Conrad johnson amp with Musical Fidelity pre

Have no experience with the MF pre. I have a sister of your amp -- an MF2500 and am also using a CD player. The CD is my only source. It is a Wadia 850. Running it connected directly to the MF2500. A very musical, mellow, and detailed combination. Very close to a vinyl, IMO. I experimented with the 850 connected via a CJ PV12. Almost as good, but not quite. Since my only source is CD and since the Wadia has a volume control, I really did not need a pre. If it aint there, it can not effect the sound.

Thank you all for the input.

The dissatisfaction comes from ear strain shortly after sitting down to listen. The sound is thinner than I'd like.

Speakers before: Boston Acoustic. Speakers today: Harbeth SHL-5

I deliberately kept the speakers out of the mix to keep the focus on the amp/preamp. I knew that it was not giving you the whole equation but sometimes that helps me solve the problem anyway and keeps me from looking at the less obvious solutions/suggestions.

Without the speakers in the mix, you've taught me two things: 1. Maybe a preamp is not necessary if you have volume control on your source. I can't wait to take the pre-amp out of the mix to see if there is a change, and
2. MF - I read as much as I could and every thing seemed to draw me back to this company. Maybe I misinterpreted information on the MF.

Other ?:
Other than as switching device, general volume control and if present, a phono stage, what is the purpose of the pre-amp? Is the ideal pre-amp one that adds no color at all?

Musical Fidelity seems to have its fair share of both fans and flamers. Because MF's products frequently show up in the hifi magazines in both the advertising and reviews sections, the flamers tend to have a field day.

You are doing the right thing by experimenting and removing the preamp from the chain and seeing what the results will be.

The preamp is fed the signals from your source (which are essentially inaudible) and passes them to the power amp for amplification and those signals are fed to your loudspeakers. The preamp should be neutral and not add or detract to the signal it is being fed, but all components have a sonic signature and will affect the sound to some degree. Supposedly, passive preamps are the most pure. But you can see now, if the preamp doesn't get it right, everything you hear is affected.

Your situation is interesting. I would have thought that the Harbeth speakers would work well with the MF and the Ah Tjoeb. I don't have experience with CJ, so I don't know if that is the culprit. My MF set-up certainly does not sound thin (I am using Acoustic Research 302 speakers; 3 way; full range speakers from 1995).

Question: Are your speakers wired in phase (+ to +; - to -)? My apologies if that sounds like a KISS question, but it could explain thin sound.

Regards, Rich

I have used the MF 3.2CR for 2 years now. I don't find it lacking in soundstaging, fullness or musiciality. If anything, it might be too revealing. Some might call that analytical.

I have found that some experimentation with setup like supports and cabling can help tune your system somewhat to your preference.

There is a thread running now on pre or no pre,check it out as it will give you some ideas as you move along in your quest.After you read it forget all you have read including the MF marketing reports.Get some good shipping boxes so you can double-box and figure your finances out,then double that and start buying and trying off this site.Stay away from anything that weighs much more than 50 lbs.to avoid shipping hassles.Otherwise you need to be using wooden crates.There's usually a synergy between pre and power amps from the same maker,not always,YMMV,good luck,Bob