Conrad Johnson MF2500A or a high power tube amp

the mfa 2500 is one of the most natural sounding ss amps period. it is as close to high powered tubes as 'd@m#it' is to 'swearing'

The MF2500A--(not the 2500, an older version) is a wonderful amp and it is indeed natural sounding. I had a MF2500A that was paired with Aerial 7b speakers, a Bat vk5i preamp and a Meridian 508.24 cd player. This combination of components was very musical. The MF2500A has most of the benefits of a tubed amp but has 250 watts RMS per channel. It will double down @ 4 ohms and again @ 2 ohms. Stereophile rated this amp at one time- (class B) and measured it for the review. It has great detail, very good musicality, and great drive. The bass is slightly loose, but full. Organ, synthesizer and harmonica especially sound good--almost real. Cymbals and bells also sounded real and three dimensional. What speakers do you want to pair it with and what kind of amp budget do you have in mind? The CJ Premier 350--(350 watts per channel) would be even better. Regards, Stan

I had the MF2300A. Great amp, very musical, pleanty of detail, great bass and very much like tubes. It kept an iron grip on my electrostats but I could never get over the slight mechanical transformer hummmmmmm........ I tried calling CJ and speaking to a tech but was told it was a known problem.

I ended up replacing it with a ARCD400 that was stone quiet. If you are one of those people that expect their electronics to be silent (I am one of those people) I would make sure to demo the amp first.

Dont get me wrong its nothing you can hear with the music on but it was enough to turn me away.....

Another brand that folks say "there has to be tubes hidden in there" is the Plinius brand from New Zealand.Once you here them and can afford there mdoerate price (at least in hif terms) you might very become a cult-ish devotee.Have never heard owners be more raturopus about their amps or commited to the brand.Les money but very good is Bryston.While not as warm or "tyubey" I was just telling a guy that Maggie opwners think this is the brand to get if you can only fork over $1500 new for a 250 wpc amp (the 4 BST) if canjnot get a $5000 tube amp like ARC VT100 etc etc.Just replaced some midfi Denons and new it would be improvement with buddies highly resolving Magenpan 3.6's was p[repared and both are jaws dropped when we hooked it up.Curent out the yang and probaly as bit cheaper than CJ which is a wonderfull amp.Got to listen to it a bit after I left a store which sold McIntosh,Krell,Linn and after I left added the CJ line.But a lot of it in terms of power depends of course on your room and which speakers you have of course.
Cheers
Chazzbo

If you need as much power as a 2500A (240 wpc), what kind of tube amps would you get? Huge ARC or VTL monos? Those might sound spectacular, if you want to spend all that $$, & replace all those tubes. The 2500A sounds very, very good. Whether it sounds "like tubes" I'm not sure, but it's probably closer than most other SS.....& well worth the current used price to try one out.

I am a Plinius dealer, so I really do agree with the gentileman who was talking about them.

I worked for many years in a hi fi store that sold the CJ. The CJ for the money is an excellent amplifier but it lacks the refinement that a Plinius provides.

Also there is a pure tube amplifier that is high powered and extremely inexpensive for the power. That amplifier is a Antique Sound Labs Hurrricane. The Hurricane pumps out 200 watts ultralinear power and the sound was as good in most cases as my VAC PHI 110 amplifier which costs $10,000!

The Hurricane new is $5,000.00 and it really is an amazing sounding amplifier.

If you are in the New York metro area I would invite you in for a listen.

Im very happy with my MF2500A! The only thing i would change about it if i could,,would be to give it a touch more energy on the leading edge of low bass.Having said that,,,i would also say that the bass is better than most tube amps ive heard!Very good treble and midrange ,,,,sweet ,,but not too sweet!Just right,,a very musical amp! They can be found at a good price used!My amp is stone quiet,,no hum!

Hi Stan

I am using DIy speakers. I stop buying speakers about a year ago ever since I started buildin my own speakers. From memory, mine sounds pretty good compared to the comercial ones.

Hi Andy, The CJ MF2500A has a musical and tube like sound to it for a SS amp. Since your speakers are DIY, it's hard to figure if the CJ has enough or more than enough power to drive them. Maybe you could tell us how easy (or hard) they are to drive and what your price range is. Best wishes. Stan

Mine are pretty easy to drive. Here are some of the pictures of the ones I build. I currently have a tube amp but looking for some power. I already made up my mind about he CJ 2500A. I could go for a high power tube amp but probably will be out of my range.

http://s47.photobucket.com/albums/f169/andy2_v/?start=#imgAnch3

I own both a MF2300A and a MF2500A which are great amps! As for hum, if you have a ground loop problem, CJ amps will let you know it. Most people cheat around it by floating the ground. I also had an opportunity to compare Plinius amps (which are really nice) to Conrad Johnsons and the CJs blew them away! And I'm not a biased (no pun intended) Conrad Johnson dealer...

Take care