Hi Goatwuss, your very fortunate to have the SA-400 as a backup amp to your Plinius. My wife won't let me keep more than one amp at a time if it just lying idle unless I can hide it. Anyway I look at the SA-400 as a tube amp on steroids as it definately does sound very tubish. Connected to a quality tube preamp the magic starts there. Anyway you also very lucky to have paid only $600.00 for the SA-400 as I just recently purhased mine for $775.00 shipped. However it is in mint condition.
Conrad Johnson's Sonographe SA-250 or the SA-400?
Both of these amps unlike the MF series are Bipolar design rather than Mosfet. Although the Sonographe products are considered entry level for Conrad Johnson, there is nothing entry level about the sound quality or build quality! In fact I prefer the Sonographe sound to the MF series, maybe because I prefer the Bipolar sound now. Anyway I have owned more amps than allowable by law so when I first aquired an SA-250 I was immediately struck by the level of sound quality that it possesed. In fact this was exactly what I was looking for. This was an amp I could live with for a long time. From what I've gathered, the SA-250 was rated a Stereophile class B component, does anyone pay any attention to these ratings? Eventually I wanted more power & purchased the SA-400. Called CJ and they told me the sound of the SA-400 was identical to the SA-250 but with more power. I can now confirm this to be true. Conrad Johnson products are an excellent investment & the Sonograhe line is no different. Don't hesitate to give these amps a try, as they are major bargains on the used market.
- ...
- 28 posts total
- 28 posts total