Went to buy Vandersteen 2C speakers and came home with a conrad-johnson Premier 11A.
I found a great deal on a pair of Vandersteen 2C speakers with Sound Anchor stands. I didn’t need them, but they are identical to a pair that I had back in the 90s. While I was there, the seller mentioned that he had an amp that he wanted to sell. It was on a shelf in a basement collecting dust. The price was right, so I bought it. He said there are about 40 hours on the tubes. Hopefully, the caps are ok. I’m thinking I’ll try a Wiim Ultra streamer with volume control just to see if everything works. I have old preamps by NAD and Rotel, but they aren't good ones.
Is there anything special that I should do before firing up the old girl? This is my first tube amplifier.
I'll see if it works properly before I send it to c-j. I've spoken to Jeff at c-j. A few years ago, I had purchased a Premier 17LS2 preamp that had an issue. I opted to return it to the seller for a full refund instead of messing with repairs. On the way back to the seller, FedEx dropped it and all of the large capacitors came loose. I sold a PV-14L when I bought the 17LS2. I should have kept it. I could use it now. |
The 11A is a very good amp. A friend of my late wife, having heard our system in the mid '90s wanted a high end setup. On a trip to Sound by Singer she bought a pair of Martin Logan speakers (cat proof), the 11A, an Audio Note pre, Ayre DAC, Theta Transport - I forget which TT and cartridge. She preferred the 11A to the VAC 80/80 that was in my system at that time. BTW the 80/80 is still going strong - I traded it to my pest control guy for lifetime service! The Theta and Ayre died about 10 years ago and were replaced by an integrated CD Player/DAC. The 11A is still playing beautifully - on its 3rd set of 6550s I think - and original small signal tubes. I believe that CJ use electrolytic caps only in heater and bias circuits. I now have the successor - a few generations on - to the 11A - the Classic 62 SE.
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@knotscott I’ll do some research before I try the variac. @seikosha Will do. The plan is to use the Vandersteens @retiredaudioguy Thank you for the information and story. I hadn’t planned to use the c-j in my main system, but I might have to give it a try. My system is built around a solid state Coda amp.
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