2. amps-preamps
  3. 1253912692

Mcintosh C220 vs CJ ET-2

I am getting ready to buy a tube pre-amp to go with my pair of Monarchy SE-100 MK2 monoblocks. These drive NHT VT 2.4 speakers.

I was researching the McIntosh C220 and I went into a store... The guys there reccommended a Conrad Johnson ET-2 over the McIntosh and said it will go better with my speakers and my turntable (MusicHall MMF 5.1 with Goldring 2200 MM cartrige).

They claimed that the Conrad Johnson pre-amps have more defnintion and are true "audiophile" equipment....

Q1. Why is the Conrad Johnson considered audiophile quality and Mcintosh C220 not?

Q2. The price point is similar - so is one truly "better" than the other... I know I know that "depends" on how it sounds in my system... but I am curious to hear what others think...

Thanks in advance for your responses...

-Anu
anuruddhak

Showing 3 responses by anuruddhak

anuruddhak OP
10 posts
 
Thanks everyone for your responses. Ironically, this dealer was both a McIntosh as well as a Conrad Johnson dealer. He did say that it was "easier" for him to get a Conrad Johnson. He also said that the phono stage on the C220 was very basic and that the CJ provides more options.

The Monarchy amps are single ended (SE-100) the SE stands for single ended, so it actually does not need balanced input. I do not know if they need it to run in mono....
anuruddhak OP
10 posts
 
Thanks Dilly.. I will check it out.
anuruddhak OP
10 posts
 
So it looks like this is what is coming down to.... I am moving overseas (AUstralia) in the next year, so I will need something that can do both 110v and 240v.

There is no such thing... so I have to rely on the manufacturer to make the conversion for me - otherwise I will be hooking them into a step-down transformer, and I dont trust them... not with a tube amp...

McIntosh wants me to work through their Australian dealer - I contacted those guys and they were not even familiar with what the C220 was!!!

The Conrad Johnson, on the other hand, had people that knew what they were talking about and very familiar with my request.

So I guess that narrows down the field for me...

thanks everyone for your input...
More to discover