Conrad Johnson vs Audio Research vs BAT vs Cary

If you want to use a tube preamp you will have to run it single ended. The balanced input impedance on the Threshold is only 600 ohms. Any CJ, ARC, or Cary run through the RCA inputs will be fine. The 31SE, 32SE and 3iX can also be used, but not through the balanced inputs.

My CJ Premier 16LS2 doesn't sound overly warm at all. When I first got this preamp my reaction was "it is not warm enough!" Everyone described CJ to be overly warm, but not in my system and to my ears. It's just slightly warmer but much smoother than SS McCormack preamp it replaced. I understand the older vintage of CJ gears are much warmer sounding. As far as detail, it has 95% of detail compared to Unidisk driving power amps directly playing SACD. I don't miss any detail missing in normal listening.

If you are thinking about a Cary SLP-98, the F1 version is not as warm as the standard version. I had a friend's SLP-98 F1 in my system for a bit and it really sounded lovely. A bit colored, but in a way that fit in very well with my system.

At the same time I had an ARC LS-26 I was auditioning. At least when mated with my old Pass X250.5, the LS-26 was rolled off in the low bass and had a strident courseness in the upper midrange that was bothersome. So, I agree with other posters here. There are many excellent preamps out there, but you really do need to try them out in your system. Preamps can sound quite different from one system to the next based on the electrical interactions of the system.

Good luck,
Alan

The cary SLP98 is an overachiever, very musically satisfying with nice warmth.

If you can find a cj prem16, grab it as it is light years ahead and just sounds like music IMO.

if a preamp approaches musicality it has no sound. if a preamp is not neutral, as most aren't it has some coloration. what is the sonic signature of the cj premier 16 ?? also, why is the premier 16 preferred over the slp 98 ?