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Mcintosh C220 vs CJ ET-2

I am getting ready to buy a tube pre-amp to go with my pair of Monarchy SE-100 MK2 monoblocks. These drive NHT VT 2.4 speakers.

I was researching the McIntosh C220 and I went into a store... The guys there reccommended a Conrad Johnson ET-2 over the McIntosh and said it will go better with my speakers and my turntable (MusicHall MMF 5.1 with Goldring 2200 MM cartrige).

They claimed that the Conrad Johnson pre-amps have more defnintion and are true "audiophile" equipment....

Q1. Why is the Conrad Johnson considered audiophile quality and Mcintosh C220 not?

Q2. The price point is similar - so is one truly "better" than the other... I know I know that "depends" on how it sounds in my system... but I am curious to hear what others think...

Thanks in advance for your responses...

-Anu
anuruddhak
lapierre
547 posts
 

That's crazy.

A preamp of this price point should offer balanced input options. Maybe they are referring to phono section only. The CJ may have different options for the high gain phono stage suited for use with low to medium output moving coil cartridges with rated output of 1.0 mV or less. The low gain stage is recommended for cartridges with output above 1.0 mV.
tpreaves's avatar
tpreaves
2,685 posts
 
Is it because the store you visited had a CJ and not a Mac?Just a thought.
onemug
784 posts
 
Q1. They both are great. Quit believing everything a dealer tells you.
Q2. One of them is better. Which, as you said, will depend....

Your curiousa about what others think. I've had Mac's top preamps for several generations from the C28 thru the C200 and tubed C2200. I think they are great. I now have CJ's ACT2.2 and ART 2 and they are the best I've heard.

I don't think you will go wrong with either.
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