Conrad Johnson or PrimaLuna

it is time when a lot of china bashing is well deserved

but let’s separate politics and authoritarianism from hifi gear and its fair evaluation

china makes a lot crap, but also plenty of extremely high quality items - like design and manufacturing of anything anywhere, it is what is your objective function, what is your management and technical skill, and your ability to quality control your output

thinking clearly and being intellectually honest requires good care and judgement in parsing and delineating important distinctions, compartmentalizing where it is deserved

I have listened to most of the PrimaLuna line and have always liked them. They sound good, are musical & engaging, built well, and offer good service. I can say the same for CJ ( disclaimer - I provide concierge service for CJ and few other manufactures).

Allow me to share my recent experience. I purchased a CAV45S2 (which is a current production amp) because I wanted EL34 tubes and wanted to see if I could build a simple system that I could live with for a long time. Out of the box the CAV sounded lovely. After 200 hours I knew that it had settled in and I could begin to tube roll (self-inflicted addictions). With the stock tubes and my speakers (87db @ 4ohms) the sound stage was wide, the mids smooth and warm, and the top was open but on some music it sounded a little rolled off. So, it was nicely playing back what it was fed. However, I did not hear the same detail as with my CJ Classic 120SE, CJ MF2550SE, or Resolution M100s. Nor did I fully expect to. Regardless, the CAV45S2 was really musical and engaging. I liked what I was hearing and found myself listen to the CAV more and more. I changed the three small tubes ( V1 to a Mazda 7308 and V 2 & 3 to Telefunken 5965s. The sound was smoother with a new degree of clarity. I then tried Groove EL34s and the sound (mainly mids) became a hair richer and warmer. Then, at the recommendation of one of my customers with CJ Classic 62, I installed Sophia Electric EL34s. The amp/sound was transformed. The soundstage was wider and deeper. There was new purity and detail. It was buttery smooth and life-like. Wow! I was captivated and found myself listening to CD after CD, especially disks I had not listened to in a long time.

I may not have fully answered your question. But, the reality is that it comes down to your goals, budget, ears, speakers, room, patience to try different tweak, and whether you want to listen to music or build a system you can live with for a long time. There is no one or right answer. For me, I had an experiment that turned out beyond expectations. I look forward to turning the CAV on and just listening to music. I knew that the CJ Classic 62 and 120 were very good amps. I now think that the CAV is a sleeper because of its sound, build quality, and price. I got much more than just simple and EL 34s. I hope this helped.

@cellorover 

Thank you very, very much for your post. I’ve been interested in the CAV-45S2 for a long time. Your post confirms that it’s an awesome amp. 

Owned an original CAV for several years and loved everything about it. Also had a CJ CA200 which is an excellent unit and can be had for around $2500. I’d probably take the CA200 over the CAV45 just ‘cos it’s a little more neutral and more detailed.

 I can’t get past Kevin Deal and the fanboy style he uses to promote the PL gear. Go look at any used amp on his website and there’s a story about how someone traded it in for a Primaluna and the customer has died and gone to heaven (died in a fire caused by a faulty tube, probably).

CJ all day.

kevin deal on youtube gets pretty hard to stomach after a while, but he means well, knows his stuff, like anyone, what he believes and purports is a function of his experiences - and of course, when he is talking he is trying to sell you something

primaluna is very very good stuff
cj maybe half a cut above in terms of overall quality

can’t really go wrong with either - they stand behind their products and they work well sound very good indeed