hello from washington state

bpasok · Post by **bpasok** » Wed Oct 07, 2020 5:12 pm

I am new to Conrad Johnson and thought I would join the forum and learn from others.

My tube experience is with vintage (Fisher / Scott) equipment and more recently I have been using all solid state. I have recently implemented a tube buffer (front end of Fisher amp) and like the sound, so I thought I would try a tube preamp and picked up a PV-11. It needs some TLC, and is in pieces on my bench at this time. It has had some work done previously, some good and some not-so-good:( I really like the sound I am getting on the bench at this time and am looking forward to moving this into my main system.

This looks like a very friendly and knowledgeable forum and I am happy to be a member.

I'll be asking questions down the road.

Thanks everyone,
Bill

AnotherJohnson · Post by **AnotherJohnson** » Wed Oct 07, 2020 6:00 pm

The PV 11, when up to snuff, is the epitome of the PV series in my opinion. It was truly full featured if you got the one with phono. It was my holy grail PV series preamp and I can’t think of anything that it did not do well.

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the nice find. I’ll look forward to hearing how your work progresses as you bring it back from good to great!

Post by **admin** » Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:55 pm

Welcome to CJO, great to have you with us. I think you are going to find the PV11 a nice upgrade to the sound. CJ gear sounds special. The PV11 is a great preamp and really some of the best of the PV series.

Again, welcome to the club and let us know how it sounds when you get in the system.

joeinid · Post by **joeinid** » Wed Oct 07, 2020 9:24 pm

Welcome Bill.

bpasok · Post by **bpasok** » Wed Oct 07, 2020 11:14 pm

WOW.... what a welcoming response from everyone.... thank you.....

I'll have my PV11 in my main system in the next couple of days.... I'll let everyone know how it sounds...

thanks again,
Bill

roberto · Post by **roberto** » Thu Oct 08, 2020 5:49 pm

Hola Bill and welcome,

I am with AJ, the PV11 is a master piece. It's sound is remarkable very good. The unit has the signature quality sound of Conrad Johnson. It is a jewel to use.
My advice is, read the manual, and check all the number of the tubes that the unit uses. Check them to see if they are into the right position and the right number. I had found that some owners do not put attention to the correct position of the tubes. The manual tells you this. If you find different numbers of the tubes, you can find is they are a direct replacement (tube rolling) of the originals.

Welcome again, here you will find a lot of members with great advices to get the most of your goods.

Happy listening!

Big Dog RJ · Post by **Big Dog RJ** » Sun Oct 11, 2020 1:55 pm

G'day mate, from down unda!

Another Bill... great, now we're all going to get confoosed...
Just kidding, great to see another CJ user, and yes as our fellow mates have stated, you're going to love it!

When you place a CJ preamp in to any given system, the natural musical life it adds to the system is truly remarkable.

Enjoy those fine tunes!
RJ

bpasok · Post by **bpasok** » Thu Oct 22, 2020 11:53 pm

I have the PV11 fixed up and in my system..... it is the quietest tube preamp I have ever heard.... I am very pleased with the unit. It has an 'air' that my NAD solid state preamp just couldn't quite produce. Someone had previously replaced the main filter caps with higher value electrolytics.... most of the other caps were changed with pretty good audio grade caps, including the output caps (replaced with orange drops)... the orange drops were changed to musiccaps which improved the sound. The 5751 had been replaced with a 12AX7, it is once again a 5751. I am using it to control my Linkwitz Orions (NCore amps). The timing cap on the output relays was flaky... changing it out and it is consistently 50-55 second turn-on. The phono preamp sounds much better than the one in the NAD preamp.

this is my first CJ component and I am hooked.

this seems to be an amazingly friendly and pleasant forum. Thanks everyone!

Bill

roberto · Post by **roberto** » Fri Oct 23, 2020 1:43 am

Hola Bill,

Well done, the 5751 is slightly different than the 12AX7. It has less gain. CJ has though on that, so it is wise the use of 5751.

It looks that your PV11 is good condition. Fresh caps always are a blessing.

Happy listening!

Big Dog RJ · Post by **Big Dog RJ** » Mon Oct 26, 2020 12:17 pm

Nice one Bill!

Glad you're enjoying your PV11, like I said it will add new life into any given system.

That's a fantastic job you did there with the cap layout and other areas of circuitry, always extremely handy to be able to carry out your own work. Nothing quite like it, simply because it's your own product and naturally you would spend more time on it making sure all areas are covered.

Perhaps with your tech/ service knowledge and skills, if any of us required a bit of direction in the gear we own, you could always offer your best advice. Great to have you with us on board, not only a passionate CJ believer but also tech savvy!

Cheers mate, Enjoy those fine tunes!
RJ

Paul001 · Post by **Paul001** » Tue Nov 17, 2020 6:40 am

welcome

bschott · Post by **bschott** » Tue Nov 16, 2021 10:59 am

Hi all

Since this is a pv11 thread I thought I'd post this question to you all. I also am proud owner of a pv11 with phono. Sounds great. I believe it has all original caps. One small problem - the left channel of the phono pre is a bit noisier than the right. The gain of both is the same and the channels sound alike. Just some extra hissy noise on the left channel. This is only on phono. All line inputs are clean. I pulled the cover and without any ins or outs connected measured the noise with my dig multimeter on the L and R outputs. With the volume all the way up I get single digit mV (2-4mV) at output with any of the line ins selected. I'm measuring between + out and ground. Phono is L=90 mV and R=around 30. 30 is to be expected I assume. Any thoughts as to the culprit. I'm suspecting a cathode bypass cap or resistor.

Thanks

Bob

Post by **admin** » Tue Nov 16, 2021 11:16 am

bschott wrote: ↑Tue Nov 16, 2021 10:59 am Hi all

Since this is a pv11 thread I thought I'd post this question to you all. I also am proud owner of a pv11 with phono. Sounds great. I believe it has all original caps. One small problem - the left channel of the phono pre is a bit noisier than the right. The gain of both is the same and the channels sound alike. Just some extra hissy noise on the left channel. This is only on phono. All line inputs are clean. I pulled the cover and without any ins or outs connected measured the noise with my dig multimeter on the L and R outputs. With the volume all the way up I get single digit mV (2-4mV) at output with any of the line ins selected. I'm measuring between + out and ground. Phono is L=90 mV and R=around 30. 30 is to be expected I assume. Any thoughts as to the culprit. I'm suspecting a cathode bypass cap or resistor.

Thanks

Bob

Agree. I would be checking all the caps and resistors in the phone left channel signal path.

AnotherJohnson · Post by **AnotherJohnson** » Tue Nov 16, 2021 11:41 am

Probably in V1-V4. A tube, or more likely half of a twin triode, is a bit noisy.

If not that, then a resistor … but my bet would be on a tube in the phono section.

FWIW, it is definitely ready for caps if they’re original.

Conrad Johnson Owners.com

hello from washington state

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