CONRAD JOHNSON TUBE LOVERS HEAVEN

My next door neighbor uses Conrad Johnson Premier 5's which he outfitted with Svetlana's. Talk about magic!!! He drives a pair of Maggie 2.7qr's and will sometimes substitue his 3.5r's as well. I have never heard Handsforth Revolution by Steel Pulse sound so incredible. The control over the bass that these amps exhibit is nothing less than superb. I'm glad I found this thread, as I never have found any other owners comments about these amps. I will say I totally agree w/ you guys...I only wish they were mine, I'm sure my Thiel 3.6's would dig 'em as well.

Haven't heard the Prem 5's, but I do own Manley Ref 250 mono's which use 10 EL34 per chassis. I recently replaced Sovtek's with Svetlana's and thought it a significant improvement. You can get more power from 6550/KT90 types, but for my money, EL34's are the way to go.

Glad you use a Resolution Audio CD50. I just love mine to death! I prefer mine without a preamp. I'm not a "tube guy" yet, but plan to get a cheap tube amp for kicks.

GTs87, how does the Premier 5 better the Premier 12? I currently own and love the Premier 12 (with KT90's) but could use more power for my Sonus Faber Extremas, could the Premier 5 be the answer? I'd love 8A's but can't afford them for now. Thanks in advance for your reply.

HELLO,JMAN I'll start by saying both amps are wonderfull,in trying the premier 12's in both ultra linear and triode,i had a hard time deciding which mode i prefer.in triode i lost have the power but the midrange and treble where just magic,in ultralinear the bass control was alot tighter and defined.THIS is where the PREMIER 5's take the lead,you get 200watts per side of EL34 tube magic,while mantaining very good bass control.THE EXTREMAS need a lot of power to sound their best.I heard them with the PREMIER 8a,it was incredible,one of the best speaker-amp combinations i've heard.IN my opinion the extremas and PREMIER 5's would make a fantastic combo.good luck.