Conrad Johnson Owners.com

This Summer, I purchased a mint second hand MF2550. It was a little over a year old. This is probably my last amp as I am now retired and don't have that kind of disposable income any longer. My question is what brand interconnect works well with the CJ solid state amps. I am presently using a 350.00 interconnect and use them throughout my system but I am wondering what others use. Please chime in.

If you are looking for "budget" cables I have had very good experience with Signal Cable and Blue Jeans interconnects.

In the DIY section of this forum, I've posted about making my own interconnects which use the Blue Jeans cable with some locking RCA plugs.

Presently I am running all Groneberg Quattro Reference cables which cost around 350.00 per meter pair. I am interested in specifically a cable to go from the MF2550 to the Rogue RP-5 tube preamp. I don't care for the blue Jeans or signal cable, wondering about the Audioquest or other mainstream cables.

I can't comment on an MF2550 but when I purchased my MF2250 I listened to several different cable types and thought MIT sounded the best, both interconnects and speaker cable. They really seemed to bring out the best in the amp, but keep in mind I have Thiel 1.6s which may be considered very finicky. The other cables I tried were Kimber and Nordost. Hope that helps.

I use the Kimber KS silvers that sell for about US$1400 -- KS 1121? ( non balanced). I imagine the Nordosts would be very good too. My Kimbers really give the MF2550 room to romp. I really like them.

If you are in the USA I have a good connection for Acoustic Zen cables. I use their speaker cables and they do my equipment well; esp with CJ and he is a CJ dealer. Send me a private message and I'll get you his info.

stereo5 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 17, 2017 2:48 pm Presently I am running all Groneberg Quattro Reference cables which cost around 350.00 per meter pair. I am interested in specifically a cable to go from the MF2550 to the Rogue RP-5 tube preamp. I don't care for the blue Jeans or signal cable, wondering about the Audioquest or other mainstream cables.

All of the Audioquests I tried with my MF2550 and CJ Classic SE preamp were awful. The aforementioned Kimbers added the sparkle I needed, while maintaining the harmonious CJ sound . The Audioquests were aggressive and unpleasant -- good I'm sure for a lot of systems, but not sympatico with my CJ gear. (Harbeth M30 speakers)

That's a definite confirm by BG, audioquest was definitely not the best with CJ. Perhaps on other systems yes, and they nearly always take the back cover of TAS, hence many would think that Audioquest is "The Absolute Sound", definitely not so!

There are far better cable and interconnects for superb value that will get your CJ amplification sounding best.
My personal choices in the line up:
1. Nordost - any of their cables / interconnects are mighty fine, the choice is yours depends on your budget. I've tried Red dawn, blue heaven, flat line gold, Heimdall 2, SPM Ref, Valhalla, Frey, tri, the new Norse series, and even all the way up to Odin's just for trial (definitely can't and won't afford Odin's). Anyway any of the Nordost are superb!

2. DHLabs: Q10 signature series 2, revelations, silver sonic air matrix, and their power cords, all superb value for money, and very transparent.

3. Analysis plus: this brand was recommended by my Rega and ARC dealer, just try out and audition their full line up including speaker cable and interconnects. One word, superb! No problems with system matching whatsoever, and ease of connection plus very well built. Analysis plus knows their stuff and they also cater to the professional Music Industry where dedicated recording studios have been set up.
Another person who highly recommends Analysis cables is Eve Anna Manley, president of Manley labs. Known her for a quite a while and have lot of respect for her leadership skills. Although they make their own cables, a great deal of most of their demo's are through Analysis cables. You can't go wrong with these and they are very affordable.

So that's my personal line up, and I'm currently using all three of these types in my system.
Cheers and all the best, RJ