Trying P18LS v. ET-2

[CDLehner]

Just had a good deal come up on AG, for a Premier 18LS. Thought I'd give it a whirl against my ET-2. Little did I realize...it's SS! lol

Oh well; good sound is good sound. Any thoughts about the unit?

[CDLehner]

OK; guess I'll let you guys know.

[Puma Cat]

CD,
None of us posted any thoughts about the Pr18 because AFAIK, none of us here has ever owned or heard one. Ronenash might be familiar with it. Like the ET2, not many folks have Pr18s that I know of. Folks here, on the whole, I think, are much more familiar with the tube PV and Premier preamps, as well as the ART, ACT, CT-5, ET3, ET5, etc.

My guess is that, like all C-J preamps, it will sound very good. Whether it's one might prefer it over an ET2 or an ET3, Pr17, etc, etc. would require some fairly extensive comparison listening and might just come down to personal preferences.

[ronenash]

All I know is that the control section of the CA200 is taken from the Pr18 and it has the same casework. I have never heard one but have heard earlier CJ SS preamps and they all sounded great.
Let us know what you hear.

[CDLehner]

Hmmmm; better let this "warm up" a bit before I make any rash judgments.

[Puma Cat]

I would let it warm up for a few days....

[CDLehner]

OK...Premier 18LS has been "running in" a good bit over the last few days. As you might have guessed...from an earlier comment...out of the box, it did not impress. I was telling a friend, that I never thought of myself as a warm, tubey guy; in fact, while I like the idea of balance...from a tube pre-amp, backed-up by SS power-amp muscle...I'm always careful to try and avoid overly warm tube units. I would call the ET-2 pretty warm...as is the mf-2500a, for an SS amp. And while I tend to rail against that warm sound...when I put other gear up against it, as has been the case with the mf-2500a...I do tend to prefer the sound of the C-J. It's even made me turn on my beloved Belles 150a Hot-Rod to a certain extent.

I recently thought about selling the mf-2500a...because it was "too" warm, and the Belles was just "laying around", and certainly good enough to stand-in as "back-up". However, compared to the mf-2500a, the Hot-Rod is sounding pretty lean to me now. Point is...I'm kinda feeling the same way about the SS Premier 18LS. It's hyper-detailed...but at the same time, a bit etchy and sharp; I would never expect that from C-J...SS or otherwise. Am I becoming a tube convert!? It's funny...I found myself thinking "the Premier 18LS sounds like really good stereo...but the ET-2 sounded more like music"...lol.

It does pair nicely with the mf-2500a though. If the mf-2500a is a touch warm for my taste, the P18LS balances it nicely by being ever so slightly bright and detailed. Gonna let the P18LS have its day in court; then switch back to the ET-2, and see which strikes me as the better combo.

[Puma Cat]

Sounds like C-J is working its magic on you, as it has with many of us. As the ET-2 is a bit warm, it might pair well with a more modern C-J amp like an ET-250S, Pr350, LP70S which present a cooler sound than the MF.

I think you're getting a good feel for how C-J does music....which is pretty darned good.

[CDLehner]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Sounds like C-J is working its magic on you, as it has with many of us. As the ET-2 is a bit warm, it might pair well with a more modern C-J amp like an ET-250S, Pr350, LP70S which present a cooler sound than the MF.

I think you're getting a good feel for how C-J does music....which is pretty darned good.

ET-250S; that's his buddy, right?

Originally Posted by CDLehner

ET-250S; that's his buddy, right?

I read that the et250s is brighter than the Pr350 so that may be the ticket for a cJ tube preamp.