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Conrad-Johnson It just sounds right

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  #21  
Old 03-04-2011, 02:25 PM
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Originally Posted by ronenash View Post
In 9 out of 10 times I compared CJ gear to other offerings the CJ came out as more enjoyable. I am suprised they are getting so little trafic on AA.
I think because a lot of folks here so devoted to Mac, they haven't had the chance to hear much C-J stuff, except for Tonepub, who has been a big C-J fan and owner for a long time. He very likely has more experience with their gear any of us here combined.

I can tell you that C-J gear paired with a set of big Dynaudios is a very musical and sweet matchup.

Dyns don't get any visibility here, except from the 'ole snaggle-toothed, gamy-legged Puma Cat.

Incredible speakers though, they perform at 2-4X their price level.
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  #22  
Old 03-04-2011, 03:33 PM
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Thanks for the welcome and, yes all sounds great. The PR 17 had just had an upgrade to Teflon Caps at the factory and was spectacular. It's amazing what a difference they make but I think your CT-5 has them as well.
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  #23  
Old 03-04-2011, 07:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Coppy View Post
Thanks for the welcome and, yes all sounds great. The PR 17 had just had an upgrade to Teflon Caps at the factory and was spectacular. It's amazing what a difference they make but I think your CT-5 has them as well.
Yes, the CT-5 has Teflon caps as well, but the two preamps use very different triode tubes, the Premier 17 uses 6922s and the CT-5 uses 6N30 (aka 6H30); I think a fair amount of the differences in sonic qualities I am hearing are attributable to the different triode tubes.
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  #24  
Old 03-19-2011, 09:53 PM
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Default Ct-5...

Hey PC... are you considering a couple of tubes for the CT-5 before making your final decision on pre-amps? Should be a cheap potential improvement that would increase the value of the CT-5 if you decided to sell it.
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  #25  
Old 03-20-2011, 03:26 PM
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Hi Coppy,
I haven't decided yet what the final decision will be regarding the CT-5 yet; the verdict is still out. I did extensive demoing with a buddy two weeks ago comparing the Premier 17LS and the CT-5, and we both preferred the Pr17. The CT-5 was more detailed, transparent, and resolving, but it also sounded thin, flat, analytical, and was not very good at reproducing massed orchestral strings, like the violin section of a full orchestral piece, for example. The soundstage depth, width and height was smaller and flatter with the CT-5. We both felt the Pr17 imaged better, had a fuller, richer sound, and just plain sounded more like music than the CT-5. After a bit, my buddy didn't want to listen to the CT-5 anymore. He was very impressed with the Pr17, however.

After talking to my friend Tom, who also has a C-J CT-5 and an ET250S amp about our listening experiences and impressions, he still thinks I am going through the infamous C-J Teflon cap burn-in hell (or maybe that should be Teflon cap "burn in hell") syndrome. This preamp was purchased by the person who sold it to me on Dec. 12, 2010, and I bought it right around Feb. 12, so my friend Tom thinks there's no way the owner could have put sufficient hours on it in that short time to be fully burned in. Tom said that it took a good five months of listening before his started to sound good, and it continued to improve for another 3 or so months after that.

With that, I decided to give the CT-5 some more time, and sure enough, this last week, it really seems to be be improving in it's sound quality. I listened to it for several hours yesterday while cleaning records in the Spin-Clean, and there was a point last night when it kind of went "Snap!" and all of a sudden started sounding pretty good.

So...we'll see. I want to get more hours on the CT-5 to see where it's headed, and then perhaps look into some different tubes for it.
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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; 03-20-2011 at 03:33 PM.
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  #26  
Old 03-20-2011, 04:29 PM
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Well PC, some good news at last. Hope your experience continues to improve. Maybe that's why the fellow sold you the CT-5 so quickly to begin with. I assume Tom is happy with his rig. Keep us informed.
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  #27  
Old 03-20-2011, 08:04 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Coppy View Post
Well PC, some good news at last. Hope your experience continues to improve. Maybe that's why the fellow sold you the CT-5 so quickly to begin with. I assume Tom is happy with his rig. Keep us informed.
Hi Coppy,
Yes, I thought about the fact that the person who sold it to me may have done so prematurely, though his principal reason was that he had a buddy who had a CT-5 and then got a GAT and convinced him to get a GAT as well.

Tom is quite happy with his rig now that it's fully burned in, but he also will admit being more in the cold and neutral camp than the warm and musical camp in term of his sensibilities. In other words, he's more of a Lyra kind of guy than a Koetsu guy.
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  #28  
Old 03-30-2011, 07:26 PM
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PV 15 paired an MC275 here
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  #29  
Old 03-30-2011, 10:19 PM
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Nice, the PV15 is a nice preamp.
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  #30  
Old 04-01-2011, 11:14 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Puma Cat View Post
Nice, the PV15 is a nice preamp.
its the second CJ Pre in my system the first was a PV 10 almost 20 years ago
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