Non-CJ Tube Preamp Paired w/ CJ EL34 Amp?
 

Has anyone done this? I've got a brand-new Classic 62SE on order from CJ and am considering various tube preamps. The logical choice of course is CJ but I am open to other options.

Thanks for any real world info you guys can provide.

When I had a Classic 60SE it worked well with a Cary SLP-98P preamp. I know I used it with another preamp, but don't recall at the moment which one.

Thanks very much for your response Glenn.it's exactly what I'm looking for. Cary caught my eye when I started my research and I put it on my short list. I've had a lot of positive experience with octal preamp tube gear.

Best,
Paul

Am sure you'll enjoy your 62SE. If you don't know, you have the choice of having it wired in UL (ultralinear) or triode (half the power of UL). Just let them know which you prefer. Unless the 62SE is different from early versions, this is hard-wired so the change is a factory (or knowledgeable tech) item.

Was very fond of my SLP-98P. It is an excellent piece and great fun for tube rolling.

My 62 will come in UL mode with EL34s, not KT120. The SLP-98 is of great interest to me.

Well, it would sound REALLY good with a preamp such as the fully-dual mono First Sound Presence Deluxe tube preamp with Paramount Edition upgrade and ~150,000 µF of power supply capacitance per channel.

BTW, I bought my First Sound preamp in 2019, and I can safely say is a LOT better-sounding than my CJ Premier 17LS and CT-5 tube preamps were. While they were lovely, my First Sound literally makes them sound "thin and two-dimensional." It's an absolutely amazing-sounding tube preamp, and paired beautifully with my C-J LP70S power amp.

Here are some pics....
https://photos.imageevent.com/puma_c...-Pre-Front.jpg

https://photos.imageevent.com/puma_c...Rear-Panel.jpg

The chassis is fully dual-mono, with separate volume controls and pure copper bus bars and wiring using air dielectric pure copper wire.
https://photos.imageevent.com/puma_c...20Interior.jpg

Pure copper bus bars connect all the inputs and outputs and all internal chassis wiring is full Shunayta Research wire (Emmanuel Go of First Sound OEMs wire and CCI-X modules from Shunyata).
https://photos.imageevent.com/puma_c...Bus%20Bars.jpg

The volume controls use all hand-soldered individual Holco metal-film resistors.
https://photos.imageevent.com/puma_c...terior%201.jpg

Oh, BTW, the internal chassis is also painted copper-plated steel, so it literally functions as a Faraday cage. You can see the copper color of the chassis at the top left of the chassis, where the fastener fastens the cover to the main chassis.
https://photos.imageevent.com/puma_c...Attenuator.jpg

The two external linear power supplies are fully dual-mono, have approx. 145,000 µF of power supply capacitance per channel and also have the latest spec Shunyata CCI-X noise filters built-in (depicted by the red arrows), so you don't need to use a NR power cable for the power supplies, you can use a Shunyata XC, for example.
https://photos.imageevent.com/puma_c...-PS-SR-CCI.jpg

As it happens, I'm selling this bad boy for less than half of retail (retail is ~$17,690). I just had Emmanual Go of First Sound incorporate all of his latest upgrades (to Rev. MKIII-SI-x2), earlier this year, in February, so it's fully up to the latest specification

Here are some key points of the MKIII-SI-x2 upgrade from Emmanuel.
1) Upgrade of component/s from Shunyata Research.
2) Addressing resonance
3) Replacing current copper caps to Black Duelands
4) Change/s addressing fundamental nature of the presentation/performance
5) Addition of advanced processing to the crafting techniques
6) Improvement in crafting techniques
7) Replacement of Vishay metal-film resistors with newer Vishay "bulk-metal" foil resistors.
8) Upgrade involves both the main chassis and the external power supplies.
9) Both chassis are taken apart and put back again using the latest crafting techniques.

If you're possibly interested, just send me a PM.

Cheers!

[QUOTE=Puma Cat;1078766]Well, it would sound REALLY good with a preamp such as the fully-dual mono First Sound Presence Deluxe tube preamp with Paramount Edition upgrade and ~150,000 µF of power supply capacitance per channel.

BTW, I bought my First Sound preamp in 2019, and I can safely say is a LOT better-sounding than my CJ Premier 17LS and CT-5 tube preamps were. While they were lovely, my First Sound literally makes them sound "thin and two-dimensional." It's an absolutely amazing-sounding tube preamp, and paired beautifully with my C-J LP70S power amp.

************************

I have no doubt that this First Sound Pre sounds extraordinary. And, I appreciate your offer. But at this point I've decided to avoid gear that's relatively esoteric, not that Accuphase, Guarneri Homage, or Conrad Johnson are household names for the unwashed masses. :)

No worries! Cheers.

Update: I decided on a McIntosh C-22 MKV. Full-function all-analog- mainstream and completely modern but with a retro vibe. There are many more hours of break-in ahead for the preamp and the CJ Classic 62SE as well, but even now at this early juncture, I'm very pleased indeed.

Congrats!

Yeah, those Teflon caps in the CJ SE editions can take a quite a while to burn-in; I know from personal experience with my CT-5. An amp should take less time than a preamp, as it operates at higher voltage. Cheers.