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In Reply to: RE: "....just about nothing for your money!" Huh? posted by Rick W on September 26, 2014 at 11:16:49
OK, so I'm a little harsh on CJ gear. I guess I just don't like the CJ tube sound. It's a matter of personal preference.
The only CJ linestages that I liked were the SS CJ PF-R and to a lesser extent the higher-end CJ Premier 18LS. The 18LS was smooth but less dynamic than the PF-R. Good for sleepy time music I suppose.
The entry model vacuum tube PV-14L was a dull sounding dud, slightly veiled, dynamically challenged, and rolled off. But it came with a remote! The Classic does not. My PV-12L was noisy. And I've heard the Premier 17LS in sn audio shop.
Perhaps CJ's much higher-end offerings sound great but based on my experiences at the entry to mid level, I'm still gun shy on buying recent CJ.
For $2200 you get the entry model CJ Classic and no remote. If you want the SE version with the 'good parts', that goes for almost $3000 and still no remote control. A good value? I guess that's just a judgement call but I don't see it.
Years ago I replaced my 'legendary' CJ Premier 11a tube amp with a pair of AES/Cary SixPacs monoblocks at a fraction of the CJ price. And the SixPacs were much better all around in transparency, dynamics, and extension up and down the frequency range. Better value AND sonics for the money.
For American made 'value' in tube gear, I'm favoring Rogue Audio these days.
Follow Ups:
In terms of reliability, longevity, and service CJ is among the best. For my own sound preferences CJ's older lower end models like the pv and mv lines offered damn good value when they were released. To my ears they beat hell outta comparable ARC models. I suspect the Classic & ET3 are relatively good value too, but then I've liked the CJ products which you and others probably consider too "tubey".I have no desire/need for remotes. I do care about jack layout (related to ic and/or spkr. cable positioning in my setup) and looks. I do care about bass oomph and delineation, but not as much as you do, and I suspect I prefer a warmer/thicker/wetter bass than you do too. We primarily listen to different styles of music also.
Maybe the newest Rogues are better, but when I heard the 99 Magnum pre I was unimpressed. It would just be a sideways move for me. Dunno about their amps.
I'll probably end up getting a 6SN7 pre to replace my aged pv10. So far I haven't heard a 12ax7 or 12au7 based pre that betters an old CJ Premier 3 - for my taste, that is.
Edits: 09/27/14
I know, an endless debate.
But,...a $25 SMD attenuator yields dynamics in spades with a 1.8 Watt amp because of the B&C/JBL High Efficiency speakers in a small room.
If you insist on a pre-amp and want value, get an ARC SP-9 or LS-1, same amplifier stage, remove the bypass caps, upgrade the remaining caps, replace the Alps Blue with a TKD (that's a bit fiddly to do) and replace the now out of spec filament resistors with 12 watt Mills. Best sounding pre I ever had.
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