Conrad Johnson Primier 16ls1 vs 16ls2 owners...

Chuck, I heard that from a few dealers concerning the original ART only. That's why I'm researching it at this point. I hope to be able to tube roll a bit. It sounds like I need to look into a series 2, judging from your friend's experience with the various pre's that he's owned. Thanks for the help. Stan

Thanks all for your help. I've been looking for another preamp and wanted to use the nos tubes that I own. I'm happy to hear that the CJ 16ls gives normal tube wear. I think that I'll be looking for a 16ls2. Could anyone comment about the soundstage of the 16ls2? Stan

Thanks for all the input. I'm going to be looking for a 16ls2 in the next month or so. My system is: Wadia 861se cd player, Jeff Rowland 302 amp, Egglestonworks Andra 2 speakers. I have a Siltec Forbes Lake and a Siltec SQ110 that I'll be using for interconnects between cd/pre and pre/amp. I also have Nordost Valhalla wired to my highs/mids and Nordost SPM on the bass for speaker wire. My tubes are 1960 7308 Amperex Holland D getter white label PQ's (3 pairs). I also have 4 pairs of 1963 and 1964 USA white label PQ's. I used to own a CJ pv12al and Tele's (12au7's) worked best with that , so I may look into Tele's for the 16ls2. I've got a Shunyata original Hydra that I'm using for the preamp. I'm using a Bat vk5i for a pre right now and feel that the 16ls2 would be a huge step up. Thanks again guys!

UPDATE... I just bought a 2+ year old CJ 16LS2. It appeared on Audiogon today and I dove on it. I've been checking for a 16ls2 for over two weeks---about 4-5 times per day...(yep, I was even checking at work)... Thanks for all the great descriptions of the preamp's attributes. I hope that it will fit in well with my system. I'm sure I'll see a huge improvement over the Bat vk5i that I now own. I should see the preamp by the end of the week. I can't wait. Best wishes!