Premiere 350 or CA200, What Class?

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adeep42
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Premiere 350 or CA200, What Class?

Post by adeep42 »

Some one who claims to be a maven on SS Amps asked me the question. CJ website never mentions what class amps they are.
Big Dog RJ
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Re: Premiere 350 or CA200, What Class?

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G'day Alan,

Yes, CJ and quite a number of others do not label the Class rating output, for certain reasons... perhaps they're more focused on musicality and what the unit offers in terms of impedence matching, gain etc. Anyway, all CJ amps are Class AB operation. They have not ever produced a pure Class A rated amp, as I don't think they see this as a viable long term economic gain. They did however experiment in Class A tubes, trying out a 300B version but never took off due to economic reasons. After all they are Economists by nature...
I remember we got a few requests for Class A amplifiers and 300B versions but CJ didn't offer, although we offered Manley! These were the most informative discussions I ever had with LJ at the time.

At some point around the first few watts, they do produce a healthy dose of Class A. Probably around 10-15 the most on tube amps, and perhaps even 20-25 on their SS designs. We used to get confirmation on this with their older MF series, such as the MF2300 and so on. Again, I was told that they are not inclined to totally focus in Class A, and prefer to introduce Class AB operation after the first wave of power that this provides the musicality factor known by CJ. Otherwise, the sound would be harsh / harder, not natural and relaxed allowing for a more open soundstage.

That is also why, I also noticed straight away with the Premier 350, an absolute explosive sound, similar to that of Pass Labs, which is highly focused on Class A operation. Hence, in order to tame this kind of beast, a tube pre such as the ACT2 was a superb match, or any top quality tube pre-amp for that matter with a SS Class A power house would sound superb! And of course of ML's they sound even more open and transparent.

Just my 50 cts...
Cheers mate and have a good one, RJ
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adeep42
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Re: Premiere 350 or CA200, What Class?

Post by adeep42 »

Thank you RJ. You are a font of knowledge. Most appreciated.

Alan
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Re: Premiere 350 or CA200, What Class?

Post by Big Dog RJ »

Your most welcome mate.

Hey speaking of the Premier 350, I have one in my room at the moment! It's bloody huge!

It's not mine, there is a chap who (similar to your upgrade journey) wants to try his prem 350 on my Ethos. He's planning on getting the new ML Masterpiece series hybrids, not sure which one he's going for. I think it is the Impression ESL11A. These are supposed to be superb ESL's newly designed by ML, and when he gets his pair, of course I'll be there listening and learning...

The only down side to these newer models is the DSP is sold separately, hence the price point starts at a fairly high level. Something like 12 grand just for the entry level one called the Classic ESL9. That's quite a lot of dollars in Aus and my dealer chappy said these will retail for between 15 grand to 45 grand! That's way more than the CLX!

He wanted to try it out specially on my Ethos since it has built in DSP and active bass. I must say that the prem 350 takes the Ethos to a whole new level but I do also like the sublime performance of EL34's on the CAV45.
The prem 350 is very explosive, sounds like a Bugati and Ferrari fitted with a rocket engine. He also dropped off his preamp, ARC Ref series 6. He's coming over tomorrow for a full listen, wanted to let the prem 350 settle in first, buy did it settle in after the first few seconds...

Very powerful and brings out the best in stats I must say, with a wonderful rendition on the soundstage. The only major drawback or preference in my opinion- it's driving only the panels in the case of the Ethos and not the bass or at least low bass. I would like to try the prem 350 on a full range stat such as the CLX, that would be a most wonderful experience!

I did try this very same prem 350 with my previous Quads, did open up the sound much more, but the Quads could not handle large peaks or dynamic swings compared to ML's, so I had to turn it down all the time, and at low volumes the Quads didn't sound any better compared to driven with tubes, which I preferred. With the prem 350, you cannot resist but turn up the volume and when turned up it just keeps going... The ML's can handle all those strong and vibrant peaks effortlessly, no strain whatsoever, wow!

After I plug in the CAV45, compared to the prem 350, the CAV45 looks like a toy! But that EL34 midrange magic is extremely hard to beat.
The ARTsa in triode mode rated at just 70w/ch is the best in tubes in my experience. And I do honestly think the prem 350 in pure SS class AB is one of the best, apart from pure Class A of Pass Labs.

Cheers, will report later on the Impression with the Prem 350.
RJ
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