Conrad Johnson Owners.com

How old were you when you first bought a CJ product?

Early 40s.

early 40s, summer 2003

Technically didnt buy, was given a PV1 instead of a pay check one week. At the time I had no idea what a gift it was. I was just looking for a phono preamp to go with my cheap sony all in one stereo for my dorm room, and had found a love for vinyl. There were a couple record shops in the town I was in, founds some almost STEALS of deals buying records for a dollar or two a piece. This was of course before the internet really took off.... I figured that I got that preamp for about $200, I also got a modded Sony turntable, with pioneer arm from the same fellow. He was the one that introduced me to "hi-fi", worked at his car stereo shop for a semester in college. He had an Audio Research tube amp, one of the real big ones....about ten minutes of listening and I was hooked. Bought some peerless drivers to custom build my first set of decent speakers. Never finished them though...well not really...long sad story. Still have the drivers, the mids and tweets are in a bookshelf system, and the 12's became victims of an Autotek 7300 and a heavy volume knob in my Taurus SHO....however I have bought many of the same model subs since, cant beat the price and they sound great, just dont overpower them. Have four of them in my main home theater setup, series then parallel to get back to 8 ohms on a single channel of a parasound 855. more than enough bass....but of course they are temporary...I have bigger plans for this system....hmm....tangent, what tangent???

I was 36. I responded to a classified ad in a local paper. The fellow had bought a PV-5 at Lyric Hi Fi ( no longer a CJ dealer) on a trip to NYC. He had paid $1500 for it, but he just could not live without remote control, so he was replacing it ... probably with a B&O system if I remember right.

In any event, I gave him $750 for the “still on warranty “ PV-5. CJ actually formally acknowledged the change in registered owner. I did not need the warranty, but it was still there.

The PV-5 was an ear opener. Up to that point, I’d enjoyed McIntosh tube gear, but the PV-5 was a real spoiler.

61.
I was looking for a particular sound, didn't know conrad-johnson had it.
I do now!

I was 35 years old and got a PV-5 and a MV-50. Later in bought another MV-50 and made a modification to have mono blocks. That was fun.

Happy listening!

roberto wrote: ↑Fri Aug 20, 2021 5:38 pm I was 35 years old and got a PV-5 and a MV-50. Later in bought another MV-50 and made a modification to have mono blocks. That was fun.

Happy listening!

My first CJ product was a PV5, too, purchased in my late 40s. it's still my main preamp. Not that I didn't want a CJ product from about age 29 on

Boxcar

In a new twist on this post’s premise, I am 71 and today is the first day I am without any CJ in my collection. 35 years straight with one or more CJ pieces, including many amps and preamps.

The big LP275Ms left today. They’re going to a good home
with a very competent aficionado owner who will give them the love that they deserve.

Such is life. Our equipment come and go often like people in our life. I remember when I sold my Martin Logan Vantage speakers I had this feeling of letting go of something I truly loved. In the end, I didn't regret the decision because I enjoy my Magnepans greatly, but I still sometimes wish I could just have the Vantages in the system for an album,... for old times sake.

Who knows, maybe something from CJ will "wander" back into the system one day?

I’m not closing the door. I’d love to hear the new ART flagships.

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