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McIntosh MC275 vs Conrad Johnson Premier 11A

Hello
I have a pair of Gallo Nucleus Reference speakers (the original version not the reference 3). I have been driving them with a Spectron Digital one amplifier. Last week I had the chance to try an old Mcintosh MC240 with my speakers and I think the sound was very sweet. Now I am considering get a tube amplifier. Any suggestions for a tube amp no more than $2K in the used market. I was looking at the McIntosh MC275 and the Conrad Johnson premier 11A. They are around 75 watts and are within my price range. The speakers are 4 ohms 90db/W/m. The rest of the system: Audible Illusions M3A preamp, Sony SACD/CD player and Sota Turntable. I listen mostly classical music and Jazz. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
fernando68
samuellaudio
91 posts
 
To "chazzbo"- Is it true all conrad johnson tube amps are "noisy"?
dennis_the_menace's avatar
dennis_the_menace
467 posts
 
i heard the cj premier 140 at my house for an extended period of time, and it was *very* quiet. in fact, i'd say it's lack of noise was probably one of it's strengths...
faizan's avatar
faizan
1 posts
 
I was confronted with exactly the same choices Fernando. Took my time listening to both, since I had the opportunity: a new MC275 Commemorative and a used Premier 11A on a bunch of speakers from B&W 805S, Lipinski L-707 and Reference 3A Dulcet to Klipschorns and KEF IQ9. With the McIntosh I always used a Mac 2200 tube pre-amp.. whilst a C-J PV-12 tube preamp partnered the Premier 11A. Though both are wonderful amps that sound amazingly full and detailed when heard on their own, tested back to back, using the same Naim 5x CD player and identical Nordost Baldur cable and interconnect setups, the McIntosh never sounded anywhere near as musical as the C-J. I also ended up listening to a McIntosh MA-6900 Integrated, which could do little to stop me going for C-J. I have to admit that although the MC275 was my first love right from the beginning, even before I'd ever heard about Conrad-Johnson, the listening tests left no doubt in my mind that the Conrad-Johnson offered higher resolution and an amazing sense of oneness with the music. Its soundstaging is also on another level. I ended up buying the Premier 11A and recommend it highly. You can spend a lot of money and still not find anything as musical as this at even four times the price. The 11A is so good that even if you don't have enough cash at this point to match it with a proper pre-amp, it'll make a startling difference, as it has in my setup, using a $600 Yamaha home-theater receiver as pre-amp until an almost new C-J Premier 17 arrives with new Reference 3A Dulcets. The next step up from this would be an Audio Research Reference 3 pre-amp, 610T mono tube amp setup. And that'll cost you a good 40k if not more with the Reference CD player. Then there's Lamm and ultimately MBL's reference stuff. C-J is better than McIntosh in every range, I feel, having heard the ART pre-amp mated to Premier 8s recently
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