Sonographes on the way

[jimtranr]

When my bedroom-system Rotel RB 970BX unexpectedly blew its left channel a couple of days ago, I decided to replace it rather than have it repaired. I started looking for a decent but inexpensive power amp and happened on an eBay auction bundling a C-J Sonographe SC25 preamp and SA250 amp. While I didn't absolutely need a preamp right away (though I"ll shortly be outfitting my wife's home office system), the 250 looked too good to pass up if I could get it at the right price. So I bid at the last minute. Long story short: The pair should arrive next week.

I've read that the 250 has a laid-back top end, but otherwise should be a good match for the Paradigm stand-mount SE-1's it will be driving. I'm looking forward to finding out.

[jdandy]

Jim.......I would expect the C-J gear to be a nice step up from Rotel. Looking forward to you impressions.

[jimtranr]

Yeah, Dan, I expect it will be a step up, too. I'll post my impressions after I've given the new arrivals a good listen.

[Puma Cat]

Please do, my guess is you'll be very pleased!

[Rafale]

let me know please about Sonographe
are they real CJ or McCormack ?
thanks
Philippe

[jimtranr]

let me know please about Sonographe
are they real CJ or McCormack ?


Philippe, they were introduced as "entry-level" products by Conrad-Johnson and included at least one turntable model well as preamps and amps. Save for a historical note, there's no mention of them on the current C-J Web page. The electronics were all solid state, and I understand that for a time the Sonographe SA250 was rated "Class B" by Stereophile.

If you look carefully at the photo below you'll note the "by conrad-johnson" notation on the lower right portion of the faceplates.

http://jimtranr.com/sonographe.jpg

[Rafale]

Philippe, they were introduced as "entry-level" products by Conrad-Johnson and included at least one turntable model well as preamps and amps. Save for a historical note, there's no mention of them on the current C-J Web page. The electronics were all solid state, and I understand that for a time the Sonographe SA250 was rated "Class B" by Stereophile.

If you look carefully at the photo below you'll note the "by conrad-johnson" notation on the lower right portion of the faceplates.

http://jimtranr.com/sonographe.jpg

Thanks Jim copy that
The cj DNA is obvious the pre looks like the PV10, same faceplate and knobs

[JohnK]

c-j also had the "motif" brand for solid-state components, in the mid 80's, I believe.

[jimtranr]

c-j also had the "motif" brand for solid-state components, in the mid 80's, I believe.

Yeah, John, that was their first marketed foray into solid state, a projected high-end offering that disappeared around 1991 after about a six-year run.

[Puma Cat]

My guess is Sonographe disappeared right around the time C-J acquired McCormack; no need for two solid-state product lines.

Jim, let us know what you think when you get your Sonographes. My guess is that you wil be very pleased; the SS stuff C-J did was also very, very good.

[ronenash]

I believe sonograph is much older than the the time CJ acquired McCormack. Sonograph was the entry level solid state from CJ. CJ also had the Motif line which was their assult on super high-end solid state.

[Rafale]

i remember the sonographe SD1 CDP launched in the eighties, highly praised but too expensive for my pockets :tears:

[jimtranr]

The C-J Sonographe SC25 and SA250 arrived via UPS this afternoon in an almost paper-thin cardboard carton--yeah, both were packed in the same single box--with bent and wrinkled top flaps. Yikes!

Fortunately, as indicated in the post-unwrapping and hooked-up photo below, there was enough bubble wrap inside to separate and cushion them on their long journey from Vermont to Oregon.

http://jimtranr.com/sonographe_preamp_amp.jpg

And they work! They're still "cold" (they have about an hour's "on" time as I write this), but judging by what I'm hearing from a classical FM feed via an MR74 to my bedroom's Paradigm SE-1's, they're keepers. And to keep peace in the family, I suspect I'll have to find another SA250 for my wife's home office system.

More after I've let them "cook" for a few days.

[jimtranr]

First, kudos to Ed Deitemeier of Conrad-Johnson. Since no owner's manuals accompanied my Sonographe shipment, I e-mailed C-J's service department this morning to ask if any were available and what they'd cost. Within two hours, I received PDF's from Ed of both, along with a schematic of the SA250, and a request for my postal address, since the SC25 schematic isn't available in PDF and would have to be mailed to me. (It goes out tomorrow.) Immediate response. At no cost. That's service.

I'm glad I asked because the SC25 manual informed me that the preamp (like my Premier 17LS) is phase inverting. While it's anyone's guess whether a given recording is phase correct, I like to keep everything as "tidy" (well, not everything, says my spouse) as possible. So I've dutifully reversed the speaker leads.

While the SC25 doesn't appear from what I've read to have garnered much respect (and is clearly no 17LS), its pairing here with the SA250 via Kimber Select KS-1020 impresses as a synergistic match. Put succinctly, the speakers disappear with greater ease than they did mated to the Rotel amp. (They're standmounted Paradigm SE-1's that have to rub elbows with a wood-faced dresser and an equipment cabinet featuring exposed metal and glass faceplates. When I have the room a little "tidier," I'll post a photo or two.)

Despite the obstacles presented primarily by the furniture, the soundstage is broad and wall-vanishing deep, imaging is precise and, with good source material, reasonably three-dimensional (an attribute that, along with liquidity, seems to be improving with "cooking" time). At present, the program sources are admittedly limited--FM and cable box "music channel" presentations (yeah, yeah, I know)--but I'll be adding CD capability shortly, and possibly vinyl if I can figure out where to stuff a turntable...turns out the SC25 appears to have the optional phono stage module installed (determined by inference when a high-level program source connected to aux 1/ph produced garbled output that transformed into music when I connected the source to aux 2).

One happy camper here.