EAT E-GLO PETIT

what they say ...

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hi-finews

Ken Kessler  |  April 16  2019

 

Tweaker's Paradise
"What you see when looking down on it are two 12AX7 triodes, with metal discs supported by two 10mm posts to protect the glass tips that peek out from the top plate. Between the valves and the front panel are two rotaries for setting the impedance, the left knob with eight settings from 10ohm to 1kohm, notionally for MCs, and the other with eight settings from 30k-75kohm, for MMs.

 

Five toggle switches provide, left to right, power on, selection of either of the two impedance rotaries, two sequential types to scroll through gain and capacitance values, and subsonic filter on/off. The capacitance and gain settings scroll with each press, the values indicated on the front of the unit via two rows of six miniature blue LEDs.

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As PM gleefully pointed out in his commissioning notes, the new baby of the range actually has more gain settings than the costlier E-Glo S, while the absence of an MM/MC selector means that you can match cartridge types according to the gain and impedance settings.

 

I smiled upon realising that here was a rara avis, a phono stage that allows me to set my Deccas and Londons at near enough to the rumoured ideal of 68 kohm impedance thanks to its 65 kohm setting. I am not about to quibble over 3 kohm, when I've had to make do with 47 kohm for decades, save for a rare spell with (if I remember correctly) an early Gryphon.

 

Like the S but unlike the flagship E-Glo, the Petit accepts only one turntable, hardly a sacrifice for the vast majority of analogue lovers. This also means a minimum of clutter around the back.

Because of the simplicity and the near-intuitive nature of the controls, as well as the caveat that all phono stages should be set by ear rather than hard-and-fast rules according to pick-up manufacturer specs, you will have this up-and-running in two minutes ... Or less.

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A Reality Check
While I dream of owning something like EMT's legendary JPA66 for ultimate cartridge matching, its price is way beyond my means. That's why I welcomed the E-Glo and the later E-Glo S for getting me part of the way there. But I must confess that I long ago gave up anally-retentive levels of obsessiveness, so the need for infinite settings is less important to me than, say, ample supplies of Colchicine for my gout.

The E-Glo Petit certainly proved to be up to the task of matching a Kiseki Blue NS, Koetsu Urushi, its sibling, the jade-green Jo No5, a slew of Deccas/Londons, and anything else I threw at it.

 

There were no deal-breaking, cautionary moments to relate to you. Warm-up was a swift 10-15 minutes, the unit was deliciously quiet and hum-free, and it even looks and feels luxurious. But it was the sound that made my jaw drop, price notwithstanding.

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Petit In Name Only
From the instant I lowered the stylus and it delivered the first notes of The Beatles' remastered, eponymous LP known as the White Album, I knew I was about to enjoy one of those rare moments when fidelity and finance were not commensurate. The Petit belied its price in every way, elevating it to the ranks of other fine phono stages in the £1000-£2000 sector, such as Moon's NEO 310LP, Trilogy's 906, a couple of gems from Graham Slee and EAR's sublime 834P.

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Resolving the sound of a passenger jet flying across one's soundstage, however, isn't anyone's idea of a definitive test unless one happens to be a pilot, so I moved swiftly to the 'Esher Tapes' and the gorgeous, acoustic version of 'Dear Prudence'. Just guitars and voice, with a glorious sense of space, it oozed 'analogue-ness' if such a notion can be defined. It was velvety, open, free of any nasties. Nothing about it sounded cheap, let alone economical. This was serious, high-end-worthy playback, so close in impact and coherence to its two-box big sister that it renewed my faith in the concept of trickle-down technology.
 

Admittedly, the unplugged, lean nature of The Beatles' working sessions – while vivid and untainted by processing – do not tax a system in the manner of the more complex tracks on the album. Resolving the manic, proto-thrash of 'Helter Skelter' was as far off the chart in the other direction away from the acoustic stuff as could exist in the same box set, and the way the Petit managed the layers of bass and fuzz guitar revealed its command of a completely different set of requirements.

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Chaos Unravelled
This is one berserker of a track, with massed vocals at the back, descending guitars of various flavours, vicious stabbing sounds and machine-gun drumming. I'm not about to declare an understanding of how it led Charles Manson to order a massacre, but the Petit peeled away any vestiges of confusion which might be caused by the chaotic barrage around a minute from the end, before it fades back in... I could, perhaps, imagine how a drug-addled brain might read more into it than The Beatles intended, for this phono stage delights in conveying power and meaning.

 

Breathless, I returned to something more genteel, The Band's Music From Big Pink on two 45rpm LPs. What stood out with this album was the massive, airy, echo-y sound of the organ that opens the majestic 'Chest Fever' – an exercise in scale and depth that can rattle a room. In comes piano, crisp percussion, rich bass, everything spread across the stage:

the Petit filled the room with ease, belying any dynamic or spatial constraints one might wish to attribute to a wall-wart PSU.

 

No, it did not possess all of the mass that was available via the E-Glo two-box flagship or the 'S, but the x2 or x4 price increase needed to acquire the extra makes one stop and think. Skip to 'We Can Talk About It Now', listen to the interplay between organ and piano, the back-and-forth vocals, the snap of the drumming, and try to resist its funkiness :

... this sucker swings.

 

Dream Partner
Even mono couldn't baffle it. Little Willie John's classic set, Fever [Sundazed MH-8055], exhibited texture, richness and power, the title track oozing with sinister, menacing intent – despite it being a song of seduction.

Juggling those emotions was John's skill; reproducing them is the Petit's. This unit embraces the nuances of vocals with the kind of finesse worthy of the best MCs. Yes, it's a dream partner for the Jo No5, but the Kiseki and Koetsu MCs proved it could handle even more.

With 'Need Your Love So Bad', the Petit again handled the emotional component of a song with aplomb, complementing the raw blue-siness of the composition and the late-night vibe of the backing. One can hear how the sax/piano/guitar interplay must have captivated a young Peter Green, who commandeered this masterpiece and put a new spin on it with Fleetwood Mac.

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Hi-Fi News Verdict
EAT might have done too good a job : this baby all but obviates the need for the E-Glo S, which I reckon now deserves a Mk II update, because it does offer greater slam. That said, the Petit strikes me as more accurate, it's a joy to use, it affords exceptional cartridge matching and its price begs the use of the 'B' word. Yes, this is a bargain and a natural mate for that other Outstanding buy, the EAT Jo No5 MC cartridge.

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