I'm not a Jadis expert but will share what I have heard. At a dealer with MBL transport/DAC, Jadis JPS2, Defy 7 MK IV, NBS cables made actually the B&W Nautilus 801 sound decent. Swapped out the amp for MBL and music was gone. At an acqaintance's house: Forsell table, Counterpoint pre, Defy 7 (I think MK III because it was in 1995/6), Watt/Puppy 3/2 & Ref 3A Royal Master. Phenomenal sound. Defy 7 is musical, has tone, dynamic and a bit of a sunny day glow. Tube amp classic! Caveat: prone to reliablity problems for that vintage, in fact on one listening session one channel went out and the fun had to stop. As well you have to buy 12 matched 6550s tubes and has to be tri-matched (ask Upscale Audio). The Ferrari of tube amps! I am a c-j owner but not the Prem 140. I can say it will probably have the house sound of being musical with good tone but higher resolution than previous c-j amps but maybe not more than the Prem 8A and it will be easier to bias and maintain. I like to call c-j amps the Lexus of tube amps! Good Luck! |
Thanks for the comments and especially helpful from you, Kw6. I had an Audio Research vtm120 before and I knew what it was like when things were not going well with those tubes. Eight is still easier to manage than twelve, I guest! Does anyone know how the bias on the Premier140 is done? Does the 140 sounds as luse and warm as the older models? Thanks. |
I've owned the 2.4s, and currently own the CJ PR140 which is driving a pair of VS VR-4 Gen III SEs. I would think that the 2.4s and the PR140 would make a good combination given the tonality and power of the PR140. The PR140 is not lush per se, it tends to excel at larger scale orchestral and rock music, yet is also quite good with vocals and more intimate material given the right choice of 6922 input driver tube. Biasing takes only a few minutes every month or so. Each output tube has its own bias pot and LED indicator. The bias pot is turned clockwise until the LED lights, at which point the pot is turned counter-clockwise just until the LED goes out. Since each output tube is individually biased there is no need for matched output tubes. A new set of output tubes should run about 200$. |
Does the 140 sounds as luse and warm as the older models? In a word, no. While the Premier 140 is not out of character with the CJ 'house sound', it is more toward the neutral when compared with the Premier 12s or 8. And, tt is the most resolving CJ tube amp I've heard. With regard to 'loose' - the 140's low end is not the last word in tube amp bass definition though it is very good - best yet from CJ. Read more at: Soundstage review. Imo, at $7k usd, the 140 is an excellent amp for the money. You can spend more, but the law of diminishing returns sets in very quickly. It should work well with the Thiels which tend toward the 'assertive'. |
I agree with Jtimothya's evaluation of the Premier 140. His review was a deciding factor in my going from the Premier 11A to the Premier 140. Haven't looked back since although the 11A is still a mighty fine amp IMHO. Also, I recently upgraded my preamp from the CJ 17LS to a CJ 16LS2 and you just know that the amp kept up. Like most good pieces of equipment, they continue to "improve" as the rest of the system does. It doesn't hold you back. Good luck, Joe |
