Anyone listen to the new Conrad Johnson CT5 preamp

I know little of tube gear, but; stopped in for an audition of the Esoteric DV50s Universal Player. I am one of those that got caught up in the Harmon mess and was given a new Lexicon RT10 as a replacement for my Proceed PMDT (God I loved that unit when it worked - Anyone looking for a RT10?). Listened to the CJ5 Pre with Manley 250 mono's, Joseph Audio Pearls and a variety of Transport/Players(Esoteric X01, Meridan G98 and Esoteric DV50s). First it immediately dawned on me that I have a long way to go before getting to nirvana. The system was outstanding. The clarity, transparency and detail was stunning. Listened to Ben Harper "Fighting for your mind". It sounded as if he was planted between the speakers with a mike. The mid bass and bass attack was tight and exact. My HO, the X01, DV50s then Meridan G98. actually, I went back in fourth between the X01 and DV50s and the differences were....well...subtle to say the least.
Like a broker I feel compeled to admit that I bought the DV50s for all around use. Needless to say this experience has only fed my insatiability to want to make improvements in my system. Oh well...the journey is.....

Lookis as thou cj have now got a CT6 which I would assume would be the replacment for the 17.

anyone seen of heard of either the ct5 or 6?

The way I look at it, the CT5 is to the ACT2 as the Premier 16LS is to the ART, and the 16 remains one fine preamp

CT5
- based on the composite triode ART/ACT2 topology
- 1 6N30 (6H30) per channel
- a bit less extensive use of the Teflon CJD capacitors
- casework like the MET1
- retail at $7500.

I have not heard the CT5 yet but owned a Premier 16LS and now an ACT2. The main differences I see in the new line include more extensive use of Teflon caps and the wholesale adoption of the 6N30. While one may not be able to analogize one's way to the sound of a unit, check here for a comparo between those two preamps which might give some insight into how the CT5 performs. CJ does trickle-down technology very well, the ACT2 is sublime, ergo...
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Cmach is correct. Interestingly enough, $7500 also is the retail price for their new MCH preamp.

I believe the retail price for the CT5 is $7500

Cmach

Retail price?
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My local CJ dealer has one but they claim 100 hours of break in time is required before any legitimate assessment can be made. They indicated to me it is the replacement for the 17LS2. In fact, they suspect it may be a baby ACT2 - 80 or 90 percent of the performance of the ACT2 for $6K less.

As soon as they get the 100 hours on their unit, they're going to give me a call for a demo. I'll try to remember to return to this thread to report my findings.