Rega EAR Headphone Amplifier; reviewers recommended

Rega EAR Headphone Amplifier

Excellent as new condition, comes with power supply and
manual. There are three different methods to hook it up, check one of the photos for more details.

In Rega's tradition EAR headphone amplifier is a no-nonsense design, pure
simplicity and yet with incredible purity of tone. Just like Rega Amplifiers,
the EAR creates a big, rich sound with excellent rhythm and pacing. The EAR
delivers plenty of power for even high-impedance headphones. 

The Rega EAR is built into a compact chassis, with a pair of
RCA inputs and a pair of RCA line outputs for daisy-chaining another component,
a solid 1/4" headphone jack, a high-precision and nicely sized volume
control and a surprisingly convenient mute button.

Power Supplies & Noise Reduction

The Ear pushes the Brio-R power amplifier
circuit concept to a new level with the use of a low noise, fully regulated,
supply. Noise has also been kept to a minimum by the use of an external mains
transformer. The Ear exceeds the voltage requirements of IEC 268-15. This along
with low output impedance makes it suitable for studio use as well as a hi-fi
headphone amplifier. The Ear operates in Class A at normal listening levels.

High Quality Components

The Ear utilises the highest quality components and our
engineers’ experience, to achieve the best sonic performance. Utilising the
design ideals of the ‘cascaded emitter follower output stage’ with a pair of
complementary Darlington output transistors, along with polyester film and
Nichicon FG capacitors in critical positions, ensures it is our most advanced
performing headphone amplifier to date.

Custom Case

Housed in a compact custom case, the Ear is designed to
match the current range of Rega electronics with a matching, high gloss, front
facia.The new Ear Headphone amplifier benefits from an all new extruded
aluminium case and new styling giving it more of a family feel to match its
illustrious big brothers. The Ear simply connects to the tape output of an
amplifier via phono leads. The headphones are plugged into the front panel and
there is a link socket in case you need your tape output sockets for other use.

Hi Fi News reviews the Rega Ear headphone amplifier:

'The Rega Ear is lovely, in so many ways. It is
beautifully made, stylish and has all the facilities you really need, plus a
delightful sound that stirs the soul regardless of whatever music you put
through it. Wonderfully expansive and big hearted, it makes listening a
pleasure. Tonally it's slightly on the warm side, so suits poor quality sources
down to the ground - even an iPad sounds good via the Rega!' - January
2014.

• Maximum
  output level - 25 load 775mW, 32 load 685mW, 50 load 530mW,
  100 load 320mW, 600 load 60mW


• Open
  circuit voltage 6v


• Input
  impedance 20K, Gain 28dB


• Frequency
  response 12Hz to 37kHz


• THD
  typically 0.003%


• Signal
  to noise ratio referenced to max output level -100dB (22Hz – 22kHz)


• Maximum
  Power requirements - 24VAC at 225mA (685mW 32)


• Dimensions:
  W 178mm x D 155mm x H 45mm.