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.
@studio1 Thank you. I've put some hours on it and it's performing like a champ. It actually plays well with the Vandersteen speakers and Wiim Ultra. I'm using pretty decent cables. |
I'm a fan of CJ > Vandersteen setups. Congratulations on the Premier 11. I was messing about with a sweet PV-11 preamp, and it eventually needed some attention. But when I sent it to the factory, Jeff offered to take it as generous credit toward a trade. I agreed to a Classic 62SE, as I'd been thinking about a tube power amp for quite a while. It's been a pleasure. |
@zarf I bet the 62SE will be nice. What are your plans for a preamp? If my c-j was in my main rig, I’d get a preamp. For now, the Wiim is working pretty well. Maybe someday, I’ll try the Premier 11A in my main rig. |
I would second the thought to try the 11A in the main rig. I love moving stuff around to hear the differences. Right now the 62SE is with a 17LS2. There's an Conrad Johnson age gap, but they are possibly the best partners in the house. They are paired with Dynaudio Heritage Specials in an upstairs room. The Vandersteens downstairs are being fed by a Herron 360 > Herron M1s. The Herrons seem to have a wider range of low volumes available than the CJ pair. There's plenty of threads here lately about which preamp for under $XYZ. My latest adventure is checking out a refurbished Threshold FET10 HL. I remember an old article about reviewers at the same magazine in the late 80s fighting over it. It was reportedly essential for their reviews of other equipment. The Conrad Johnson Premier 11A is a true work of audio art and history. I'd love to hear one, and I admit to alerts through Hifishark. |
