Went to buy Vandersteen 2C speakers and came home with a conrad-johnson Premier 11A.

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.

@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. 

I had been a tube guy for 25 years, then my VAC Ren 30/30 and the CAT SL III started misbehaving about 10 years ago.  Also I thought I was getting too old for the maintenance on, and moving of, tube gear and switched to solid state, Sutherland Suo Phono, Benchmark LA4 and XA 25.

The sound was detailed and pristine, insanely well resolved through the Rockports and was captivated by that.

Then, about three years ago I bought an Elekit 8900 - and heard what I'd been missing - an organic sense of the performance.  The SE 2A3 / 300B amp however did not have what it takes to really play orchestral music through 87dB sensitive speakers.  So, a switch to the Classic 62 SE and then to a Cary SLP 98 pre.  Perhaps some of the corners are rubbed off but there is a greater sense of ease and being there.

I have upgraded the phono stage to the Dos Locos - it is a truly amazing amp.

The XA25 is a superb amp but there is a slight reduction in the emotional content.

The 8900 now powers my 2nd system (DMP-A8 and P3ESRs) to which I am listening now.

Some of my favorite amps of all time, congrats! 

@erik_squires  Thank you.  I have my fingers crossed that it works fine.  I believe the seller when he says that it was retubed and working fine when he put it on the shelf.  We shall see.  I did get to listen to the Vandersteens.  They check out.