's not like you don't have anyone in England who can show you how to design a current amplifier stage that won't oscillate. Otherwise I found the sound to be a complete "Why bother?"

My suggestion to would be amp buyers is to give this one a pass, or buy one, then sell the plastic Rega label on the front so you can go through it top to bottom and mod it until it shines. If. Well, never mind. Don't buy it.