As a former owner of five CJ products I think you may not find the dynamic swings desired from the 17LS. I've owned three CJ pre-amps (PV4, PV5, and 16LS II) and found none of them very dynamic and even found the 16LS II a bit veiled and restrictive. In fact, after trying a number of other tube products (Cary, Mesa, OTLs) I've settled on Air Tight and as happy as a pig in you-know-what. I'm lacking nothing and have beautiful music at my command.
However, I do understand the addiction to CJ products as they have their own sound which is a lot like enjoying one type of wine, tequila, etc. over another. Maybe I'm just getting older and want more transparency and vividness to make up for stuff in my own head. Further, CJ are a great company with first class customer service and dealer back-up, and are one of the great American hi-fi companies - there's no arguing about that!
However, I do understand the addiction to CJ products as they have their own sound which is a lot like enjoying one type of wine, tequila, etc. over another. Maybe I'm just getting older and want more transparency and vividness to make up for stuff in my own head. Further, CJ are a great company with first class customer service and dealer back-up, and are one of the great American hi-fi companies - there's no arguing about that!