Cat JL2 with blown board. Advice needed


This is an older non signature model. A tube went out and the resistors protecting the output transformers combusted taking out one of the boards.

Now the good news: an upgrade to a signature model won't cost anymore with the damage. The bad news: this is my only stereo. Ken Stevens himself advised that it's really not the intent of the amp to use it for amplifying football and CNN. His point is that he doesn't do that and he can get tubes a lot cheaper than I can.

I really liked the amp even in it's non signature form. I have a symphonic line tube pre amp and Eggleston Andra speakers. I have been told that the Symphonic Line Kraft 250 is even better than the JL2 however no one has told me definitively against the JL2 signature.

Given the speakers and how I am going to use the amp, do I get it fixed and keep it or move on?

What would the amp be worth as is? You can buy the amp, pay $5000 to upgrade it and have a factory certified JL2 signature. It should have value.

Or is the signature even better than the Kraft 250 or any other SS amp in the $8k used range? If the signature is the cat's meow in it's range I am leaning towards keeping it and dealing with buying a lot of tubes frequently. I probably use the amp 750 hours a year.
defender1844

Showing 4 responses by posbwp555

I have spoke with you about this problem in the past.
I sold my CAT JL2 and use a SL Kraft 250. What I never realized before hearing the SL was how sloppy the bass from the CAT is! You never know what you are missing until you hear it! That is only one point, the truth is, the SL beats the CAT in ALL parameters. Better transparency, detail, articulation and extension on both ends of the spectrum. You already have the SL pre (the same one I am using). The SL Kraft is not your typical SS sound. It is the best SS I have heard and doesn't have the sonic drawbacks typically associated with SS sound. The SL pre is the right one for the SL amp (tried the CAT Ult MK2 on it). All this in a RELIABLE no nonsense product. An easy conclusion from someone that has used both. By the way, I have used all tubed systems for most of my life. The SL is the only SS I could live with long term (with the possible exception of Spectral) and I have no desire to return to tubed amps and likely never will.

Bart

I suppose in some system that doesn't play below 100hz (I am thinking an actively biamped system where the CAT handles above 100hz) the CAT would be very nice. Even in a speaker that is relatively easy to drive, the CAT (with a damping factor of 10!) will not reproduce the lower octaves as the SL will. I sold my CAT to a guy that had exactly this setup (CAT driving 100hz and up). I am guessing he is enjoying it. I still would bet that even in that application, the SL would perform better (to most peoples taste)than the CAT. With the current crop of PLC and cables it is easy to push the SL waaaay over the neutral line to euphonic. As previously stated, I have loved and used tubes all my life and like you Bombay have a large collection of the best NOS tubes available. I rolled them all in the CAT JL2/Cat Ult MK2 combo. I disagree with you about a higher wattage tubed amp working well on his Andras. I almost went for a pair of VTL Wotan's
before Jay persuaded me to reconsider. The Andras and Avalons are looking for current not wattage. The VTL's would do the bass a bit better than the CAT (damping factor of 20 vs 10) but nothing like the SL (damping factor > 800!). I didn't realize things weren't wonderful until Jay graciously lugged his Kraft over for me. You never know something is wrong until something right points it out. I was lucky to run into Jay (he called asking about the ability of the CAT JL2 to drive his B&W 802's). I have thanked him for all the help he has given me over the last year or so. He is a great friend and very knowledgeable. I advised Defender1844 to repair or have the CAT repaired and sell it. The SL is perfect for his application. He also wants to use the amp to listen to his TV. His situation requires an amp that is RELIABLE.

Bart
Dev,

The SL doesn't run hot (not in my application or Jay's). It currently is offered in matte aluminum and black (chrome aranya is discontinued). The pre
is offered in aranya only. They make a tubed and SS pre.
As expected the tubed pre does some things better than the SS and vice versa. The pre uses 6922's in the signal path and EZ80/6V4 in the PS (yes, tube selection in the PS has a big influence on the sound). The stock 6922's are Sovtek.
Surprisingly they don't sound bad in this pre. They have been dreadful in every other component I have heard them (including the CAT pre's and amps). They are quiet, cheap and reliable and that is why so many manufacturers use them. Somehow Rolf from SL has found a way to make them sound decent in his pre. I am not going to rehash a discussion with Bombay on the merits of tube rolling in the CAT pre and amp. I'll just say that if you are using the stock tubes in them, you aren't even close to realizing their potential. Most that have rolled in them agree with that statement. John Fox uses JL3's and runs the tubes I sent him to audition (after trying countless combos of very expensive NOS). The only things our systems had in common were CAT amps (and some cabling) yet the same tubes produced the best sound in both our systems.
I know you refuse to buy ultra expensive tubes but sometimes they are the best (there is a reason people spend that much for them). Again, I don't post much on these forums anymore because I don't have time to waste arguing. No matter how many times some reviewer says that XYZ tube amp "plumbs the depths of what is possible in bass reproduction" or similar nonsense, their BS will not rewrite the laws of physics. I suspect that your friends with Apogees, Dali's _____ fill in the blank difficult to drive speaker, will be as surprised as I was when they directly compare their tube amps to SL in their systems.
Everything is relative. They may currently think their tube amp is doing the bass just fine until direct comparison. The VTL's have double the damping factor (sorry numbers sometimes tell valuable stories) of the CAT
and especially in tetrode do the bass better than CAT. Again it is CURRENT that controls bass not WATTS. There is a reason that most tube amp manufacturers will not tell you what their amps damping factor is. I called and spoke with Luke Manley's wife when I was considering the Wotan's.
She refused to tell the damping factor which I later found online. If you do a Google search on damping factor you will find a wealth of information that explains it in understandable scientific terms. It the the bass that costs all the money to get right. Some people are fine without it and love their SET powered ultra sensitive speaker systems. But if the objective is full range done right, damping factor and physics can not be anecdotally explained away. The problem with having heard bass reproduced correctly is the realization that nothing else (the rest of the spectrum) is right without it. FWIW IMHO

Bart
Those of you that are prone to buying bridges from con artists, read the following: http://www.classic-audio.com/marantz/mdampingfactor.html

Bart