{"id":326270,"date":"2026-07-24T02:31:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T02:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/products\/pilot-radio-232\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T02:31:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T02:31:32","slug":"pilot-radio-232","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/products\/pilot-radio-232\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilot Radio 232 EL84 Tube Amplifier Debuts at Southwest Audio Fest for $4,790"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Vintage audio is not short of famous amplifiers. We have covered the Pilot 602<\/a>, Fisher 400, an RCA EL84 console amplifier<\/a>, the Muzak 975A, vintage Marantz<\/a> components and the McIntosh MC2105. Some were elegant. Others looked as though they had been removed from the basement of a municipal building during a fire drill. All earned their reputations because the circuits mattered more than the marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Pilot Radio 232 Stereophonic Power Amplifier<\/strong> is interesting because it is not merely another old name purchased by people who found a logo and a container of generic electronics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pilot was relaunched by company founder Isidor Goldberg\u2019s great grandson, Barak Isidor Epstein, with engineering by Damon Coffman of Coffman Labs. The $4,790<\/strong> amplifier is based on Pilot\u2019s 1959 \u201cCurtain of Sound\u201d design and is built in Portland and Dallas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

EL84 Tubes and 15 Watts Per Channel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 232 delivers 15 watts per channel<\/strong> from EL84 output tubes and is described by Pilot as a pure Class A design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The construction includes custom transformers made in the United States, vintage oil in paper capacitors and point to point hand wiring. Speaker outputs are provided for 4 and 8 ohm loads, while separate sensitivity and balance controls are included for each channel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fifteen watts is not a lot, but it is enough with the right loudspeakers. The Pilot 602 we covered used the same EL84 tube family and worked best with speakers offering sensitivity around 90dB or higher. The new 232 should make sense with DeVore Fidelity<\/a>, Klipsch Heritage<\/a>, Audio Note, Omega, PureAudioProject and other efficient loudspeakers with relatively benign impedance curves.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not the amplifier for Magnepan owners, difficult four ohm floorstanders or anyone trying to recreate Madison Square Garden in a 400 square foot room. Sorry Swifties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"pilot-radio-232-amplifier-back\"
Pilot Radio 232 Amplifier (rear)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Balanced Inputs and a Real Headphone Output<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pilot provides both RCA and balanced XLR inputs, with the XLR connections feeding the differential amplifier stage directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The front panel also includes a four pin XLR balanced headphone output<\/strong>, which is highly unusual on a stereo tube power amplifier. That gives the 232 potential appeal for owners of balanced dynamic and planar magnetic headphones who want to use the same amplifier for speakers and private listening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pilot has not yet published headphone output power, output impedance or recommended headphone loads, so it would be premature to assume the 232 will drive every HIFIMAN or Audeze model with complete authority. A four pin socket is useful; it is not a substitute for specifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Proper Family Revival<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pilot Electric Manufacturing Company was founded in Brooklyn in 1919 by Isidor Goldberg and produced radios, shortwave receivers, televisions, cinema electronics and hi-fi components. Pilot moved exclusively into high fidelity in 1952 and introduced the original \u201cCurtain of Sound\u201d stereo concept in 1959. The company also worked with Sid Smith and Dick Sequerra, both of whom later became associated with Marantz. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company was sold in 1962 and disappeared during the following decade before being revived by the Goldberg family in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That family continuity does not guarantee great sound, but it gives the project more credibility than a trademark revival created around products that have nothing to do with the original company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Matching Pilot Preamplifier<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Pilot Radio Preamplifier<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pilot currently offers one other major component: the\u00a0Pilot Phono and Line Preamplifier<\/strong>, priced from\u00a0$3,590<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It uses two 12AX7 and two 12AU7 tubes, passive RIAA equalization, two line inputs and selectable moving magnet and moving coil phono inputs. MC gain is selectable between 46dB and 52dB before the line stage, while the preamplifier can be ordered for 120V or 240V operation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A complete Pilot electronics system therefore starts at $8,380<\/strong> before cables or replacement tubes. Pilot also sells branded PSVANE tubes, RCA interconnects and speaker cables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Still Missing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pilot has published the core design information, but several specifications remain unavailable:<\/p>\n\n\n\n