I think synergy has a lot to do with the sound, and if you do decide on a CJ preamp I'd highly recommend mating it with the 350. I know a bigtime CJ fan, who moved up from a Premier 16LS mk II/Premier 8 monoblock setup to an ACT2/350 and couldn't be happier. He claims the 350 is the best sounding CJ amp he's ever heard. He's a 20 year fan of CJ, and knows Bill and Lew personally.
That said, I was running a pair of Clayton Audio M100 monoblock amps at the time of the CJ/BAT preamp testing that I mentioned above. The M100's have a rather low input impedence, which would favor the BAT, since it has a lower output impedence. Perhaps if I'd heard both preamps with the CJ 350 I would have choosen to keep the CJ instead of the BAT, who knows? Yes, the CJ does have a sweeter vocal range than the BAT, but in my system, the BAT did so much other stuff better (dynamics, power, soundstage, etc) that in the end I choose it. Since then I've mated it with a BAT VK-600SE and haven't looked back. I running fully balanced with a BAT VK-P10SE w/ Super-Pak phono stage and a VK-D5SE w/Super-Pak and I'm very happy. :-)
The CJ was very good, and came in second in my preamp search last year. I went through preamps from Mark Levinson, Krell, Threshold, VAC, CJ and BAT, all in my system. The BAT VK-51SE was my personal favorite by far. The CJ was a distant second. However, like I said, if I had it mated with a CJ amp, perhaps the results would have been different.
I listen to mostly jazz, blues and folk, and I do admit that on most vocal material the CJ was the best preamp. However, there's more to music than the vocals, for me anyway. The CJ just could not boogie like the BAT. As always, YMMV.
The BAT preamp run balanced would sound best with your current BAT amp. It's a shame your dealer won't carry a 350, since I've talked to many who swear it's the sweetest sounding SS they've ever heard.
You have a tough, but fun decision to make as to which direction you want to go musically. The 'house sound' of CJ is very sweet, inviting and extremely musical. The BAT 'house sound' is BIG, dynamic and powerful. Not that the CJ doesn't do dynamics, or the BAT is not musical, because they do. I would think that the rest of your system would decide which is a better fit.
Since you only do digital, and are using the VR-4 JR's, I think you may prefer the CJ. My friend had a pair of VR-4JR's (he's since moved on to Revel speakers), but from what I remember of his VR-4JR's they were very quick and dynamic, but a bit lean. So the added warmth of the CJ may work better in your system than in mine. My speakers (Verity Audio Parsifal Encore's) are very warm and sweet, and enjoy the added punch and life of the BAT equipment.
It seems like we have similar musical tastes, but different systems. There is more than one way to reach musical nirvana. You've choosen three very interesting paths. Only one that you know. Just one word of precaution, sometimes the best is already in front of you and you don't know it.
By that I mean that before starting my 7 preamp world tour last year, my preamp was a BAT VK-31SE. I was sure it was my preamp that needed to be upgraded. Over the next 6 months I bought and sold 6 preamps (I kept one). Many were big dissapointments. It was after the first two preamps came and went, rather quickly I might add, that I realized I'd made a mistake selling the BAT VK-31SE. My final choice really did come down to the CJ 16LS mk II or the BAT VK-51SE.
So if you're happy with the music you're hearing now, save money and buy more software.
Sorry for rambling,
John
