Best Remote $1,250 used preamp?

Yes, I agree with Yowser. Different tubes will alter the sound accordingly. My SF sounded positively awful with it's Sovteks. Using different tubes, the sound neared perfection. I never went on to Telefunken or Siemens because of the expense. After I had sold the Sonic Frontiers, I was told just changing the last two tubes would do the trick. I wonder if anyone has tried that?

I meant the pV-14, the newer tube remote preamp from Conrad Johnson in the above quesion (How's it sound? Compaired to the PFR, can you change the tubes?...). Sorry for the mis-type.

Hey AbeCollins, Great feedback. Thanks for the info. Think the BAT or CJ is the more reliable? I've never had BAT grear, but good experiences with CJ.

The CJ PV-14L is nice looking and has a good user interface but I found the lower bass to be weak compared to other tube preamps I have owned and the highs were slightly rolled off. The PV-14L uses two 6C4WA tubes and I think you can find NOS tubes but I never tried "tube rolling" this pream. The ARC LS16 was much better in delivering the lower bass (but it costs more) and the BAT VK30se is better yet (and yes, it costs even more). BAT seems to do a great job with the sonics AS WELL AS the user interface. I would never pay huge bucks for a "high-end" tube preamp that forced me to get up out of my chair to adjust the volume or change input source! There's no excuse for this level of minimalist design in this day and age and especially at the ridiculously outrageous prices for some of these pieces.

Between the CJ PF-R and the BAT VK20 solid-state preamps, I felt that the CJ PF-R had slightly better dynamics and a sweeter sound. I really loved the sound of this preamp. I prefered the CJ PF-R sonics over the VK20 but the VK20 was very close and it has a MUCH better user interface and it has balanced XLR ins/out (in addition to standard RCA's) vs RCA's only with the CJ. The CJ PF-R uses a motor-driven volume pot and like I mentioned in my previous post, the volume control range is very limited (7 O'clock to 9 O'clock of practical adjustment range). This made it very difficult to precisely adjust the volume especially with the remote... I would always overshoot or undershoot my desired setting. This is a common complaint with the CJ PF-R. I doubt that anyone could use this preamp with the volume pot beyond the 10 o'clock position.

I couldn't tell you which is more reliable between BAT and CJ. Both companies make outstanding products and stand by their gear. I currently own a BAT preamp and two CJ power amps.

I stand by my original opinion. The BAT VK20 is the best value in the $1000 - $1200 range(used) and I'm entitled to my opinion, right? ;-)