Power amp tube CJ and preamp ?

[Vick]

Has anyone found good matches between CJ tube power amps and tube preamps of other brands please?

[AnotherJohnson]

I ran my CJ LP275Ms with my ARC LS28 before and after it was upgraded to LS28 SE status, in direct comparison to my ET7s2.

To my ears, the ARC LS28 and LS28SE both held up very well in comparison. I found nothing was lost in terms of tonal balance, dynamics, noise floor, or spatial presentation. I felt that these specific ARC preamps conveyed more resolution of fine details. This was an unexpected result, but it was repeatable in multiple trials. It motivated me to also try the ARC REF 75 SE, and this eventually led to my current system which includes the REF 6 SE preamp and REF 250 SE amps.

Another might have preferred the ET7s2 and LP275Ms, or maybe the new ART series preamp and amps. Your ears, your system.

[admin]

I've never found mixing different brands as a "limitation" per se. Sometimes it makes sense to try and keep everything with the same manufacturer as it guarantees that things like line levels are going to be compatible. But really I would not hesitate to mix and match. You obviously want to match the best possible preamp with the best possible amp. Budget and other factors may constrain those purchases, but that has always been my guiding principle.

At the end of the day you will never have a CJ only setup. Simply because CJ does not make speakers, sources, etc...

[AnotherJohnson]

FWIW, an advantage of non CJ preamps is that they often offer more features, like a phase reversal button, or tube hours report, or no clickity clack noises from operation of the remote, etc.

But you really can’t generalize too much except to note that just about any preamp that has single ended main out jacks can be plugged into just about any CJ amp from any era.

There are so many possible combinations that there’s no way to declare that one brand is universally a good match or a bad one. You can’t even generalize based on gain or impedance matching issues. It will really come down to your preferences most of the time.

What are you thinking about trying?

[Big Dog RJ]

You can mix and match front end gear wirh back end, no issues there but there are three fundamental aspects that are very critical:

1. Preamp to power amp input sensitivity and gain.
2. Input & Output impedence of both units.
3. Speaker's sensitivity and impedence swing.

Get these three elements as close as possible and you've got an outstanding match. Get it all mixed up, and you'll end up with a fruit salad!

Best, RJ

[Big Dog RJ]

Successful combinations:
Parasound, NAD, Musical Fidelity, Adcom, Aragon, Bryston, Krell, Sonic Frontiers, Jadis, Audio Note, Melos, McIntosh, McCormack, Pass Labs, Momentums, Relentless, Dartzeel, CH Precision, Solution, Boulder, Vitus, Cary, Golden Tube, VTL, and Manley Labs.
Oh! I forgot to mention, Lamm Audio, another superb combination with CJ. I may have missed out a few others but these are the ones that I remember really well.

I've used them all to great extent, mostly older gear not so much the latest & greatest... the majority of these setups were with CJ preamps; from PV12 to GAT, so basically the entire range. Have also sold and serup at customer's homes, obviously depending on their budgets... but like I said, system matching on Input sensitivity and matching on preamp gain is of most importance.

If the two aren't close enough to recreate an effortless reproduction of sound then you're going to have a very forced outcome that is not listening. So price doesn't determine anything, it all depends on system synergy. You'll know when you hear it!

Cheers, RJ

[AnotherJohnson]

1. Preamp to power amp input sensitivity and gain.
2. Input & Output impedence of both units.
3. Speaker's sensitivity and impedence swing.

In my experience these are only important if there’s a horrendous mismatch. Most modern gear, as attested to by the long list of successful matches cited by RJ, will work together. You might not like a particular combination, but someone else will swear by it. With CJ you are limited to other gear that is also capable of single ended connection.

I’ve tried predicting things by gain and impedance matching, and it doesn’t always come out the way you might think.

So … what’s the OP considering? Maybe RJ or someone else has tried it.