Used tube preamps, Cary, AR, Aesthetix, Wells...........or?

@awise1961 Congratulations on the Aesthetic Calypso. I owned an Aesthetix Callisto Eclipse preamp and Rhea Signature phono stage for some years prior to changing over to an all Conrad Johnson system. For 6922 style tubes, I had preferred either late 60’s Siemens CCa’s or ECC88’s.

It's interesting when we see members move from a capable product set to something else like in your case. Possibly looking for a particular signature of sound you were aware of (???) -or- just to make a change since they’ve been with the prior components for a while, this happens too - people just want to try something else of course. @awise1961 gotta question for ya if I may ask. 

Sometimes friends of mine do this too, in an attempt to steer back towards something they had or knew well in the past, looking to recapture that "sound".

• What were some of the reasons you decided to switch from your prior (capable) components to the "all Conrad Johnson system", if you don’t mind sharing more?

awise

Thanks for this. A buddy of mine had Siemens tubes in his CJ preamp. They did a very nice job . I don't think I have any Siemens in my collection but I might. I bought large lots of tubes many years ago. I look through groups of them every now and then to try and figure out why I did but I do find a good one here and there that I can use. I also bought a whole sales kit of NOS Sylvania tubes. I don't remember what all is in it but it was cheap and it was a lot of tubes. I also used to find NOS Sylvania Gold Pin (triple mica) 5751's for $30 or so, used ones for around $15 to $18. I bought all I could find at those prices and I'm glad I did. That was over 20 years ago and I still have them all. Anyway, thanks for the comments. Much appreciated. 

Russ69

What AR's did you have? Just wondering. I read mostly favorable comments on AR, especially from the 5 and 6 series. Funny how this stuff goes. I think a lot of people have upgraditis. I'm not really one of them.

decooney

I had initially changed out an Aestheix Atlas amp for a pair of CJ LP275M mono's. Each amp has eight of the ST120 power tubs and three 6922s. I felt they made my big Wilson Alexias soubd even better (deeper extension, more soundstage). I had thought of going with Atlas mono's but once I locked on to the big CJ's there was no going back. After that I got a chance to try a CJ GAT S1 preamp and it fit wonderfully in between the be mono's. As good as the Callisto sounded, the GAT was right there with it and took up less space and has a lot fewer tubes. The Callisto was the Eclipse level with sperate power supply and separate remote control box. If I remember correctly, there were at least seventeen tubes total. Again, it was a great preamp, just the GAT was its equal, but in an easier to live with form factor, Then, I replaced the Rhea phono stage with my CJ TEA1 S3. The Rhea was the Signature level and before selling the Callisto, I had considered having it upgraded to Eclipse level. However, I came across the TEA and after demoing it, I was convinced it was an upgrade from the RHEA and it gave me the opportunity to have a complete CJ system. Please don't get me wrong, I have the utmost admiration for Aesthetix. Build quality and sound is first rate. I'm just happier living with my CJ system.

I have owned both the ARC Ref. 2 Mk.II and the ARC. Ref 3. I thought they were both fantastic, the Ref. 3 not quite as bloomy. I am getting away from tubes because having to change tubes in a preamp is a pain. But I would still be running the ARC Ref. 3 if it weren't for that. I loved it. Huge soundstage without a lot of tube romanticism. I now have the a Pass XP-30, the top of their line, and it sounds very much like the ARC Ref. 3.