I haven't heard the Conrad Johnson but I can vouch for the Cary SLI 80. I love the one in my system. It works well with my Gallo Ref 3's and Gallo SA amp. I have a small room so I run it in triode mode all the time. Recently I had my music club over and we moved the stereo into my larger living room. I was surprised that it could boogie that well in Triode mode. From small jazz ensembles to full out orchestral pieces, it was never lacking.
matthew
matthew