Power amp around $3000 for C-J Classic preamp


I've all but decided that my next preamp will be the Conrad-Johnson Classic, but I'm struggling with ideas for a power amp that would be a good match for it below $3000. I listen almost exclusively to vinyl and the speakers right now are the Totem Acoustic Hawks but will be upgraded in the near future to probably the Vandersteen 3A Sig or possibly VMPS RM-30, but not yet sure. I'm open to both tube, hybrid or solid state, but I'm more inclined toward solid state. Any ideas?
actusreus
Hello,
Currently Spectron Audiois haviing promotion for its Musician III which should fit in your price range.

They do not have problem with impedance as their recent models have all 50 kOhms input impedance !

In recent post by Lube3 (Lube?) he compared McCormacks 750 with Spectrons and Spectrons 'smoked' this competition - do search, its here on A-goN discussion forum

I and many others owned in the past tube amps and Spectron is well among the best

All The Best in your Search!
Rafael
The conrad johnson can be paired perfectly with a LP66S power amp, it is the perfect match for bright sounding speakers.
If you are looking for powerful amp under $3K new to match with the cj Classic and big Vandys, I might suggest:

Cambridge Audio 840W - unique design inside, great result.

Vincent Audio SP-T100 Hybrid Mono amplifier - not full on solid state amp, but powerful and great anyway, and in your price range for a pair new.

Odyssey Audio Stratos Mono Extreme - My favorite Sleeper product - in this case the hybridization is German engineering and built in the USA - they are almost as good as our hockey team, but in this case, you win!

At a bit to well over the $3K price point you could check out:

Musical Fidelity M6PRX - latest 260W offering from the company that thinks power is almost everything.

Bryston 3B-SST2 - if you like that sort of thing, transparency may match well with cj warmth and Vandy presentation - although the 4B might better marshall the big Vandys around - Oh Canada!

McCormack DNA-250 - va va voom!
Conrad Johnson, I believe, has discontinued production of pure solid state amps such as the MF2500A and the Premier 350. They have acquired McCormack, and it seems to me that their pure solid state amps are now being produced under the McCormack label. Other than that I am not sure why they stopped production of these amps as they are excellent.
Also I would not be concerned about buying a non current cj amp as they have excellent customer support and will continue to support the non current product . And yes cj is using McCormack as their ss amp line-up.

Someone mention Premier 12 mono bloc's which is also an excellent choice as long as you don't mind the costs associated with replacing tubes; not to mention the heat associated with tube amps.

Pairing a cj pre with a cj amp makes very good sense and you won't have to worry about compatability issues.

Chuck