Some CJ News

Orb

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Sep 8, 2010
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Turntable,
let us know if you end up purchasing the Momentums or Ayre (if get time nice to see a comment on your thoughts about the two possibly in their sections or related thread just so I do not derail this CJ one).
Personally I feel the Momentums set an interesting price-performance bar, although so do Ayre with their preamps.

Thanks
Orb
 

LL21

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Hi Lloyd.

I had the D'Agostino momentum stereo amp for the last two weeks and the Ayre monoblock mxr's for the week before that. The momentum amp is really really good , a bit tighter bass / upper bass but no real difference to the 40hz room node. See pics below

The parametric equalizer made a bigger impact on the sound than either of the ss amps.

Something I really have to look at, however will be a significant change to current room layout as I have no free corners for bass traps.




Thanks for the great photos! They look very well made. and way smaller than the old Krell behemoths!...though no doubt equally powerful. Enjoy! and please keep us all posted!

Setting aside the node which is unrelated...i would have thought given your affinity for the tonal purity of CJ in the uppers...you might find KT120s get you much of what you hear in latest SS from bass, control, dynamics perspecitve while keeping the tonality you enjoy with CJs.
 

Big Dog RJ

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Hi Big dog. Yea still tossing up on whether to go the KT 120's - I will probably have to do it, but would like someone else with the big cj mono's to go first :)

I have heard the ARC Ref 150 driving Sasha's - they were running out of steam when I turned the volume up and were not sounding that great at those volumes, even the salesman said the room was too big. So not quite the world beaters. Sasha's are a hard speaker to drive thou. I am sure the Ref 250's would be better thou.

cheers

hello Turntable;

I was surprised to hear that the new ARC ref 150 couldn't drive the sasha's... don't know what's wrong there, perhaps system matching something's not right...
The dealer in Spore had no worries at all, drove Martin Logan CLX's effortlessly, plus Focals. It also drove the Magico Q5's superbly.
I didn't know sasha's were that grumpy - then again perhaps the dealer was pointing to the room issue.
Hence, the reason why I got rid of my X2's, they were just sounding "alright", not the best compared to the bigger room/hall they sit in at present. and that is "stellar sound" very wilson indeed. I also left my Lamm gear over there, perhaps I should get it back when time permits.

For now I am really enjoying the Quads; in summary all I can say is the KT120 tubes work far better than any tube I have used to date with Quad ESL's. They also work very well with other speaker systems as I have mentioned, and c-j had just released their new Classic Sixty SE with KT120,
finally!
I am going to audition one over this weekend and bring along one home to compare with my MV60SE, this would be an interesting bout. It would certainly be nice to see how it matches with the ACT2 preamp.
Cheers and have a good one,
RJ
 

XV-1

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hello Turntable;

I was surprised to hear that the new ARC ref 150 couldn't drive the sasha's... don't know what's wrong there, perhaps system matching something's not right...
The dealer in Spore had no worries at all, drove Martin Logan CLX's effortlessly, plus Focals. It also drove the Magico Q5's superbly.
I didn't know sasha's were that grumpy - then again perhaps the dealer was pointing to the room issue.
Hence, the reason why I got rid of my X2's, they were just sounding "alright", not the best compared to the bigger room/hall they sit in at present. and that is "stellar sound" very wilson indeed. I also left my Lamm gear over there, perhaps I should get it back when time permits.

For now I am really enjoying the Quads; in summary all I can say is the KT120 tubes work far better than any tube I have used to date with Quad ESL's. They also work very well with other speaker systems as I have mentioned, and c-j had just released their new Classic Sixty SE with KT120,
finally!
I am going to audition one over this weekend and bring along one home to compare with my MV60SE, this would be an interesting bout. It would certainly be nice to see how it matches with the ACT2 preamp.
Cheers and have a good one,
RJ

Certainly was Not any system matching issue. Dealer showroom, arc ref5se, gryphon cd player. Sounded fine at low/ mid volumes but not as good at high volumes. Certainly no challenge to my Teflon cj prem 8a's.

Yea, I know what you mean re room etc. I gotta spend some serious time thinking what to do about a large 40 Hz hump in my room.

Enjoy the cj amp comparison and let us know how it hoes
 

Big Dog RJ

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message from RJ

Certainly was Not any system matching issue. Dealer showroom, arc ref5se, gryphon cd player. Sounded fine at low/ mid volumes but not as good at high volumes. Certainly no challenge to my Teflon cj prem 8a's.

Yea, I know what you mean re room etc. I gotta spend some serious time thinking what to do about a large 40 Hz hump in my room.

Enjoy the cj amp comparison and let us know how it hoes

Hey Turntable,
"how it hoes" ha!... well just what we need on the forum to spice things up eh?. same dam thing happens when I type on those silly little keypads, always get the wrong key.

Ok, now I understand what you are referring to. Seems like the Sasha's need some extra current drive to get them sailing at higher volumes, which I really didn't think the Ref 150 would have a problem delivering. The room will definitely play a huge impact on the overall performance of any system, to me I would think somewhere round the 50-60% mark.

So you have the premier 8A's. I once had these back in 1999/2000, traded them in for Manley Ref 350's and a premier 11A driving a pair of maggies bi-amped with a c-j PFR pre. Sound was great, but nothing compared to the c-j prem 8A's. It was too late after that, the chappy who bought them has never looked back, absolutely loves them driving his sonus fabers. Kicked myself and cried for nearly 2 years, until I kept the prem 11A. Ended up driving the entire maggie system with just 70 watts. It still sounded better than 350's. Very musical and listenable for endless hours, and that's exactly what I like, don't listen at high levels at all.

The prem 8A's are an absolute bliss to listen to; I'm still kicking myself!

Enjoy them whiles you can, I am sure you're loving it. By the way, what preamp are you using?
Cheers, RJ
 

LL21

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Hey Turntable,
"how it hoes" ha!... well just what we need on the forum to spice things up eh?. same dam thing happens when I type on those silly little keypads, always get the wrong key.

Ok, now I understand what you are referring to. Seems like the Sasha's need some extra current drive to get them sailing at higher volumes, which I really didn't think the Ref 150 would have a problem delivering. The room will definitely play a huge impact on the overall performance of any system, to me I would think somewhere round the 50-60% mark.

So you have the premier 8A's. I once had these back in 1999/2000, traded them in for Manley Ref 350's and a premier 11A driving a pair of maggies bi-amped with a c-j PFR pre. Sound was great, but nothing compared to the c-j prem 8A's. It was too late after that, the chappy who bought them has never looked back, absolutely loves them driving his sonus fabers. Kicked myself and cried for nearly 2 years, until I kept the prem 11A. Ended up driving the entire maggie system with just 70 watts. It still sounded better than 350's. Very musical and listenable for endless hours, and that's exactly what I like, don't listen at high levels at all.

The prem 8A's are an absolute bliss to listen to; I'm still kicking myself!

Enjoy them whiles you can, I am sure you're loving it. By the way, what preamp are you using?
Cheers, RJ

I believe it has been posted elsewhere (so i am not speaking out of turn) that Turntable runs the CJ GAT, and had his Prem 8's overhauled by CJ only a few years ago...which included upgrading to the Teflon capacitors which were first introduced in the CJ LP275 monos...i think that was a brilliant move. Great sota sound...and incredible value.
 

XV-1

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May 24, 2010
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I believe it has been posted elsewhere (so i am not speaking out of turn) that Turntable runs the CJ GAT, and had his Prem 8's overhauled by CJ only a few years ago...which included upgrading to the Teflon capacitors which were first introduced in the CJ LP275 monos...i think that was a brilliant move. Great sota sound...and incredible value.

Hey Turntable,
"how it hoes" ha!... well just what we need on the forum to spice things up eh?. same dam thing happens when I type on those silly little keypads, always get the wrong key.

Ok, now I understand what you are referring to. Seems like the Sasha's need some extra current drive to get them sailing at higher volumes, which I really didn't think the Ref 150 would have a problem delivering. The room will definitely play a huge impact on the overall performance of any system, to me I would think somewhere round the 50-60% mark.

So you have the premier 8A's. I once had these back in 1999/2000, traded them in for Manley Ref 350's and a premier 11A driving a pair of maggies bi-amped with a c-j PFR pre. Sound was great, but nothing compared to the c-j prem 8A's. It was too late after that, the chappy who bought them has never looked back, absolutely loves them driving his sonus fabers. Kicked myself and cried for nearly 2 years, until I kept the prem 11A. Ended up driving the entire maggie system with just 70 watts. It still sounded better than 350's. Very musical and listenable for endless hours, and that's exactly what I like, don't listen at high levels at all.

The prem 8A's are an absolute bliss to listen to; I'm still kicking myself!

Enjoy them whiles you can, I am sure you're loving it. By the way, what preamp are you using?
Cheers, RJ

Lloyd is on the ball re my cj amps - thanks

Funny you mention buying, then selling prem 8a's. I bought mine in 1999 and enjoyed them til late 2004. Decided to sell, still not sure why. Reading too many hifi mags I think. Spent the next 4 years on an amp merry go round.
I could not afford an lp 275 and saw a used pair on audiogon, being sold by ex reviewer Jack English of all people - nice guy. So I bought them.
Sent them to cj to change the voltage and bring them up to spec. Lew Johnson mentioned that they could do a teflon cap
ugrade similar to the what was in the LP275's. Great upgrade, a lot quieter, better transparency , upper extension and air.

I will never sell my prem8a's again,even if I ever find ss amp that approachs the cj's upper frequency air and vibrancy.

Next, I need,to work on my room.

Cheers
 

Big Dog RJ

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Feb 2, 2012
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Hey Turntable,
I hear you mate...

Yes, reading far too many TAS mags and visiting far too many dealers showrooms has been my roller coaster.
In all my 20+ years of audiophileness, 3 basic things I learnt the hard way:
1. If there is a particular sound that YOU like- just stick to it, afterall it's your ears!
2. Get the room right in the first place - I had a terrible experience with the X2's.
3. Enjoy your music. The audio system should be able to convey your favorite tracks the way you like to hear it.

At the end of the day we must be satisfied with what we have and begin to appreciate how far we've grown acustomed to audiophile quality. It is the designers out there and the artists who make all this happen.
All we have to do is just listen.

Of course eveyone wants to claim what they have is the best and that we should audition their products, how else would they sell?

Those teflon caps do take a while to get going, and only sound better the more the system plays. My ACT2 has a similar temperament, it takes a while and by then it's way past midnight.
Pointless listening during week days, only about an hour max. Most of my listening sessions take place during weekends up way past midnight.
Have to also balance family life, it not all hell breaks loose. Quality Music never seems to be enough any more; boy I miss those good old days with NAD, Paradigms and Musical Fidelity, I think I listened to music far more then compared to now. Even attended live events more often than now specially in Chicago. That was the absolute sound, listening to small jazz ensembles, sipping your favorite brew and that cigar- a must!

It's just half past 5pm, heading straight home to some quality music.
Cheers mate and have a good one.
RJ
 

LL21

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Lloyd is on the ball re my cj amps - thanks

I will never sell my prem8a's again,even if I ever find ss amp that approachs the cj's upper frequency air and vibrancy.
Cheers

Good stuff! Now that's what i like to read! I have to admit, i am not looking at pre, amp, or speakers at all. I am curious to learn but not curious to buy. I know my cables (10+ yrs old) might use a facelift to a newer version...a solid tweak...and i am looking at hi-res but only 1 thing tempts me and even that is not a definite...transport is about it that needs a serious upgrade. It is a very nice place to be...buying more and more music...particularly getting into FIM, MFSL, XRCD.

Enjoy the music!
 

XV-1

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May 24, 2010
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I checked with Lew Johnson on the suitability of the KT120's with my Teflon prem8a's. I would see this as a green light for any of the cj pore tube amps after the prem 8a.

The KT120 tubes will work great in your Premier Eights. They should be biased the same as a 6550. The sound of the KT120s is fuller without any sacrifice in dynamics and high frequency extension. I much prefer them to the 6550 winged C tubes (my favorite of the 6550s that I have tried). I would definitely make the switch the next time you need to re-tube. Just plug in the tubes, bias and enjoy. They will be operating at lower voltages than they are rated for, which should extend the life of the tube.
 

LL21

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I checked with Lew Johnson on the suitability of the KT120's with my Teflon prem8a's. I would see this as a green light for any of the cj pore tube amps after the prem 8a.

Great News!! D-O-N-E!!! I have never been steered wrong by Ed at CJ, and i have only had a few interactions with Lew Johnson...always good. Let us know when you re-tube!!
 

XV-1

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Great News!! D-O-N-E!!! I have never been steered wrong by Ed at CJ, and i have only had a few interactions with Lew Johnson...always good. Let us know when you re-tube!!

Lloyd, I did not say I was going to do it, at least not just yet.

I am still happy with my Tung Sol 6550's ATM.

Cheers
 

mep

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Real Tung Sol 6550s or Russian 6550s branded as Tung Sol 6550s?
 

Big Dog RJ

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Well well, I told you so.
Been using c-j products for nearly 17 years now, I've always liked there sound. Although went off track to other brands, eventually steered back to c-j one way or the other. If I come across something on a c-j product that seems to better the sound overall, I wouldn't be just talking about it unless I really believed it. You have to try the KT120 to know what I am talking about. Until then there is no point pondering...

The final decision is yours and to your ears only. I have also been in touch with Lew, and Ed, they have always been 110% accurate to their claims. As they should afterall they design c-j! When David Neilan from caxton audio recommended a retube with the KT120's I thought he must be mad. He said don't jump into any conclusions until you've heard them and most of all 100 hours burn in minimum. I noticed a difference right after 100 minutes. To this day he's bloody right mate! You can't go wrong with these gems.
If I still had my prem 8's, I know what I'd be ordering next...

Take it easy and have a good one, cheers.
RJ
 

XV-1

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May 24, 2010
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Real Tung Sol 6550s or Russian 6550s branded as Tung Sol 6550s?


I wish!! Just the current production reissue - they sound great. A little bit more sparkle on top compared to the winged C. Then winged c has a bit more bass weight and is probably a bit better balanced top to bottom. The tung sol has something special in the top end which I like. I gotta compare vs the winged C at some stage soon as my memory may not be perfect.

Well well, I told you so.
Been using c-j products for nearly 17 years now, I've always liked there sound. Although went off track to other brands, eventually steered back to c-j one way or the other. If I come across something on a c-j product that seems to better the sound overall, I wouldn't be just talking about it unless I really believed it. You have to try the KT120 to know what I am talking about. Until then there is no point pondering...

The final decision is yours and to your ears only. I have also been in touch with Lew, and Ed, they have always been 110% accurate to their claims. As they should afterall they design c-j! When David Neilan from caxton audio recommended a retube with the KT120's I thought he must be mad. He said don't jump into any conclusions until you've heard them and most of all 100 hours burn in minimum. I noticed a difference right after 100 minutes. To this day he's bloody right mate! You can't go wrong with these gems.
If I still had my prem 8's, I know what I'd be ordering next...

Take it easy and have a good one, cheers.
RJ

I have no doubt What Lew is saying is correct. At this point I don't really need a fuller sound. Also, buying 20 (16 + 4 spare) of the suckers will set me back a bit. But I will try at some stage - probably sooner if the $ drops much more.

Cheers
 

LL21

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Good luck Shane...again, i think you have done extraordinarily well in this crazy hobby of the 'new new thing' to have landed the Prem 8as, with Teflon upgrades by CJ, and possibly at some point KT120s. These are 'very old' amps by most people's definition, and yet i can only imagine how amazing they must sound. Nice move!
 

XV-1

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Good luck Shane...again, i think you have done extraordinarily well in this crazy hobby of the 'new new thing' to have landed the Prem 8as, with Teflon upgrades by CJ, and possibly at some point KT120s. These are 'very old' amps by most people's definition, and yet i can only imagine how amazing they must sound. Nice move!

Thanks Lloyd. One could say the same thing with your speakers. New is not always better, especially when price is a factor.

Cheers
 

Andre Marc

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Hey Myles:

Actually Sam Telling noted this in his last column about the CJ 60 watt SE amp. He notes that both
Bill and Lew agreed the tube was superior to 6550's.

Also note that Rogue now is in the process of offering that tube as well.

I would try it in my ARC amp but I have at least 3 years worth of matched quads of Winged C 6550's, and I happen to love the way they sound in my VS55.

Got the news today that conrad-johnson is switching over to the new Tungsol KT120s for all their 6550 based amplifiers. (Lew feels that the KT120 is a nice sonic upgrade and because of the increased plate dissappation, run even more conversatively, resulting in extended tube life. The tubes are a drop in replacement for the 6550. Price is roughly the same as the 6550s (~ $100/tube).

http://www.svetlana.com/ProductHighLight.aspx?ProId=1341

Now how long will it be until we see cj design a tube amplifier to take advantage of the KT120 specs, eg. 150 wpc from a pair of tubes? Using the KT120s my ART would go from 275 to 600 wpc. Wooooohooo....
 

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