Need suggestions on preamp

I’m thinking of getting a Conrad Johnson preamp and calling it a day. At least that preamp should grow with me if I decide to go with some other posters suggestions of going with the brighter Monitor Audio. 

That’s not a good idea if you’re looking for the level of detail your headphones produce.  The Monitor Audio speakers aren’t bright per se — like your headphones they’re neutral and detailed and not bright (which is precisely why I recommended them) unless you pair them with bright/shrill electronics.  The CJ preamp will squelch the exact detail you’re craving, and paired with the already warm-sounding Parasound is just going further in the wrong direction IMHO.  The simplest thing would be to sell the Parasound and buy something like a Hegel integrated.  You bought the wrong amp for the sound profile you’re looking for, so better to just accept that and move on than just make more mistakes around it and make things worse.  I’m not familiar with your Maggies, but if they’re not capable of producing the level of detail you’re looking for with more neutral electronics than they should go too otherwise you’ll just never achieve what you’re looking for and never be completely happy. 

@hikaru126 
IMHO you’re doing an awful amount to try to make these Maggi’s work. Based upon the musical tastes you stated in your OP these really aren’t the best choice… Maggi’s are more acoustic guitar than Rock…and now they’re causing you to dive deeper into the rabbit hole. I can assure you, by this time next year you’ll be in one of these many scenarios…

1. You’ll have just about swapped out every piece of equipment you have thinking each swap will get you closer to your desired sound.

2. You’ll be Listening to music that sounds great on the Maggi’s but not your favorite…The good thing with this is it will open you to music genres you may have written off in the past.

3. You’ll have learnt the ropes of Ebay, US Audio Mart, Audiogone, PayPal, etc. because of all the online postings of your system you’ve been trying to unload all because you tried to make things work that don’t add up.

4. Possibility of you not enjoying your system because the sound coming out is frustrating being all the time, money and effort you put into it causing you to not want to listen to your rig as much as you’d want to.

I’m not trying to preach, just did the Maggi Route,Yes they can be great speakers with the right music and a lot of effort, heck even in one of the prior posts a guy mentions took 3 years to get em to sound right. Everyone who came to my place thought they sounded great, that’s because I knew what to demo on them, but when it came time to my critical listening, I cringed more than I wanted.

I went thru several PreAmps, (Parasound P5 & P6, Rogue RP-1, Tubes For HiFi SP-13, Odyssey Candella), Several Amps (Chi-Fi EL34’s, Carver 275, Adcom 565, Odyssey Stereo Khartago, Odyssey Kismet Extreme Monoblocks).  Did the Interconnect & Power Cable Upgrades (Cardas, Wire World, Gronberg), Added GIK Room absorption panels & Bass Traps…So believe me when I say you’re on a up hill battle.

Just speaking from my experience, take it for what it’s worth. I hope you find your happy place 🔊

@skiznfliz - thanks for your honest impressions. Unfortunately if I went with speakers that catered to my favorite genre it would be some cheap Elacs or something because I like a lot of poorly recorded Rap haha. I have a lot of musical tastes though from old country to instrumental music and most speakers aren’t great with everything.

Ideally, my V1 Headphones are unique in that they are warm (no weird peaks like the Aryas or HEK SE) but spacious and detailed so instrument separation, soundstage, and micro detail are all preserved. I haven’t been able to find speakers at my price point (of about $1500) that have all 3 (wide disappearing soundstage, micro detail and organic warmth). That’s why I have a specific set of albums like you do that caters to the Maggie’s strengths which has 2 out of the 3 things I like (midrange tonality and/or warmth and soundstage).

Adding the CJ preamp would accentuate those traits at the expense of even more detail. Maybe I’m being unrealistic with my expectations attempting to put together a system with those price points in mind (especially compared to headphones). Ideally, I would like to spend about $1k on each component including cables.

I think a CJ is a great option and should match well with the rest of your components. I've had 2 preamps in the last 25yrs, both CJs. I've upgraded the internals of my PV10AL but that's it. I would have to spend a ridiculous amount of money to get any better sound. 

I wouldn't recommend "upgrading" fuses as there's no real evidence it makes any sound difference. And don't change the Amperage! Big no no according to Magnepan. 

@jfk011 - have you used any of CJs SS offerings like the PFR or the PF2? Wondering if those would be worth it otherwise I’m thinking of going with the Classic as it doesn’t really have many tube rolling options and they’re relatively cheap.