Conrad Johnson new products 2012

[turntable]

I believe their is a fundamental gap in cj's amplifier line.

You go from the ET250 @ 8k to LP125's at 9.5k, a bit more for the SE, then to 35k for the ART.

cj is throwing away $$ to the likes of ARC and co. There needs to be a SS or hybrid premier quality amplifier at around the 12 - 17k mark. A monoblock SS/hybrid amp will sell a lot better than a single chassis 350A type amp. After all us audiophiles are all about show and real estate right :-)


there is probably an arguement for a large KT120 based monoblock in the 20k range to off an alternative to the ARC ref250.


One last thing. conrad johnson need to bring back the Premier numbering - that always was the cj reference grade and needs to be resurected imo
I believe the LP70, 140 and 275 would have sold a lot better named premier 19, 20 and 21 or prem70, prem 140 and prem 275. That has always been cj's mantra until the prem18 pre.

What do you fellow cj lovers out there think?

[Rayooo]

Agreed! I would have very much liked to have had 12k$ ish SS/Hybrid monoblocks from CJ to consider! Monoblocks, similar in positioning to what ET5 is to GAT, would have been very interesting.

I did try to get Ed to give me a hint recently on what might be expected on the CJ pwr amp front in the next 6-12 months. He didn't.

[ronenash]

The LP125M SE is $13.5K much like its LP140 predecessor.

Although CJ SS gear is very highly regarded by the hifi critics I believe it was not a commercial success and this is the reason they dropped their SS products.

[Rayooo]

how 'bout an ET-250 class hybrid, bridged. AKA ET-500, ET front end, SS output. Or even better name: Premier 500.

[bgiliberti]

Originally Posted by ronenash

....Although CJ SS gear is very highly regarded by the hifi critics I believe it was not a commercial success and this is the reason they dropped their SS products.

I'm not sure dropped is the right word, maybe "morphed" because the hybrids seem to be 9 parts SS and 1 part tube (literally 1 on the input only). I consider these to be SS with, a cosmetic tube to fool the goyim.

[turntable]

Originally Posted by ronenash

The LP125M SE is $13.5K much like its LP140 predecessor.

Although CJ SS gear is very highly regarded by the hifi critics I believe it was not a commercial success and this is the reason they dropped their SS products.

Hi Ron, your example here is a classic example of what cj is doing wrong in the market IMO.

The LP125M is a morphed classic 60. Heck it even has the same chassis.

It is not the same as the premier class 11,12 or 8 of yesteryear or the LP70,LP140 or LP275. All these had different chassis/cosmetics, better transformers, heavier etc etc to seperate themselves from the Classic / MV range.

Gents with $$ who are considering ET5 or GAT will not consider the entry level looking LP125M, regardless of how close performance is to the reference class. Then you may lose the entire sale.

diehard cj customers are one thing, but new customer is another matter.

This is where ARC have very good marketing and product offering and make cj, well amateur. This is a real pity as I luv cj products and the way they sound.

Originally Posted by turntable

Hi Ron, your example here is a classic example of what cj is doing wrong in the market.

The LP125M is a morphed classic 60. Heck it even has the same chassis.

It is not the same as the premier class 11,12 or 8 of yesteryear or the LP70,LP140 or LP275. All these had different chassis/cosmetics, better transformers, heavier etc etc to seperate themselves from the Classic / MV range.

Gents with $$ who are considering ET5 or GAT will not consider the entry level looking LP125M, regardless of how close performance is to the reference class. Then you may lose the entire sale.

diehard cj customers are one thing, but new customer is another matter.

This is where ARC have very good marketing and product offering and make cj, well amateur. This is a real pity as I luv cj products and the way they sound.

Spot on!

[bgiliberti]

Originally Posted by turntable

Hi Ron, your example here is a classic example of what cj is doing wrong in the market IMO.

The LP125M is a morphed classic 60. Heck it even has the same chassis.

It is not the same as the premier class 11,12 or 8 of yesteryear or the LP70,LP140 or LP275. All these had different chassis/cosmetics, better transformers, heavier etc etc to seperate themselves from the Classic / MV range.

Gents with $$ who are considering ET5 or GAT will not consider the entry level looking LP125M, regardless of how close performance is to the reference class. Then you may lose the entire sale.

diehard cj customers are one thing, but new customer is another matter.

This is where ARC have very good marketing and product offering and make cj, well amateur. This is a real pity as I luv cj products and the way they sound.

I would add to that the collapse of the retail dealer market When people hear CJ they will buy it, but if they can't hear it due to a lack of retail dealers, it's uphill all the way. Particularly for a small company like CJ that simply can't afford the full page spreads like ARC. Even if they do everything right on the product side, the complete collapse of traditional audiophile shops outside of virtually everywhere but Boston (where they still seem to remember the Campbridge sound) is a huge problem for a high-end audio manufacturer like cj.

[ronenash]

Originally Posted by turntable

The LP125M is a morphed classic 60. Heck it even has the same chassis.

It is not the same as the premier class 11,12 or 8 of yesteryear or the LP70,LP140 or LP275. All these had different chassis/cosmetics, better transformers, heavier etc etc to seperate themselves from the Classic / MV range.

This might be true if you are buying a chassis not an amplifier. In practical terms the LP125M SE is virtually an ART with half the power and a cheaper chassis. the LP70/LP140/LP275 design was a more complex design that CJ decided to drop in the ART due to complexities in tube matching and overall sound quality.
Did you notice the the ART like the LP125M uses one single triod as input voltage gain and one dual triod as phase splitter before the power tubes. This design is different than the one in the LP140 that used balanced triods from the input to the power tubes. The LP140 has 6 triod sections where the LP125 and ART have only 3.
CJ did go for a cheaper chassis when the economy went south to be more atractive in the market but both the LP66 and the LP125 were identical designs to the ART. Today CJ are offering the SE versions which upgrade the capacitor to teflons and the resistors to the best Vishays. The result is an amplifier that is very similar to the ART.
You are basically paying less money for the chassis work and more money for the internal design.

Just my thoughts knowing CJ designs very well.

[Puma Cat]

Good insights, Ron.

Regarding the LP-series, I still think it's one of their finest sounding efforts, clearly superior to the Pr11/12 series.

I also think the series are a beautiful amp from a design perspective.