sonographe 120, is it worth having?

Sonographe was conrad-johnson's budget line. As such the trickle-down theory was in play. The parts and build quality were "good" [or better] but do not rise to the level of their higher line gear, as you would expect. But one still gets a good dose of the c-j house sound: smooth, lush, and pleasant if not totally faithful to the source. But who wants to listen to dry, sterile, lifeless tunes?

There is a reason for c-j's longevity--lots of happy owners of thoughtfully-engineered products. Service is excellent and Bill Thalmann is a great resource for repairs and mods.

I owned a Sonographe preamp and CD player [and Synthesis spkrs] and they were quite satisfying for their modest origins, and a big step up from the offshore offerings of the day. The player eventually died after a long life of good service. The amp may have life in in yet, but an audition and evaluation is ideal, if possible.

This is a slow amplifier with large tube bloom. If you like that sound then go for it. The GAS equipment you are running now is fairly harsh sounding, but quick with lots of amperage. You might consider a Hafler 120 which is quicker than the Hafler 200, much smoother and has very solid bottom end due to a high dampening factor controlling the woofer. By the way, I've sold CJ, Hafler and owned GAS.

Good luck.

absolutely. mosfet design.grunt and finese,,,, its just now getting respect, much like cj's synthesis speaker line.

Jim Bongiorno, the Ampzilla designer, offers full rebuilds/upgrades of all his old amps with new components for a reasonable price. You can e-mail him at [email protected].

-Rick

This amp is a true gem. It's a true gem. Jump on any sonographe gear fast because it's very affordable and sonically excellent. Smooth and liquid with strong taut bass and a deep and wide sound stage. I own both the sa 120 and the sa250 and I perfer the 120. The 250 has better looks but for my needs the 120 seems to fit.

The sa 120 shames so many amps and makes so many speakers sing. My thiels have never sounded better! That says a lot considering that with so many other amps my thiels were harsh and bright with anything but the best recorded music (%10) of my large collection.

it's a sa-150 not a not a 120.