E-GLO II phono stage

It’s now some six years since EAT, already established as a maker of high-end audio valves, burst into the high-end turntable market with the spectacular Forte and Forte S.

EAT followed up with the E-Flat and its unusual tonearm. But with the new C-Sharp, EAT has moved into much more affordable price territory. EAT’s founder Jozefina Lichtenegger is wife of Pro-Ject boss Heinz Lichtenegger, so it comes as no surprise that the turntables are manufactured in the same facility at Litovel in the Czech Republic. But although they clearly share some design heritage, the EAT products are quite different from anything offered under the Pro-Ject name.

Many turntables of the high-mass school are unwieldy-looking devices, where the record is perched up on a platter that’s as tall as it is wide. With the Forte, EAT took the lateral-thinking step of making the platter’s diameter larger instead, to create a high-mass design that looked really good: a turntable of classic proportions and elegant design, but on a heroic scale.