Conrad Johnson Owners.com

A little more on the Joe Pass recordings … When I brought the Burmester 911 mk3 home and put it in my system, I was startled by the speed with which Joe Pass was able to play. I’ve listened to his solo guitar recordings for decades, and it was like they were all new. When I replaced my preamp with t...

The CJ units at TMR are churning.

The GAT2 sold, but another has come in. The ART27A sold.

The GAT2s look well priced. They’re cheaper than a new ET7s2. TMR will take your old gear in trade most of the time. Here’s a chance to move up.

I think RJ’s current mindset is very defendable. FWIW, the separate Burmester 911mk3 and 088 were significantly better than the 032 integrated in my auditions, although the 032 was the best sounding integrated that I’ve heard. Also the McIntosh MA9500 that I recently acquired sounds great in my syst...

@AnotherJohnson Is the ART 300 amps at TMR a good opportunity to do a heads up CJ to Burmester listening test in your home? Hopefully the ART 300's don't hum like an LP275M. If I were willing to pay round trip shipping to find out … If they were to hum, I would not have to pay shipping, but if they...

However, definitely a mighty fine opportunity if you're based in the US. These are top notch amplifiers, really top notch! Cheers, RJ The ART 300s are both still $5k too high. This is especially true since our tax refund season is now over and we’re heading toward outdoor activities and vacations. ...

A local (1.5 hour 1 way) seller had a pair of ART mono's for sale at $8,000 2 years ago. Popped up after I bought AnotherJohnson's LP275M amps. I wasn't in the position to buy the ART's. In retrospect I should have. AnotherJohnson's amps did have a few issues that were causing a significant amount ...

An ART 27A has now joined the party.

However, definitely a mighty fine opportunity if you're based in the US. These are top notch amplifiers, really top notch! Cheers, RJ The ART 300s are both still $5k too high. This is especially true since our tax refund season is now over and we’re heading toward outdoor activities and vacations. ...

FWIW, I do not think these are underpriced. I think the GATs are close to right. But the ARTs are still high, especially in light of CJs move on to the 108. Maybe these look like deals to someone “down unda,” but they’re not flying off the shelf. That new unboxed pair of ART 300s has been on offer f...

Today’s inventory of CJ at TMR:


This is your chance to get into GAT or ART gear, or to revert to a PV12.

And you get the TMR generous return policy.

I’ve been watching a pair at TMR for a good while. If this is the same pair, that looks like a price drop. If they’re owned by TMR, there may be some further flexibility… maybe another grand. If they’re consigned, they will tender offers to owners. Some owners are flexible, and some aren’t. The best...

There were almost 38,500 "Ultra wealthy" (net worth of over $50 million USD individuals in the US (and this was a statistic from 2017 and I'm sure it's significantly more now). I can see those individuals just telling their contractor to "get me the best stereo money can buy" wh...

In the auto industry annual bonuses for productive upper engineering level used to run in the $200k to $400k range, and that was literally 30 years ago. The VPs and higher could get even more in a good year. I’ve seen systems that had price tags north of a million bucks get installed by the team at ...

I'm glad that AXpona was a success. If all those floors were full it shows people have interest. I’m sure there were exceptions, but in pictures of the rooms demonstrating very expensive systems that I’ve seen, there were a lot of males with gray hair. I guess they’re the ones who can write the $10...

No one should be lulled into a false sense of security about the serviceability of vintage gear. I’ve personally had two CJ pieces returned with issues or with service not performed. Roberto was very upset when Krell was not interested in working on his old gear. Old stuff is always subject to parts...

It's certainly quite amazing to see that these beautiful top class tube amplifiers are still going strong, especially after few decades! SS gear just can't do that, would've stopped working long enough. Actually, first quality three to six decade old solid state gear can still perform pretty well t...

This may never have factored into CJ's thinking but one factor that comes to mind is owner flexibility. For a 6922 you may substitute a 6DJ8/7DJ8/7308 and their European equivalents. What can you substitute for a 6H30? Another 6H30 and that's it. The only variability would be the EB (common) versio...

CJ, ARC, and McIntosh are all betting on it. McIntosh are definitely hedging their bets. Much of their higher end involves parallel circuits where tube or SS can be customer switched. And they’ve banked a lot of tubes compared to their US based counterparts. They’re well positioned. If tubes dry up...

Are you sure the plate fuse is good? The plate fuses are typically large KTKs. Ask Jeff. Probably KTK2s. MAKE SURE YOU GET THE RIGHT SIZE. I bought an MV52 once and the prior owner had put a fuse 10 times too large in. I discovered it when the amp went red plate and started motorboating. Hola Chico...

My source within ARC isn’t worried. He says orders go through EHX NY, tubes ship directly from Russia. Tung Sol, Sovtek, and EH all available. Select JJ from the Slovak Republic also available. I’m personally still leery. ARC and CJ both have all their eggs in the tube basket. So they’re forging ahe...