Great Sound for the Money; C-J Reputation

It's Big--at 19 inches wide and 17 inches deep you'd better be sure it will fit on your shelf

I'm using this PreAmp with a Conrad-Johnson Premier 11A Tube Amp, a Pair of Aerial Acoustic Model 6 speakers, and a Rotel 971 CD Player. My listening room is a medium sized bedroom. Allow about 90 seconds for warmup. I've never owned tubed amplification before, but compared to solid state products I've listened to (Krell, Rotel), there's much greater "truthfulness" in instrumental timbres and a greater sense of space and air around instruments. There's no lack of bass slam either. I had the chance to hear similar passages played by a live orchestra within days of auditioning recordings with this set-up, and bass notes sounded similarly clear and distinct--which is to say that there was no artificial bass emphasis that I've noticed with some home theater setups. Imaging was outstanding. The remote is made of Aluminum in a gold finish and with small plastic feet so it won't scratch furniture (a nice touch). Volume is controlled stepwise in 0.7db increments from 1 to 100.

Special thanks to Joe at Overture in Delaware who let me spend as much time as needed to audition recordings. Check out the free 1 year financing.

So no doubt about it--5 stars. What's next? Maybe a new (Meridian 508.24?) CD player..

CJ build and design quality, synergy with other CJ components

None so far

This unit replaced an Audible Illusions Modulus 3A, and oh what a difference! The AI was an excellent preamp, don't get me wrong. It showed me the magic of tubes. But as soon as I installed the CJ 17LS, I noticed that the major weakness I associated with the AI, a closed-in and thin-sounding treble, was gone. My system, which if anything was a bit too laid back for my tastes, really clicked into place. A bit more forward, significantly improved highs, more nuance, better timbre, and best of all better layering, which is about the toughest thing to get right for any piece of electronics.

Conrad-Johnson has the reputation of being one of the most stable high end companies, and I can tell you that their customer service is superb. Combine that with the synergy of having all CJ electronics, and you get the essence of why we got into this hobby in the first place. This preamp allows you to enjoy the music like no other unit I've heard. Although many would balk at the retail price of this unit, once you've heard what it can do you'll consider it a bargain.

I can only imagine what CJ's ART preamp sounds like!

Associated Equipment:
Oracle Delphi MK V turntable, Audioquest 5 tonearm, Grado Reference cartridge
Conrad-Johnson Premier 17ls pramp
Conrad-Johnson DV2b CD Player
2 Conrad-Johnson Premier 11a power amps, biamped
Von Schweikert VR4 speakers
Kimber 8TC speaker cable
Tributaries and van den Hul interconnects
Audioprism power conditioner

Similar Products Used:

Audible Illusions Modulus 3A, B & K Pro 10

pure music! unbelievable holographic imaging,

too big to fit in a rack.

i have used this pre-amp with a conrad johnson premier 17LS, the sound is unveiled and pure! it is simply true to the source. the premier is a real masterpiece - it is too good to believe the truth - it is the best, just as simple as that!

Similar Products Used:

audio research ref 2.