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Conrad Johnson vs Audio Research vs BAT vs Cary

Just recently acquired a mint condition Threshold T400 and love its sound. It will soon be time to upgrade my preamp which is currently a Quicksilver Linestage 1. I'm considering within the $2500-$3500 the following - Conrad Johnson Premier LS17, Audio Research LS17, BAT VK-3iX, BAT VK31SE, and Cary SLP98. I know there is a bit of range here, but am interested to see who has done some direct comparisons, and who is pairing with similar solid state amps. Thanks. Terrytam99  (Threads | Answers | This Thread) 05-06-09

Responses (1-22 of 22)

Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it. 05-06-09   I've owned bat and cary---very different sounds. depends on ...   Keithr 05-06-09   Imagine me finding keith in here! :) i've owned an arc ls26 ...   Jim_swantko 05-07-09   Add an aesthetix calypso to your ones under consideration. ...   Dopogue 05-07-09   First off, congrats on the threshold t400, i've owned that, ...   Jmcgrogan2 05-07-09   If your t400 is dc coupled, you might want to consider how l ...   Unsound 05-07-09   Thanks so far for some very interesting answers. another ag ...   Terrytam99 05-07-09   If you want to use a tube preamp you will have to run it sin ...   Rsfphil 05-07-09: Jylee My CJ Premier 16LS2 doesn't sound overly warm at all. When I first got this preamp my reaction was "it is not warm enough!" Everyone described CJ to be overly warm, but not in my system and to my ears. It's just slightly warmer but much smoother than SS McCormack preamp it replaced. I understand the older vintage of CJ gears are much warmer sounding. As far as detail, it has 95% of detail compared to Unidisk driving power amps directly playing SACD. I don't miss any detail missing in normal listening. Jylee  (System | Threads | Answers | This Thread) 05-07-09   If you are thinking about a cary slp-98, the f1 version is n ...   Aljordan 05-08-09   the cary slp98 is an overachiever, very musically satisfyi ...   Downunder 05-08-09   If a preamp approaches musicality it has no sound. if a prea ...   Mrtennis 05-12-09   So, i wrote bat and victor replied saying that bat preamps w ...   Terrytam99 05-12-09   mrtennis the prem 16 has less coloration than the slp98 ...   Downunder 05-12-09   Thanks downunder. based upon your perceptions, i will rule o ...   Mrtennis 05-13-09   Mrtennis from reading many of your replies i think that you ...   Jim_swantko 05-13-09   Cary slp-98......cary slp-98....or cary slp-98! warm and mu ...   Pescolar 06-18-09   The bat and arc designs will work best with the ss amp. bot ...   Dave_b 06-18-09   Fyi, the ls25mkii is ok as well, just not quite as sweet sou ...   Dave_b 06-19-09   You will be hard pressed to find a tube preamp that has a lo ...   Sarcher30 06-19-09   Why not try the quicksilver full function tube pre amp it ha ...   Audioconnection 07-06-09   Well, cj for me was way too smooth and lacking openess, the ...   Plangco 08-17-11   "threshold is only 600 ohms. any cj, arc, or cary run t ...   Ckoffend

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