C-J PREMIER 17 LS SERIE 2 VS 16 LS SERIE 2

My experience is with the 17ls series I. I have heard the series II but not in my system so my comments are limited to the 17ls I as it compares to the 16ls II. The 16ls II is much more detailed at all frequencies and more musical with a much deeper soundstage........a substantial improvement over the 17. However; the sonic signiture is similar, so if you like the 17 you will love the 16.

As for tubes I use EH 6922 gold pins and feel they offer the best all around performance. I have tried other tubes such as JAN Philips and JJ Teslas but ended up going back to the EH. I have never experimented with what I call the exotic NOS tubes because of their price and limited availability. Hope I could help.

The 17lsII has the teflon caps the 16lsI or II does not nor does the 17lsI. What limited listening to the 17lsII I did do, it did not seem to have the extension in both high and low frequencies that the 16lsII has, the mid range detail was close.........but in the end (IMO) the 16lsII outperformed the 17lsII. But again this was with limited audition time and not in my system.....so take it for what its worth. Also the MSRP's for the two pre-amps were pretty far apart the 16lsII was about 2500+USD more than the 17LSII if memory prevails.