Munich HIGH END Show Report 2016
High End Society Munich Germany

Tim De Paravicini EAR 825 Q

  Wait, you mean high-end audio is now allowing equalizers? Has the audiophile world gone mad?!?! Perhaps it is time as the Cello Palette was too colored for my taste so returned it. Enter the genius of Tim De Paravicini, who knows a thing or ninety-nine about recording studio gear and vacuum tuber electronics. His new EAR 825 Q vacuum tube amp (€10,000) is a five band pure valve circuit equalizer. There are adjustable attack points and it is fully balanced. Tube compliment is six 6DJ8 / ECC88.

The EAR 825 is a stereo equalizer for studio use where sound quality is the top priority. Housed in a single 3u 19" rack mount unit, it gives the user flexible and intuitive control over a wide range of response shaping options. On each channel there are five bands of EQ. Shelf filters give boost or cut in the bass and treble. With four corner frequencies on each control and variable degrees of boost or cut you got some good adjustment / variables to choose from. In addition there are three tuned boost/cut filters with center frequency adjustable over a total range of 60Hz to 16kHz. These give a maximum boost or cut of 12dB, allowing quite large response variation but without sacrificing sensitivity. Controls are laid out for maximum ease of use and can be bypassed at the flick of a switch for quick reference to the original signal.

You need a wide frequency response? How does 5Hz to 50kHz sound to you? The input is fully floating bridging 20kOhm and output is fully floating for 600 Ohm use. With an outstandingly low distortion of below 0.1% you need not worry. Here's a breakdown of the adjustments:

Bass Shelf @ 20, 30, 60, and 100Hz +/-12dB
Bass Bell Filter @ 60,120,240, 500, 700Hz and 1kHz +/-12dB
Midrange @ 6k, 8k, 10k, 12k, and 16kHz +/-12dB
Treble @ 6k, 8k, 10k, 12k, and 16kHz +/- 12dB
Treble Shelf @ 3k, 5k, 10k, and 20kHz +/-12dB

So, now what is your excuse for not using an analog equalizer... unless your system is 100% digital of course.

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