Conrad Johnson Premier 350 ss vs Premier 140 tube

Jerry

Do the Mac's generate a lot of heat? You've got me thinking along those lines as well. I love tube amps but the heat and maintainence issues are a concern as is the power output. The premier 350 and the mc501's are very similar in price. My local CJ dealer also sells Mac and he told me there should not be any impedence matching issues between my 16 and the Mac's. However as I get more serious about purchasing I will call both companies to confirm. He also commented that they do not and will not stock either the mc501's nor the premier 350 so demoing them is not possible. Something about the two channel market being to limited in this area (Detroit) given the price of these amps.

Chuck

Chuck,

I can't get these amps to even get warm! no kidding, I listened to 2 full CD's yesterday as loud as I ever do and the heat sinks were barely lukewarm!

Jerry

FWIW see my post at the 11a thread you're on...

Zaikesman

Thanks for the information. I have also heard the same comment.

Chuck

Just a quick update:

I contacted both Thiel and Conrad Johnson and asked their opinion concerning which of these two amps they would recommend to drive my Thiel 3.6's. Both manufacturers recommended the Premier 350 over the 140. Primarily because Thiels require large amounts of power to sound their best. It is not that Thiels, specifically the 3.6's, are a difficult load but that they are a demanding load. Meaning that the have a relatively flat impedence curve (nominally at 4 ohms) which drops to about 2.5-3.5 ohms and stays there. The curve is so flat that they tend to look like a constant resistive load to the amplifier; a good thing. Another issue is the fact that their efficiency is at 86db per watt; a bit on the low side. Both of these attributes make the Thiels a demanding load to any but the gutsiest of amplifiers.