So I Happen To Like Conrad Johnson But.....
Systems
Posts: 14,873
Like the title says I'm a fan of CJ gear. I have several other rigs I listen to from time to time. Mostly tubes in the preamp section and some SS power thrown into the mix from time to time. But I just happen to like the sound from the CJ stuff. You know how it is. I suppose everybody has his/her own choice in the selection of what sounds they like to extract from whatever gear they choose. So I happen to own several preamps and amps from CJ. Recently I learned a lesson when choosing your gear. Maybe I'm not as smart as some of the people on here and what I learned is something everybody already knows. This would show even more so how dumb I can be when it comes to audio. Or that I still have room to learn more?
I finally pulled the CJ MV75a-1 from the box to give it a listen. All fresh tubes installed after a full looking over and mod from Bill Thalmann to run KT88's, KT90's or GE 6550'A' tubes. I did my usual bias procedure. Let the amp warm for another 30 minutes and reset the bias again. Let the amp settle for another 15-20 minutes and rechecked the bias one more time before having a listen. I popped in a Patricia Barber - Cafe Blue cd, turned the preamp volume to 9o'clock and sat back to enjoy. Hmm? A little low on the volume. I jumped back up and turned to 10 o'clock. WTF? It sounds beautiful but lacking the level of volume I anticipated. I dialed in a little more to 12 o'clock. Now we're getting somewhere. But why am I at noon on the dial and not getting the volume I should. I know my speakers aren't the most efficient on the market at 86db, but I should be getting more from this amp. Its rated at 75wpc stock and I should be getting more like 85-90wpc after the mods per Bill. I thought to myself I'm just used to the MV125 I normally use which is rated at 125wpc stock. Something is wrong here.
I had my little Eico HF-89 sitting next to it. That little el34 bugger is rated at 50wpc. I shut everything down and swap over to using the Eico. Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it to warm up and DAMN! With the volume at 10 o'clock its running me out of the room. Or I should say it is rather loud. Now I'm starting to get pissed. I changed tubes in the MV75. Went back through the whole bias procedure again. Turned on the music and the same thing. I'm at 12 o'clock to get close to what a 50wpc does at 9 o'clock. I'm even more pissed. Bill has NEVER done me wrong. I take a xanax, count to 100 and calm down before calling Bill. After the hello how are you and what are your plans for the holidays we get down to the issue I called about. First question he asks me is "how does it sound"? Like **** I responded. WHAT? Yep it sounds like ****. Oh wait! Let me explain. He stops me right then and there. "Listen to what I'm asking. How does the MUSIC sound?" It sounds fantastic. "Where is the problem?" No volume, power, umph! He laughs at me. Now I'm really starting to have a dislike to Bill after all the years we have done business together. He says "the music sounds wonderful but it doesn't blow you back in the chair?" Yep!
Bill takes me to the CJ spec page for the MV75. We look over the specs and he explains why I'm not getting the results volume wise to me very simply. The amp requires almost 2.35 volts to reach max power of 75wpc. Ok? Now we look at all other CJ amps. We stroll across the net looking at several other amps and the ratings of those amps. The problem (not really a problem, more like the issue I am experiencing) is the fact that the MV75 requires much more input voltage/gain than almost anything out there. The question again after some talk of the design of the amp returns to "how does it reproduce the music?" Absolutely beautiful! THAT is what or how the amp was designed to operate. Its not a blow your windows out and have the neighbors call the cops amp. Its an amp that reproduces music wonderfully. It just requires more input voltage/gain than most anything out there. He then instructs me to turn the selector knob to a position not in use. Crank the volume to the max and tell him what I hear. NOTHING! Dead quiet. Now he wants me to put on some music and have a listen. I do this and while I'm telling him I don't like the idea of the volume knob at 12 o'clock to get the same level of loudness I get from.......he cuts me off. "Now dial the knob as far as you want, don't worry you won't clip the amp". As I rotated the knob the music got so loud I had to back off in a hurry. "See? You have all the power you need. Nothing wrong with the amp at all. It was just the input sensitivity that was the issue". We laughed for a minute and said "talk to you soon".
I spent the remainder of the evening enjoying the music at a moderate level. Sipping on some Crown Royal on the rocks and smiling from ear to ear. If I learned nothing more from this its the fact that I don't need to be so concerned about the position of the rotation of the volume knob as much as I need to focus on what I'm hearing. I got bent out of shape over nothing more than my lack of understanding of the design of the amp rather than what I was hearing in the way of the reproduction of the music. Its a beautiful sounding amp. I forgot I had taken the xanax and by the time I had my 3rd Crown on the rocks I was out. Needless to say the tubes now have a few extra hours on them at the expense of me sleeping in my chair and a spilled tumbler of Crown Royal on the floor next to me. Thank God I wasn't listening to an LP or there would have been a pop, pop, pop, pop going on all night.
I hope I didn't bore you too much. It is just a lesson I learned.
I finally pulled the CJ MV75a-1 from the box to give it a listen. All fresh tubes installed after a full looking over and mod from Bill Thalmann to run KT88's, KT90's or GE 6550'A' tubes. I did my usual bias procedure. Let the amp warm for another 30 minutes and reset the bias again. Let the amp settle for another 15-20 minutes and rechecked the bias one more time before having a listen. I popped in a Patricia Barber - Cafe Blue cd, turned the preamp volume to 9o'clock and sat back to enjoy. Hmm? A little low on the volume. I jumped back up and turned to 10 o'clock. WTF? It sounds beautiful but lacking the level of volume I anticipated. I dialed in a little more to 12 o'clock. Now we're getting somewhere. But why am I at noon on the dial and not getting the volume I should. I know my speakers aren't the most efficient on the market at 86db, but I should be getting more from this amp. Its rated at 75wpc stock and I should be getting more like 85-90wpc after the mods per Bill. I thought to myself I'm just used to the MV125 I normally use which is rated at 125wpc stock. Something is wrong here.
I had my little Eico HF-89 sitting next to it. That little el34 bugger is rated at 50wpc. I shut everything down and swap over to using the Eico. Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it to warm up and DAMN! With the volume at 10 o'clock its running me out of the room. Or I should say it is rather loud. Now I'm starting to get pissed. I changed tubes in the MV75. Went back through the whole bias procedure again. Turned on the music and the same thing. I'm at 12 o'clock to get close to what a 50wpc does at 9 o'clock. I'm even more pissed. Bill has NEVER done me wrong. I take a xanax, count to 100 and calm down before calling Bill. After the hello how are you and what are your plans for the holidays we get down to the issue I called about. First question he asks me is "how does it sound"? Like **** I responded. WHAT? Yep it sounds like ****. Oh wait! Let me explain. He stops me right then and there. "Listen to what I'm asking. How does the MUSIC sound?" It sounds fantastic. "Where is the problem?" No volume, power, umph! He laughs at me. Now I'm really starting to have a dislike to Bill after all the years we have done business together. He says "the music sounds wonderful but it doesn't blow you back in the chair?" Yep!
Bill takes me to the CJ spec page for the MV75. We look over the specs and he explains why I'm not getting the results volume wise to me very simply. The amp requires almost 2.35 volts to reach max power of 75wpc. Ok? Now we look at all other CJ amps. We stroll across the net looking at several other amps and the ratings of those amps. The problem (not really a problem, more like the issue I am experiencing) is the fact that the MV75 requires much more input voltage/gain than almost anything out there. The question again after some talk of the design of the amp returns to "how does it reproduce the music?" Absolutely beautiful! THAT is what or how the amp was designed to operate. Its not a blow your windows out and have the neighbors call the cops amp. Its an amp that reproduces music wonderfully. It just requires more input voltage/gain than most anything out there. He then instructs me to turn the selector knob to a position not in use. Crank the volume to the max and tell him what I hear. NOTHING! Dead quiet. Now he wants me to put on some music and have a listen. I do this and while I'm telling him I don't like the idea of the volume knob at 12 o'clock to get the same level of loudness I get from.......he cuts me off. "Now dial the knob as far as you want, don't worry you won't clip the amp". As I rotated the knob the music got so loud I had to back off in a hurry. "See? You have all the power you need. Nothing wrong with the amp at all. It was just the input sensitivity that was the issue". We laughed for a minute and said "talk to you soon".
I spent the remainder of the evening enjoying the music at a moderate level. Sipping on some Crown Royal on the rocks and smiling from ear to ear. If I learned nothing more from this its the fact that I don't need to be so concerned about the position of the rotation of the volume knob as much as I need to focus on what I'm hearing. I got bent out of shape over nothing more than my lack of understanding of the design of the amp rather than what I was hearing in the way of the reproduction of the music. Its a beautiful sounding amp. I forgot I had taken the xanax and by the time I had my 3rd Crown on the rocks I was out. Needless to say the tubes now have a few extra hours on them at the expense of me sleeping in my chair and a spilled tumbler of Crown Royal on the floor next to me. Thank God I wasn't listening to an LP or there would have been a pop, pop, pop, pop going on all night.
I hope I didn't bore you too much. It is just a lesson I learned.
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Post edited by Unknown User on
Comments
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Yep, been there (though not with anything near as good as CJ stuff). Like you said, let your ears be the judge, not the position of the volume knob! If it sounds good, it sounds good!
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CJ gear is solid stuff and I can't remember a piece of their gear I didn't think sounded good. I have a PV10A that needs some work, someday I need to get it out of the box and repaired.DKG999
HT System: LSi9, LSiCx2, LSiFX, LSi7, SVS 20-39 PC+, B&K 507.s2 AVR, B&K Ref 125.2, Tripplite LCR-2400, Cambridge 650BD, Signal Cable PC/SC, BJC IC, Samsung 55" LED
Music System: Magnepan 1.6QR, SVS SB12+, ARC pre, Parasound HCA1500 vertically bi-amped, Jolida CDP, Pro-Ject RM5.1SE TT, Pro-Ject TubeBox SE phono pre, SBT, PS Audio DLIII DAC -
CJ gear is solid stuff and I can't remember a piece of their gear I didn't think sounded good. I have a PV10A that needs some work, someday I need to get it out of the box and repaired.
I can HIGHLY recommend Bill Thalmann at http://musictechnology.com to do the work.Testing
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I can say I do like CJ. Good sound and build quality and very heavy!Sunfire TGP, Sunfire Cinema Grand, Sunfire 300~2 (2), Sunfire True Sub (2),Carver ALS Platinum, Carver AL III, TFM-55, C-19, C-9, TX-8, SDA-490t, SDA-390t
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Hello 187CAM,
I agree completely, the M75a is the amp I've been using for over 20 years and I enjoy it tremendously. I've put a few new parts in it and repaired the power supply once, but it has been an excellent amp with my CLSIIa speakers. I find it to have all of the good character of a tube amp with very few of the usual colorations. Once I have the rebuilt Altecs in place I'll use the CJ for an add on pair of Decca ribbon tweeters that have been boxed for a few years, waiting for an extra amp.
Enjoy, Ken -
Interesting post... and a good lesson. Thanks.SystemLuxman L-590AXII Integrated Amplifier|KEF Reference 1 Loudspeakers|PS Audio Directream Jr|Sansui TU-9900 Tuner|TEAC A-6100 RtR|Nakamichi RX-202 Cassette
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A few more hours with the MV75 this weekend. Running EI KT90's in the power section. Everything is starting to sound better and better. Just when I was about to throw it on Agon.......I found some new music in my old recordings. Man this thing is smooooooooth! I may listen for a while longer and throw it up for sale anyway. I have another MV75 and I'd like to try a different mod this time.Testing
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Ok I know I just threw this up for sale. But I have more CJ gear and I want somebody to try some of the CJ gear. I'm so sure you're going to like this I have a return policy in the sale. Man it does sound good tonight with Julie London singing 'Cry Me A River' on the TT. With a return policy I'm hoping to have somebody want to give CJ a try. How can you go wrong? BUT, I still enjoy the MV125 even with the "I'm going to divorce and have you killed" money spent on a well deserved mod from Bill Thalmann that took me to another level with CJ gear.Testing
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Great write up. Yes, this has happened before to me. Glad it all worked out.engtaz
I love how music can brighten up a bad day.
