Here's my first C-J piece, my PV12A preamp. I bought this from a buddy for $800. It was my first introduction to C-J, and it was (still is) a very good preamp. Paired well with both SS amps (I even hooked it up to my truly vintage Harmon-Kardon Citation 12; it sounds geat!) or with tube amps. Not the last word in transparency or detail, it was easily tunable for it's sound by rolling different tubes through it. The hot setup for tubes was the mil-spec Mullard CV4003.
Build quality is standard very high C-J build quality, the only things that might need service would be the pots, which might need a cleaning after many years of use. Certainly did everything right when it came to creating an engaging and musical experience, and still represents a great way to get into C-J gear for the budget or first-time buyer. Pair this with a C-J MF-2250, MF-2500, Premier 11A, or MV60 and you have an excellent sounding system that can reproduce music that "just sounds right".
You can now have the caps replaced by C-J with Teflon caps, which I understand takes it to an entirely new level, one that is comparable to many preamps made today.
One thing it would benefit from would be an IEC connector for power, so you could pair it with a Shunyata power cord. Add a Venom3 to this baby, and you'd be stylin'!
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Lumin P1 streamer/DAC/preamp, Constellation Inspiration integrated TT: Michell Gyro SE MkII, SME V, Koetsu Urushi Vermilion, EAR324. Harbeth 30.2s, REL R-305, Shunyata Alpha V2 ICs, Alpha V2 SPs, Sigma XC, Sigma NRv2, Omega QR-s & Alpha NRv2 PCs, segmented Altaira SG stack w/ Alpha & Omega CGCs, Everest 8000 PD. Remote Server Room: Uptone EtherREGEN, AfterDark Master Clock & LPS, Alita, Battle Angel, (Akasa NUC Roon Core), iFi DC Purifiers (for SMPS used for Alita & router), Shunyata Gemini combo power distributor & Altaira-type CG GP-NR hub, Venom & Alpha CGCs, Shunyata NRv14 power cords for digital components.
Last edited by Puma Cat; 09-11-2011 at 02:31 PM.
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