868

About the 868

The EAR Yoshino 868 is a transformer-coupled, vacuum-tube stereo preamplifier designed by Tim de Paravicini and manufactured in England. It is available as the 868L line-stage version or the 868PL version with an integrated MM/MC phono stage. The line stage uses two PCC88/7DJ8 tubes, while the phono version uses four. It provides RCA and XLR inputs and outputs; the XLR connections are transformer-derived rather than evidence of a fully balanced active circuit. The 868PL phono section supports 47 kΩ MM operation and selectable low-impedance MC loading.