The all new ET7-2 Pre-amp is here

[AnotherJohnson]

Examples:

When I bought the Mark Levinson gear recently, because of Harman Kardan’s margin on their Luxery audio lines, and because of my relationship with the dealer, I am not upside down in those components.

But the B&W 705S2s were not as good a deal because “the new price is $500 higher in January.”

We’ve also seen the ET7s2 jump to $13k.

To get out front on this, find someone with existing inventory and talk turkey. You can’t waffle or think about deals. If a deal is offered, your credibility as a buyer is on the line.

[roberto]

OK, my conclusion:

Both are very good preamps!. The V2 has a more forward presentation a has more organic sound. The definition is awesome. It is more thick at the upper bass. The piano is played very live like. Voices are projected with more chest and it has of course the signature sound of CJ quality.

I think that most of you would like the V2 over the V1. Me? I could like with both and after listening carefuly, I assure you that the V1 has its magic too. Both put you in a nirvana state. I love both...and both gave me much pleasure listening to the music. The harmonic texture of the instruments, both gave me the same...a wonderful rainbow of musical instruments and all what you need to enjoy the music. One is more forward, and makes you be closer to the musical instruments (V2) and the other makes you be further. This is the main difference to my ears. The V2, the presence of the stage is an staggering experience.

These CLXs are so good, that it does not matter if you are further because the detail, the resolution is conserved. I still hear the hammer of the piano notes hitting the strings. You can hear the pedals when the piano player uses, on both preamps you can hear this.

This is a matter of liking...and I think I am keeping my V1. I know the V2 sounds different and provides things that many audiophiles swill choose it over the V1...Oh dear, to my ears is a very difficult decision.

Listening to Valentina Lisitsa playing Mozart " Fantasia K475" , she is a very expressive musician, on both I got her soul, her way to play the musical notes. The big Imperial Bosendorfer Grand Piano shined in the Royal Albert Hall.

In the album Rockin' in Rhythm, by Mr Hank Jones, Ray Brown and Jimmie Smith, on the track No. 1, "Your Feet'S Too Big" the harmonic texture of the Fender Rhodes electric piano is wonderful. The Ray bass solo is recorded in a such way that you don't loose any resolution of the musical notes and showing the left hand with immense precision. The drummer plays the cymbals divine, and the sound is projected to the stage with a realism that your ears will be very happy enjoying them.

The big question, am I going to get the V2? The answer is: Not a this moment. I would like to have more, much differences...they are very close with my system and my liking. My ears did not find a considerable differences with my new DAC and cables. When I did my first comparison, I did not have these new components in my system. The truth is: V2 is much better preamp? The answer is: yes, it is.
I enjoyed both very much and both are great preamplifiers.

Or my CLXs are not too good to show me more, or my ears are not that good find more positive differences between these wonderful preamps.

Happy listening!

[AnotherJohnson]

Sounds like the best possible outcome! No need to make a change, even though there are differences.

That’s great!

[admin]

Thanks for the comparison roberto. As AJ says, if you like what you got, no need to make a change.

[roberto]

It is not that I don't want to make a change...if I do it, it has to be a very good difference, something that makes my system to be in another level. The difference is audible between the V2, but not as make me to do the change. Both have great sound! I find the V1 to be more precise with the bass. Some notes were too fat with the V2, but please understand that this is my liking. The truth is that I could live with any, they are very good sounding devices.

[AnotherJohnson]

Both have great sound! I find the V1 to be more precise with the bass. Some notes were too fat with the V2, but please understand that this is my liking. The truth is that I could live with any, they are very good sounding devices.

The fat bass could be an artifact of your room. It is hard to get accurate bass when the speakers are close to the walls. The s1 may be a better match in your environment.

You said at one time that your listening position was like a pair of super headphones and that guests thought you had a center channel. The s2 may exacerbate some of these issues, which I know you viewed positively.

No doubt that rooms play a role and synergistic matching of gear does not have a unique answer. It’s situation dependent.

When you look at the boards, and especially the capacitors, everything points to more accurate bass with the s2, but this is based just on the preamp without considering the other things, like room effects.

Nevertheless, I agree that the differences could be described as subtle. Both preamps allow untangling of the musical threads. I would not have included in my description any notion of bass differences. What I heard that finally convinced me to sell the second s1 was a greater sense of presence in my system. This may be related to your comments about being more forward, or chesty vocals. I don’t know. Again, we do all hear differently.

I think they’re both advanced level preamps, and I could be happy with either, just as you have decided for yourself… but when I traded, the cost difference was strongly in favor of trading. I wish I’d kept the second s1 so that I could sell it now in this higher priced market. But markets defy predictions. Buying and selling is always a crap shoot. That’s another point in favor of McIntosh. McIntosh are on a heck of a lot of bucket lists.

FWIW, the BF210 has been in and out of my main system several times over the last month, and it looks like it is now out for good. The fully broken in Revel F228Bes just don’t need or want it. Maybe tweaking your sub woofer would lead to a better bass with the s2, but if you’re happy, there’s no point. Leave it alone.

[roberto]

It is not a sub issue. I turned off an the same presentation. Remember that my sub is using a special designed low frequency digital filter. It acts around 30Hz. Of course the filter is 12 dB octave, so there is at 60 Hz a -12 dB low frequency signal.

As I stated before, the V2 is better. In my system the V1 shines. These fat bass notes are not prominent. It is just showing that.

It also as you said: room boundaries. It took me a lot of work to tune the V1 to my room. V2 has more guts. And the stage presentation is more forward and focused. Also V1 does this with a lay back presentation. I might be more accustomed to the V1.

Differences are subtle. I rather spend the money in other things. My eye is on a new classical guitar. I dunno.

Thanks AJ.

[AnotherJohnson]

Sounds like a great plan.

My shoulders and hands are fighting with my guitars. I’m jealous.

[roberto]

A little tip. If you play the note very next to the fret, almost touching it, there is no need to apply pressure to the string. All the notes should be played this way.

[AnotherJohnson]

A little tip. If you play the note very next to the fret, almost touching it, there is no need to apply pressure to the string. All the notes should be played this way.

While this is true, and good advice, I have a very light touch.

My luthier skills are actually focused on playability for the lightest of touches. I was once offered bench space at a legendary guitar tech service in Nashville.

Arthritis gets to the point where this is no longer effective… but it is a nice thought.

[roberto]

I have it too. Do your best and stretch those fingers.

[admin]

ET7s2 Review

Well, after a long wait and multiple delays, I am finally sitting down to write my thoughts on my newly acquired ET7s2 preamp. It has been a long journey and I have been patiently waiting for about a year now to acquire one of these units. My system was and still is routed in Conrad Johnson gear but I feel like I am now with current generation gear. The previous backbone of my system was a PV-12 AL preamp and CJ Evolution 2000 amp. I am now "up to date" with The ET7s2 and CJ ART amps.

I want to give a big shout-out to our member Anotherjohnson who I was able to purchase the ET7s2 from this past month. I was very close to a sale with a seller on an auction site but there were some red flags and I am glad I didn't pull the trigger on that and waited patiently. Anotherjohnson was a gentleman and the deal went through without a hitch. So again, thank you.

First, I want to start with cosmetics/build quality. Well, this is nothing short of "best of the best." The internal design is well thought out and is composed of high quality components. You can definitely see the progress of design and manufacturing technique when you compare the layout to my previous PV-12AL. If the unit ever needed work, I think it would be easy to access components for repair. Although I hope that never needs to be done, I think a good tech would probably be able to make repairs. This is very different than many modern audio equipment that has a million tiny components squeezed onto multiple circuit boards and repairs in realy consist of "replacements" and no soldering iron.

The external look and feel is attractive but classic in styling. CJ's designs are typically rather conservative and this overall trend continues. Let's face it, this could have been designed in the 90's in terms of aesthetics. The front cover is the beautiful "champagne gold" that CJ is famous for. It's a nice sold milled piece of metal. The rest of the enclosure also feels solid. No bending, warping, or flexing when moving it around. Overall, built like a tank. The front is rather utilitarian with basic function buttons. They all feel solid with presses and when powered, you can hear the "clikty clank" of the relays switching. I actually like this a lot because it gives you audible feedback on selections. The display gives you volume and source info. That's about it. Again, a very classic style that would fit right in 30 years ago as well as today. It's clearly legible and easy to read both with lights on but also in a darkened room. It is not so bright that it is distracting with lights turned off (as I have had with some other equipment in the past). Again, simplicity by design. There are no dimming options or any control over the display.

I should also mention the remote control, the RC-20. A hefty unit that is milled from the same champagne gold metal that the front plate is made from. The buttons are rubber and the options are fairly limited. In all honesty, the remote is most likely an afterthought and probably from external pressure to keep CJ in "modern times." This is the first CJ unit I have ever owned that has a remote so I am used to getting up and adjusting volume. The lacking function is a button for actually turning the unit on/off. So at the beginning and end of your listening session, you still have to walk up and power the unit up/down. There are some reports that sometimes when adjusting the volume there can be a "miss-read" of the IR code and it may change the source or balance. I have seen this happen on a few occasions (but only source change for me). I have to note that I am sitting over 15 feet away from the unit and I am bouncing the IR signal off a wall or ceiling as my speaker is blocking direct line of site. In the future I am going to try putting my IR repeater in place and see how that influences signal reliability and accuracy.

Some quirks with use is that the unit remembers volume settings, but if you cut the power supply, it resets to a volume level of 20. I have my entire system on a voltage regulator/power conditioner and will often turn this off. Especially if there is a storm or I am going to be away from the system for a significant amount of time. Luckily, a volume of 20 is what I usually listen to so I don't make volume adjustments that often.

Connection on the rear of the unit are standard fair. All analog RCA inputs. Not much to say other than that they appear to be high quality and running my cables into the connectors felt solid.

Ok, let's get into the important thing... sound. Well, what can I say? I am so impressed that it is hard to describe. There was an immediate and very noticeable improvement in the sound quality going from the PV-12AL to the ET7s2. I could blabber on about detail, transparency, etc... but really the best way I can describe it is if somebody had taken a towel or sheet off my speaker. This is not to say that the PV-12AL was muddled or not transparent. It is just that the ET7s2 really takes it all to another level. Lows, mids, and highs. The music feels more visceral. More authentic. More of a live characteristic. The PV-12AL was detailed, but again, you can hear some extra detail with the ET7s2. Those strings seem to vibrate just a tad longer. The sound of the fingers rubbing against the body of the guitar a little more pronounced. The "raspiness" of that voice just a little deeper. Likewise dynamics are excellent without any exaggeration.

I have now had a few weeks to put some serious listening hours on the unit and I can say that it handles different sources all exceptionally well. LP's sound sound lifelike as ever. Digital media such as CD's or high definition streaming are equally well suited to the ET7s2. Regardless of your medium of choice, the ET7s2 will not discriminate.

I will also say that I have some of the most unforgiving speakers available. Although my Magnepan 20.1's have received good reviews, they are notorious for being difficult to drive and position. They will typically be unforgiving with any issues further up the chain. If you are not pairing it with an adequate preamp or amp, you will quickly discover a less than ideal performance. Again, the ET7s2 has taken the entire system to the next level. You should have no problem pairing this to "difficult speakers."

If you do want to play around with the sound. Having tube gear makes this easy as you can swap your particular preference in tubes. I have not really experimented with tube rolling on the ET7s2 but that is certainly an option.

At the heart of this unit is still the classic warm CJ sound. If you are looking for "cold transistor sound", this is not the preamp for you. No listening fatigue here. Just a very detailed but distinctly tube sound. What can I say, it just sounds right.

[roberto]

mmmm, Thanks Admin for your review. I have to admit that when I had one V2 vs my V1, I did not notice a huge difference, but the unit V2 was brand new. No burning process, not settle down yet and the V1 was. So, reading you, made me order one today. I will report to you when I get it.

Again, thanks!
Roberto.

Happy listening!

[AnotherJohnson]

mmmm, Thanks Admin for your review. I have to admit that when I had one V2 vs my V1, I did not notice a huge difference, but the unit V2 was brand new. No burning process, not settle down yet and the V1 was. So, reading you, made me order one today. I will report to you when I get it.

Again, thanks!
Roberto.

Happy listening!

I honestly think you will be impressed. I owned two S1s and an S2. The difference was subtle, but real.

Compared to a PV era preamp, either was as admin describes … but the s2 definitely has the better presence and better layout.

[admin]

mmmm, Thanks Admin for your review. I have to admit that when I had one V2 vs my V1, I did not notice a huge difference, but the unit V2 was brand new. No burning process, not settle down yet and the V1 was. So, reading you, made me order one today. I will report to you when I get it.

Again, thanks!
Roberto.

Happy listening!

Hey, that's great news! Can't wait to hear your take. I really think this preamp is up there with the best I have ever heard. I simply do not have any negative complaint to make from a sonic standpoint. Absolutely, none. As per my review, perhaps one can complain that the remote should have a power button but from a acoustic perspective, the ET7s2 is flawless (IMHO).

[roberto]

It does, just keep pressing the mute button, and the unit goes off.

Happy listening!

[roberto]

Same thing with the Holo May power. Press the mute button and when you want to power it on, press mute and the unite goes on.

[roberto]

Dear Glen,

Yes, but when I did the comparison with my ET-7 (V1) the comparison was unfair. Now reading you and reading Admin, I think that I am going to be more updated, and having more organic sound.

Thanks both, Admin and AnotherJohnson for inspired me to move on with the ET-7 S2.

Happy listening!

[admin]

The Holo Audio DAC gave me a small heart attack initially as I didn't know you had to keep pushing the on button for such a long time to turn it on. I really thought it was broken at first!

The Holo Audio DAC also seems to pair really well with the ET7s2 so you should have no problems on that side and it truly sounds wonderful for digital media.

[roberto]

Here is from the user's manual:

MUTE: Pressing the mute button will cause the main outputs to mute and the level display to be zero. Pressing it again will restore the last level setting. Pressing and holding the mute button for more than three seconds will switch the ET7 into standby mode (all tube circuitry switched off). Pressing the mute button when the unit is in standby mode will switch it back on.