cj preamps

I've borrowed a friends Premier 14 and bought the 17. I do'nt ever envisage changing. I did'nt do a back to back comparison, so can'nt give the fine points of difference. Both have a wonderful soundstage and midrange, outstanding. I agree with pops, the company are always helpful. Both are a clear gain over any of the PV series. Do'nt forget the cheapest option, the Premier 10, basically a remoteless 14, they are around for$1200

I recently picked up the 17ls 2 and it is fantastic . Large open stage with the rich layered harmonic texture CJ is famous for. The mk 2 is very close to performance to the original Art. This baby is staying with me for a while!

I've had my premier 14 for 5 years now, has been very reliable, upgraded from a pv10 - sorry to hear Cytocycle had a bummer with cj - their service with me has been impeccable - but I've had trouble with another so I know the frustration. The cj is outstanding - go back and read the reviews for further analysis. I use mullards to great effect but the GE's cj now uses are good too.

You will get a big jump from the pv10, very dynamic preamp with silky midrange.

The Premier 14 has the CJ house sound but cleaner and it is better than the PV14L2. The 17LS1 would be closer but a more neutral preamp. I have problems with my Premier 14 but it was related to the service at cj (should a tube replacement take 6 months and 4 round trips because they send you the wrong tubes the first time, plus billing problems?)

Anyway the Premier 14 and the 17LS should be large improvements if you want to deal with CJ. I will never deal with them again unless I have a backup equipment to deal with the times between service.

The Premier 14's volumn control is really noisy with each click it snaps physically (Something to do with the Vishay's resisters. Placette did a much better job and was a lot cleaner since single only goes through one versus the array of 3 on the CJ to cut costs...)

I've had my Premier 14 since 1996 with no problems or maintenance except occasional tube changes. Plenty of inputs and outputs and a great remote to boot. Good luck, Dave