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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. 

sls883
retiredaudioguy
301 posts
 

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.

 

erik_squires
17,564 posts
 

Some of my favorite amps of all time, congrats! 

sls883 OP
1,063 posts
 

@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. 

erik_squires
17,564 posts
 

The transformers are rather bullet proof.  The only thing that might wear or you want to update are the caps.  They're film so very long lasting.  I wouldn't update them unless there was an issue for fear of changing the sound. 

elliottbnewcombjr
7,826 posts
 

Your unit's manual (doesn't say operating watts in from wall)

The small Variac has a 5 amp fuse, the larger a 20 amp fuse.

https://conradjohnson.com/owners-manuals/prem11man.pdf

You might want to have spare fuses available:

"Internal Fuses The Premier Eleven power transformer is protected by a fuse on the ac power line (F1, located on a chassis mount fuseholder), and by seperate fuses (located on the small pc board near the back of the amplifier) on secondary windings for the filament supply (F2, - the fuse nearest the front of the chassis), the bias supply (F3) and low voltage supplies for the bias indicators (F4 and F5). A failure of any of these fuses is a symptom of a more serious problem, and a competent service technician should be consulted. In no event should fuses be replaced with a value or type different than that originally supplied.

 

The correct fuse values and types are: F1: 5 amp, slow blow If configured for 100 or 120V: 3 amp, slow blow if configured for 220 or 240V. F2: 4 amp, slow blow F3, F4, and F5: 1/4 amp, fast blow"

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here's a medium size/price 15 amp version:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZ3TV6ZR/ref=sspa_dk_detail_4?sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWw

 

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