AudioAficionado.org - Conrad-Johnson Premier 350 discussion

This thread is for discussion of the famous Conrad-Johnson Premier 350 amplifier:

From the C-J website:
Hybrid Solid-State Circuit.
The Premier 350 benefits from an interesting hybrid of solid-state technologies. The distortion characteristics of an amplifier are dominated by it's voltage gain stage. We have selected FETs for this application, because, like tubes, and unlike bi-polar transistors, they produce almost no strident odd-order harmonic distortion. The output stage of an amplifier must efficiently couple the high amplitude signal produced by the voltage gain stage to the loudspeaker system to assure the power and control needed to produce a musically accurate response. Bi-polar devices have been specified for the output stages of these amplifiers because they offer about 1/4th the output impedance of a MOSFET, resulting in much better control of the loudspeaker. This is most noticeable in faster, more solid bass response.

Zero Feedback.
Negative feedback is an engineering technique used to reduce measured distortion. While feedback does achieve this goal, it also introduces aberrations in the tran-sient response characteristics of the circuit. The Premier 350 uses conrad-johnson's unique auto-linear gain block for the voltage gain stage, which achieves low distortion with zero loop feedback by exploiting the symmetrical distortion properties of n and p channel fets.

Solid Power Supplies.

Power supply circuits present a parallel signal path to the audio circuits. Ideally this signal path provides ac signals with a zero impedance path to ground. Any deviation from this ideal is reflected in the reproduced audio signal. Thus the power supplies are as important to audio performance as the audio circuits and must be accorded equal attention in design. The Premier 350 features a discrete dc regulators to power the critical voltage gain stage.

Quality Parts.

As with all Premier components, the Premier 350 is constructed from the highest quality, carefully selected parts for unrivaled sonic performance and reliability. The circuits employ polypropylene and polystyrene capacitors extensively, except in the main power supply storage, where special high-speed electrolytics are used because of the extremely high capacitance required. The audio circuit and related power supplies utilize precision low inductance laser-trimmed metal foil resistors. The obsession for parts quality extends to the high quality, gold plated input jacks and output connectors - even the internal wiring is chosen on the basis of its sound quality in its specific application.

Thoughtful engineering, specification of the finest available component parts, and painstaking care taken in production make this an audio amplifier without peer in music reproduction. We invite you to arrange an audition with your conrad-johnson dealer to confirm for yourself the extraordinary musical performance of the Premier 350.