Conrad Johnson--Best used Model

Frozen tundra  I am a cj PV-12L owner.  When reading your 1st post, you mentioned the lush house cj sound without being plodding.  The PV-5 fits your description but has the overly bulbous bass of that era's cj sound.  The PV-11 that preceded my model fit your description to a tee.  I went for the PV-12L which promised to be a bit more revealing with less cj house sound.  I don't know if there are many PV-11s out there but they would be worth a look.
Good luck in your quest!

Watch out for impedance mismatch when pairing a CJ tube preamp with Pass.   The CJ Act 2.2 did not do well at all with the Pass X250.5.  I later inserted the Pass external cross-over (XVR-1), and it fixed the impedance issue (as well as split the signal to a sub) and sounded great, but without the impedance fix, it was not a pairing that worked.  

GO PACKERS! (Shareholder) 

From the cj older house sound the 17 and 16 are both very nice the 16 a bit more detailed. Experienced both pre-amps driving cj tube and ss amps.  I now use pass xa100.5's mated with a pass xp-20 and it is a very good match as you might expect.

Oh No:

A Shareholder!!!!!   YOUR THE WORST!   Lol
Darn dyed in wool, Cheesehead

 Cz:

Thanks for repsonse.

1st question: Why the switch at preamp?

2nd question: Is the CJ sound that much different than Pass?  
What are the house sound differences?

3rd question: 
What are the system components you are using?

Last question: 
Why is Kramer not in Canton yet?

Jeff

Been one my whole life !

1) I moved away from cj separates to downsize to a Cary Integrated which was fine for awhile but I kept having issues with power tubes. I decided to try some Pass components and that is where I am today. Also speaker changes through the years led to some of the changes in amplification.
2) The 90's cj pre-amps possessed a warm and smoothness that to me was very nice especially the 16 series II as it also had some nice detail (wished I would have kept that pre-amp).
The newer cj amps are more analytical less lush but are very nice sounding. I would not hesitate to go with cj again as I found their components very reliable and their customer service was top notch. The pass sound is very nice as well; detailed and smooth with very good bass control.
3) VPI TT, Herrron VTPH-2 phono-stage, heavily modded Sony SCD-1 with Focal Be monitors.