Conrad Johnson and Loudspeakers

From tubes to solid state.
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Hatzudokiseizo
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Conrad Johnson and Loudspeakers

Post by Hatzudokiseizo »

Hello all members of CJ. I'm curious what all the members had had in her entire career with the Equipement Conrad Johnson for speakers? What were the advantages and disadvantages?
I have the CJ Premier 8a and Premier 12 in Bi-Amping associated Loudspeakers KEF Reference 207.The Pre-Amp is the CJ Premier 16LS MKII..
This Loudspeakers with the CJ Power Amps in Bi-Amping bring a precision,holographic 3Dimension Accuratness without tiring Sound... Greets Sounding Chris
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Re: Conrad Johnson and Loudspeakers

Post by admin »

I think when it comes to speaker selection you are going to find a wide response. I'm sure everybody has their favorites and I've heard people speak highly of CJ gear with all types and makes of speakers. I can not speak for others but I can give you my preference for speakers. I'm sure many will disagree, but hey that's ok, in my home it's all about what sounds good to me!

I use Martin Logan Vantages. I fell in love with electrostatic speakers the first time I heard them. I couldn't believe how "exact" the sound was compared to typical cone speakers that cost much more. I think the detail in the mid and high range is unequaled. I do have to admit there are some significant limitations with flat panel speakers in general. They are very sensitive to placement. I keep my Vantages 5 feet off the front wall. The listening sweet spot is only about 6 inches wide (listening at over 10 feet away). If you are off this center the soundstage will shift dramatically. Despite the brochures telling you otherwise, it is a one listening position speaker. They can be pretty hard to drive so you need some power behind them. By their very nature they are dipolar so what is behind them is critical. And they don't produce the low end very well, so you typically have to pair it with a subwoofer or have a hybrid design like most of the Martin Logans. Despite these limitations, they are (in my opinion) some of the best sounding speakers available.

I'm sure you will get a lot of different opinions on this however. I think I read somewhere that at the CJ plant they use Wilson speakers to test out their equipment.
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Main stereo: ART Amplifier and ET7s2. 2nd stereo: PV-14L and MV-55. Previously Owned: PF2 preamp, Evolution 2000 Amp, PV-12AL preamp, D/A-2b Vacuum-Tube Digital Processor.
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pstrisik
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Re: Conrad Johnson and Loudspeakers

Post by pstrisik »

Since I have had my Pr11A running in the system, I have had Salk SoundScape 8's, LSA-1's, and AR 2ax's. It is a goldilocks story. The Salks I found bright. They are what led me to trying a tube amp in the first place. I had to sell them as I could not tame them. I pickup up a pair of used LSA-1's that astonished me with imaging and soundstage. They are small, two way monitors with pulp midwoofers and silk dome tweeters. Lacked a bit of high end detail, but I was much happier. I figured the softer highs was the price I had to pay to not make my ears suffer. Then, just last weekend while browsing Craig's List, I found a pair of AR2ax's for $200. I bought them on impulse as I had AR2's in the 1970's and had a pair of large Advents from about 1975 - 2009. I set them up and had to work to make sure the drivers were all playing due to the rough shape of the pots (level controls) for the tweeter and midrange. Once I succeeded, I listened and was blown away! Much better than I expected. Soundstage was even better than the LSA's. More hi and mid detail and not at all grating on my ears. So I've ordered new rheostats and caps for the crossovers as well as foam surround kits since I'll have the woofers out to do the other work. If all goes well, I'll refinish the walnut veneer that is in pretty good shape for ~45 years old! There may be something to mating vintage speaker technology with tubes. But as admin says, there are likely more varied opinions about speakers than any other component.
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rthomeint
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Re: Conrad Johnson and Loudspeakers

Post by rthomeint »

My first MV50/52 in the 80s I used Spica TC50s, Magneplanar SMG, Eminent Technology LFT IV. MY Premier 11A I had a Von Schweikert VR-4 and Martin-Logan Electromotion ESL. Now I use my martin-Logans with Met-150.
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Re: Conrad Johnson and Loudspeakers

Post by Good Dog Jocko »

I have used a C-J MF-2250 amp since 2001, driven by a PV-14L preamp and an EV-1 phono stage when playing vinyl. I used Vandersteen 2Ci speakers until I finally got the woofer cones to rattling in 2012. Since then I have been using VMPS Ribbon Monitor 1 speakers which use dual 8" woofers, a 10" passive radiator, the unique VMPS Neopanel neodymium ribbon midrange, and an Emit-R 1" round ribbon tweeter. I built the VMPS speakers from a kit that was stored for many years in a basement. I did a few mods such as replaced the fiberglass stuffng with Acousta-Stuf damping material, replaced the woofer foam surrounds with rubber surrounds, and stiffened the PR cone with a coat of wood glue on both sides and added hysteresis damping (thin coat of PVA glue on both sides of the foam) to the PR foam surrounds. They play considerably louder than Vandersteen 2Ci speakers without hardening of the sound and go a bit deeper in bass, with useable bass down to 25 Hz. At all comparable power levels the midrange is noticeably cleaner than the 2Ci midrange and covers a broader range both higher and lower in frequency. It also sounds more dynamic at lower power levels, no doubt due to the widerange ribbon midrange, which was designed by Bruce Thigpen of Eminent Technology fame.

Since I have a PV-14L preamp with precise stepped volume control that increases exactly 0.7 dB per step, or 10 dB for about 15 steps, and a sound level meter, I am able to test for loudspeaker linearity of acoustic energy vs. input power. From 50 dB to 100 dB listening levels, it takes exactly 15 steps of the volume control to make the sound level meter register 10 dB higher or lower. If things were compressing at high or low levels, then it would take more than 15 steps to get there. If you have a C-J preamp with stepped volume control and a sound level meter, then you can make this test as well. Start at a moderate level like 80 dB and see that it takes exactly the same amount of steps on the volume control to reach the next 10 dB level. Most loudspeakers are limited to something like 60-65 dB to 90-95 dB before becoming nonlinear in output. VMPS loudspeakers have long been known for their wide uncompressed dynamic range, if you like wide dynamic range music that is noncompressed. My C-J amps are also of a dynamic nature, compared to most others I have heard, so I like the synergy there. I can listen at 85 dB average sound level and since most popular music has dynamic peaks of about 15 dB or less, then my speakers never compress the music. 85 dB is the maximum level for 8-hours of listening without hearing loss concerns. I sometimes listen at 95 dB average levels for an album or two, and the speakers still seem relatively uncompressed, open and dynamic.
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