CJ awareness

[rlw3]

How did you first hear about and come to be exposed to cj gear? Was it a game changer?

In the early 80s i was stuck in solid state mid fi hell. i had a hafler preamp i was going to have hot rodded by musical concepts. they sent me a TAS review of their modded equipment that compared it to cj pv 5. the reviewer did such a great job. Thomas O Miiller described the hafler so well that i had to go find a pv 5 to listen to. OMG i finally found the sound that i was waiting for. 80% of the time since then i have owned cj gear. if i sell it i always find myself getting dissatisfied and buying another piece real soon after that.
For me conrad-johnson IS high end.....not only in their fine equipment but their service also. Thru the years one of the best service depts around, thank you Ed.

[Joe Appierto]

Just like you, Ray, it was an audio review. Only in my case it was Corey Greenberg's review of the Conrad-Johnson PV10 preamplifier | Stereophile.com (http://www.stereophile.com/tubepreamps/790/index.html). I went out and auditioned it within the year, bought the store's display unit and have owned c-j gear ever since.

[Wasatch]

My dealer here in Utah got some in about a year ago and I was very impressed with it. I almost gave up on the Manley Labs and was going all CJ, but I did not pull the trigger. Either way he is gone now and is back east.

[rthomeint]

Just out of college in 1987 I was living in Washington DC. I had a Carver MX150 receiver and a Luxman L3 integrated amp both were mediocre sonically. I started reading The Absolute Sound and Stereophile after finding Stereo review and Audio and High Fidelity pretty bad. I went to Excalibur Audio in Alexandra Virginia. There I heard the SOTA Star Sapphire on the Premier 3 and Premier 5s on the Infinity IRS. All of which was way out of my price range. I then listened to the PV-5 and MV-45. A year later I bought a Audio Research SP9( it was brand new and getting rave reviews at the time) and an MV-50. I was debating between the MV-50 and the Krell KSA-50 which went up in price from $2300.00 and $2600.00 I wasn't willing to pay $1000.00 more for the Krell. Since then I've owner at least one piece of c-j gear ever since.

[ronenash]

A good friend of mine is the dealer for CJ in Israel. At the age of 24 he convinced me to try the PV10 and in no time I was hooked. I have tried many different SS and tube amplification since then but nothing really touches me like CJ gear.

[Hatzudokiseizo]

I have times when my boyfriend of a high-end shop in search for a tube amp and he sounded like a CJ MV75 vorführte and I was so excited and bought from him ... Over time it became more and more of this tube amp and get just not enough, it's an addiction to hear this sound and feel! Who even listens and then calls his own can appreciate .... So Happy Conrad Johnson what else!

Best Soundings Chris:music::music:

[Puma Cat]

I've known about C-J since the first golden age of high-end, but never owned any until I met someone at Rasputin's Records in Berkeley who sold me his PV12 in 2009 (I got out of audio entirely for 20 years when I started riding sportbikes). I bought a Premier 11A power amp after that and it's been C-J ever since! I have a very good friend who has one the half-dozen best-sounding systems I've ever heard and it's vintage C-J: a Premier 3 pre and Premier 5 monos that have been modded by another good friend who is a EE; they replaced the polypro caps with high-quality paper and oil, and any key resistors, but did not fuss with the basic circuit topology. This system still sounds absolutely fantastic.

The person who sold me the PV12 has become a very good friend, as has the person who sold me the Premier 350 power amp.

[Briz Vegaas]

I was on an alien space craft after being abducted from an outback sheep station. They asked me what sort if amp I was running and laughed because I was using a marantz receiver. The Marantz was supposed to be an upgrade from a pre digital NAD receiver, it was more sideways despite being over double the price. The Aliens convinced me I should be using a pre/power. My hifi shop of choice had the " super wide" looking PV14LS2 so I got one. This was about 2006.

Parts of the above story are the subject of a cover up by NASA

[sanji]

It was 1998 and one of my college Professors who was into high end audio gave me a Stereophile magazine. In it was a CJ ad which featured an amp and the caption read "You don't have to die to go to heaven". Fell in love with the look of CJ gear and even more with the sound. Saved my scholarship & work study money and bought a Prem 11A amp. Loved it! After graduation and my first job, bought a prem 16. Had the amp for nearly a decade till I recently sold it and moved to SET's (Cary 805 AE). Still have the Prem 16 and dreaming about upgrading to a GAT.

[nz022]

In the early 90s I was looking to upgrade speakers and the local B&W dealer also carried CJ gear. I purchased the speakers back then but never forgot the initial impression I had for the CJ gear. I then moved away from audio for about 10 years. However the lure of champagne colored simplicity got in my veins about 10 years ago. My first purchase was a Premier 11 amp, followed by numerous other pres and even a CD player. I am now enjoying a simpler life with a CA200. It's all been good !!!!!

[TarnishedEars]

Sorry to be resurrecting such an old thread, but since I/m not allowed to post an introduction to myself yet, I can at least sort-of do some of that down here.

I remember this well. I first heard about CJ (and a number of other high end manufacturers) in an article about high end audio which was posted in Stereo Review magazine in about 1983 or so. While the article in stereo review was almost mocking the gear, it prompted me to learn more.

One of the pieces in the review was a CJ Premier 1 amp. For the life of me I couldn't understand why anyone would want a tube amp in 1983, so I just had to find out. As it turns-out a local high-end audio shop at the time was a CJ dealer, and I was able to hear an MV75 with a PV6. That experience changed my life forever.

I've currently own two CJ units, a Premier 1B and a PV6. Over the years I've owned a few other CJs including a MF2250, an MV60SE and a PV12AL. But at the moment both CJs are currently out of my rotation as I'm really enjoying the sound my ARC SP8, and a little Mcintosh MC225. I'm not sure if the PV 6 will come back into the rotation again as the SP8 bests it in many regards. But once I complete some repairs on the Premier 1B, I'll definitely be listening to it again!

FWIW: I've owned a lot of amps over the years, and the best sound I've ever heard out of my system has been when running the Premier 1B. I absolutely love the sound of that old beast!

[mfoley3]

Hi TarnishedEars, I've been a three decade CJ fan and owner. I find their equipment to be sonically excellent and easy to live with. The equipment's quality and durability has been excellent and their service, on the couple of times I've needed it, has been exemplary. I also think that their equipment upgrade program is great. Previously, I had a Premier 11A power amp upgraded with with their proprietary Teflon capacitors. While they had it, they bench tested it thoroughly and replaced a couple of small components that weren't up to spec. Once broken in, I was amazed by the 11A's sonic improvement. From a long term, overall perspective I have been very pleased with CJ.

[joe_marsh]

This will sound funny but, I am from Virginia and that Conrad Johnson is from there made a difference to me. I decided that I would only own equipment made in California or Virginia. Today, I own CJ and MFA electronics.

[Bill Stevenson]

For me the path to cj is both simple and complex. I was in the hifi business years ago and competed with another store that sold cj. I sold McIntosh and ARC. So I knew and respected cj even though it was outside my immediate orbit. Then last year I got the bug to buy a new system. So I visited the local emporiums, checked out the forums on line and subscribed to the usual magazines from the USA and the UK. Early in my search I found a dealer that I felt comfortable with who sold both new and used gear. New he offered cj and Krell. I liked the sound of cj best and had occasion to visit cj in Virginia. Nice people, nice equipment, good dealer. What's not to like?

Bill