Bad Experience with Conrad Johnson


For many years I have admired Conrad Johnson products and waited for the right opportunity to try them out.  Fortunately, I was able to get a great deal on a mint condition ET3se preamp and MF-2275 power amp. 

Overall, I enjoyed the sound of this combo but then I started to have issues with the preamp and then the company itself.

After I spent much time with the ET3se preamp I became to feel that it was a flawed product.

When I first listened to the preamp, the background noise was very loud in both channels, even at low volume.  The preamp came with stock tubes which were EH6922 at the time.

I then tried two new pairs of 6922 tubes (JJ Tesla and Mullard) and I could still hear the background hiss in both channels.  On the Tesla tubes, I could also hear a pop in the speakers every time I adjusted the volume up and down with the remote.

Another problem I had was during the power up/warm up process.  When powering up the preamp I could hear music (not source dependent) even when the unit shows zero volume. Then if I turn the volume up then back down to zero; no music was heard.

So I called Conrad Johnson for help.  The new owner of the company, Jeff Fischel, answered the phone and proceeded to help me.  From the very beginning of the call I started to feel very uncomfortable.  He was talking to me as if I was a child, in a very condescending tone, telling me what I was doing wrong and how I should operate their products.

When I described the issues I was having, he said they no longer use 6922 tubes and only recommend NOS 7DJ8 tubes from Philips and Matsushita, which are more rugged for his preamp.  I then asked him why normal 6922 tubes do not perform well in the preamp.  He said it was because they run the heater voltage to the tubes much higher than the 6922 spec, the NOS 7DJ8 perform much better.

Jeff was right.  When I tried the Philips 7DJ8, the background hiss went away in both channels.  But the question I ask myself is what happens when all the NOS 7DJ8 tubes are gone, you have to just deal with background noise?  What kind of product design is that?  Through other research I found that this preamp just eats up tubes, even the 7DJ8.  Eventually they will also develop noise over time. 

So in summation, I think the ET3se preamp is a flawed product.  It is a high-maintenance piece that is quirky and you just have to come to terms with its issues.  I am so glad I did not pay full retail for this preamp.

Now on to the other bad experience I had with Conrad Johnson, the company.  Once I had all of these issues with the preamp, I decided to sell both the ET3se and MF2275 power amp.  I did not have the original boxes so I called Conrad Johnson to see if I could purchase replacement shipping boxes for both of them.

I had the ill-fated pleasure of speaking with their shipping clerk, Jasmine.  You will not believe what Conrad Johnson wanted to charge me for shipping empty replacement boxes:

ET3 - $55 for box, $70 for shipping ($125 total)

MF2275 - $95 for box, $70 for shipping ($165 total)

That's right folks, Conrad Johnson wanted to charge me $70 for shipping an empty box.

I was willing to pay for the boxes and offered to send them shipping labels and have UPS pick them up for me.  They did not want to work with me.

Here was the final response from Jasmine at Conrad Johnson:

"Box, packing and shipping is not negotiable. I think it's best you purchase them at FedEx as it seems to suite you best."

It is clear to me that Conrad Johnson is not the same company since Bill Conrad and Lew Johnson left.

Needless to say, I will never buy (new or used) a Conrad Johnson product again.

wkass

Hi there cheapskate.

I agree with most here re the boxes.  The prices are not unreasonable for large hi-tech boxes that will protect these products correctly and the associated handling costs.

And OP should know that overland shipping is priced by volume not by weight.  So the fact they are empty makes no difference.

And why didn't he audition the amps???  Then he would have heard the noise and this saga would have never happened.

As a manufacturer, we typically do not order many extra boxes so they become one off orders for units that are no longer in production, plus the box manufacturers are not always in business making the same products so prices can be that high. If you were concerned about shipping, you probably could have arranged to have them shipped to you by opening up your own FedEx account.  Shipping these says has become very expensive for nothing boxes.

Designs change over time and while the preamp probably was competitive back in the day, parts, tubes, etc., all change hopefully for the better.  It is hard for a manufacturer to fix an old issues and in your case offered a solution that did not require you to send them the unit and perform any type of repair.

Overall I do understand your frustration, but they seemed to have answered your question and offered a solution.  They even answered the phone. Maybe not White Glove service but I would say they did respond and offered an easy solution to your issue.

Happy Listening.

 

@wkass ,

I've nothing of value to add to this discussion, but thanks for teaching me a new word; 'smatchet.' And the clever context in which you used it!

For whatever it's worth, I had to have some work done by Bryston  on my BDP-2 and they could not have been better to work with. It was sort of startling how friendly and helpful they were.

@richiekess +1

That has been my experience with Bryston also, above and beyond any other customer service I have encountered.

Regards,

barts