Revisiting the CJ ET3 SE
 

Last year I demoed at home the ET 3 SE. It did not go well. The tube as faulty and I also (my fault) forgot to invert the speaker cables. This time totally different. Also I had changes in my setup. The modified Threshold amps were replaced w/a Bryston 2.5 and the Dynavector p75 MKIII phono was replaced w/Shaker Logic phono (currently only 4 built locally in NH). I took it home for 4 days and was totally impressed. Excellent soundstage plenty of air between instruments and lots of detail even for low late night listening. What made the deal sweeter was the dealer sold me the demo unit so I saved a big chunk of money. The unit sounds great but is it true that it takes 300-500 hrs to fully break in. Currently it has the EH6922 tube. Any other tubes that you may have used? :thumbsup:

Congratulations on getting an ET3 SE.

It is the models with teflon capacitors, like your ET3 SE, that people claim need a long break in. I don't have the ET3 SE but I have a current model CJ preamp with teflon capacitors that I bought used - though it had not been used for a while (sitting in a box). Although it had done about 1300 hours before I got it, for me it took about 90 hours of music playing through it to sound consistent. Kind of a re-break in. Until then it had some bad days, being fatiguing. I would have no doubt that a new one could need 300-500 to fully break in based on reports I have read. There are various threads here on audioaficionado that discuss this.

Since your unit is a demo unit - won't it already be broken in? Your dealer might have done all the hard work for you and you can just sit back and enjoy it.

As our preamps are not the same model, I'll leave it to others to report about tubes they have used. You might want to check through some of the old threads in the conrad johnson area of audioaficionado as there is quite a bit of info on tubes that people recommend.

Anthony

I will be there right with you....very soon. I have purchased the ET3 SE and its three days into burn in on my bench. I'll hook it up in a week. I have the following that I've got in back stock:
(2)Amperex 6922 PQ Series White Label 1962 &1960
(1)Amperex 1962 ECC88 Holland ‘White Bugle Boy’
(1)Amperex 6922 Holland ‘White Bugle Boy’ 1963
(2)Siemens E188CC strong test used, white writing mid ‘60’s
(3)Siemens E288CC, (2) very strong-(1)67% (10K hours life)
(1)matched pair Amperex 7308 USN-CEP NOS 1966
(2)Siemens CCa 1971
(4)6N23P – (2)from the Saratov plant & (2)from the Voskhod plant 70’s to 80’s vintage

Great collection of tubes. I'd be interested on which you like best. I've had this preamp now for about two weeks and it gets better every day. Excellent detail great bottom end and it doesn't lose any of those attributes when you play it low for late night listening. Enjoy your ET3 SE.:thumbsup:

Yeah, I'm still on day four of burn-in. I'm using a Stereophile CD that has pink noise and warble tones....

Hi Joe,

Note that for burn in of the capacitors (at least the ones at the output), you need to have something plugged in to the preamp outputs, such as a power amplifier. The power amplifier does not necessarily need to be turned on, it just needs to be connected so that the pre has a load connected. There also has to be at least a moderate volume set (not muted) so that current is passing though the output capacitors. You may already be aware of this, just being sure so you don't waste time and tube hours.

Congratulations on your new ET3 SE.

Anthony

Hi Joe,

One other thing, the E288CC does not seem to be an equivalent of 6922. It has different electrical characteristics, with the E288CC drawing about 50% more heater current, and drawing double the anode current. It might be fine, or it might damage your preamp if it draws more current than it can handle. I recommend checking with conrad johnson to determine if it is safe to use in the ET3 SE.

example 6922/E88CC:

heater current (If): 300mA
anode current (Ia): 15mA

http://www.mif.pg.gda.pl/homepages/f...09/e/E88CC.pdf


example E288CC:
heater current (If): 475mA
anode current (Ia): 30mA

http://www.mif.pg.gda.pl/homepages/f...0/e/E288CC.pdf

Anthony

Serious good tubes there. let us know which you like best....

Has anyone tried the EAT 6922?? Also the EAT tube damper.:scratch2:

Anthony - Ahhh, thanks so much for this advice. Indeed, I did NOT have a connected load. After drilling down on this in a few boards, honestly, I find some that say the load is important and others say not. I'll put it to CJ tomorrow for their opinion.

In the meantime, I'm played a disc of tones, pink and white noise now for 200 hours....