Conrad Johnson Premier One

[Redrocket019]

Hi

Anyone come across this classic CJ before? Just recently started listening to it, it sound different to transistor based amp, more open, larger soundstage... It has 12x 6550's, 2x 5751's and 4x 6FQ7's, it rated 200Wpc and warms the room nicely in Winter

It needs a bit of TLC, after 30 Years, I'm sure some of the components under the hood can do with replacement with newer components with newer technology and tighter tolerances. Looking forward to any advice from CJ fans who have done any modifications / have advice on where to start with bringing this classic amp up to speed.

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[admin]

Welcome to the site Redrocket019!

Wow, that is a really beautiful CJ piece, what a classic! I'm sure your right when you say it does a good job of warming the room. My CJ Evolution 2000 does as well!

As for upgrades, probably the first thing you may want to try is getting new tubes. However, with so many this will be rather expensive. Tubes are usually first to go. Is there any background noise, that could be a sign of things going bad. I had a tube go bad in my PV12 a few months ago and I noticed it due to the background hiss. When I replaced it, not only did the hiss go away, but the clarity and the dynamics of the sound greatly improved. Tubes often fail slowly so you don't notice what your missing until you get a replacement in.

I see the martin logan's in the back there, nice. I have the Vantages and find they pair very well with CJ. It seems a lot of CJ owners use planar speakers.

Once again, welcome to the site!

[Redrocket019]

Hi

Thanks for the welcome. Yip... a pair of Martin Logan's in the background, love 'em. I think they great speakers with some unique character, definitely not perfect but they can present huge soundstage and sound that's just unmatched, especially in instrumentals and female vocal.

Been looking around at various online stores for a new set of valves, gonna be a little pricey, but I keen to revive this classic. It does have a but of hum, trying to source where the problem is, but I believe that could also be caused by bad valves. It came with a whole box of 6550's, just need to find someone with a valve tester. The annoyance of the slight hum quickly goes away once the music gets playing

Another thing, is there a substitute for 6550's? I was thinking KT88's or KT120's? I know I should probably stick to 6550's, but just out of interest? I remember one of the online stores had a matched sextet of 6550's, don't come across that often it seems, but that would be the goal to get 6 matched valves at a time.

Then there's the underlying electronics...

[Redrocket019]

BTW... wonder if the Conrad Johnson folks are aware of this forum, it would be great if they chimed in as here as well. I think it would be great for their brand when it comes to its customers and customer loyalty... and perhaps new potential customers. Just take the case with Martin Logan and their initial decision to stop servicing their older products, they saw the response from their customers and decided to retract their decision, needless to say, I'll continue support them because of their decision.

[antaresbluespirit]

Welcome in this Forum

So, in france we had a lot of exchange in the "Vintage forum" regarding CJ classic gears...as well

regarding the valve , a test is mandatory prior changing them and only a service department has the dedicated equipment. to test the life status.

Today we cannot find any more the original GE tube and the well acknowleged alternative remains the 6550 svetlana windged C

for the KT 120, keep in mind that the heating current consumption is 20% higher than classical 6550 and you should ask CJ service department to know if the transformer accept the overcurrent before going to the KT 120...

another point that remains sensitive is the chemicals 'caps status of the power suplly whitch are changed every 20years....in general...

anyway it is a great classic!

Raymond

[antaresbluespirit]

I talk about the "big" blues cap"s we can see in the unit picture...and the others chemical cap's inside

[Redrocket019]

Thanks antaresbluespirit, I guess I'll be sticking to the 6550's then. After a few hours play, the main transformer is really warm. Also, with Logan's and their low impedance probably mean they demand quite a lot of current already.

I'm curios, the French Vintage forum, I'm guessing its in French? Which forum is it?

Thanks for the head up on the KT120's

[antaresbluespirit]

here you are (french speaking)
http://ls3-5a-forum.com/phpBB3/

[jeffreybehr]

Thanks antaresbluespirit, I guess I'll be sticking to the 6550's then.

KT-88s are just fine; it's the KT-120s you should be careful of.

[rthomeint]

CJ is endorsing KT120 substitutions for the 6550 in more recent vintage amps I don't know about an amp that old. I replace the 6550's in my Premier 11 with no problems. I would call CJ first and ask before doing anything.

[Lissnr]

I also called CJ about the KT 120's and they were fine with it in my Premier 12's (essentially the same vintage as rthomeint's Premier 11). I haven't done it yet as I'm currently using SED Winged C 6550's with a lot of life left on them and I also have fresh set of KT-88's which I dabble with a bit too (though I prefer the 6550's overall to the EH KT-88'S). I agree you should ask CJ about the 120's in your Premier 1... the reputation of the 120's as being great sounding AND reliable is spreading fast (Audio Research is now supplying them as standard issue in [many/most/all?] of their newest tube amps!). BTW: that Premier one IS a GREAT looking classic powerhouse! Good luck with it!
Happy Lissn'n. Lissnr

[Hatzudokiseizo]

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My Premier One b , Glow in the Dark

[admin]

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My Premier One b , Glow in the Dark

Ah yes, very cool! I do my music listening in the dark, primarily so there are no distractions, but it's great to have that soft minimal glow of the tubes. Truly beautiful. Congrats on the Premier One!

[Hatzudokiseizo]

DSC01941.JPG

My Premier One b , Glow in the Dark

Ah yes, very cool! I do my music listening in the dark, primarily so there are no distractions, but it's great to have that soft minimal glow of the tubes. Truly beautiful. Congrats on the Premier One!

Hello Thanks for the Flowers ... This is a Premier One b with EL34 Tubes not 6550! This Amp Premier One b is very very Limited Restoret Factory from Conrad Johnson.Thus,in these Tubes they shine so do not like the 6550 tubes...
The Sound with EL34 is the very heart .The Bass is extremely Punchig...If i do it with the Premier 8A compare, is the Premier One b a Raw Force!!A really serious classical stage Amp!
Greets Chris

[MLAS]

Six years later....

I lust for that amp!

Well I would try 12 brand new Genalex Gold Lion KT88's.
It's retaining the best virtues of the delicate and soft toned EL-34 - used in the 1986 'B' version of the One to offer two stereo amps a 100 watt Premier Four, a 150 Watt Premier 1B and the 200 Watt Premier Fives (which I was so dumb to sell a year ago) all with EL-34's - and the 6550 brute force character.

[Big Dog RJ]

Sometimes mate, you don't know what you've got until it's gone!
Has happened to me as well but with a lot of patience and waiting and waiting and hoping... Suddenly but slowly things fall into place and when that happens. It's definitely for real and the long term!

I was really upset when I sold off my Prem 11A in 1999, thinking the Prem 12's and 8's would be great... No doubt they were but those went off to a customer order, and then I was left with nothing! Had to start over again... Fast forward to 2010, different country different job front, then it was the Quads and Classic 60se with the Act2, wonderful! Job front went south, company shut down, finances went haywire, had to sell off CJ gear & virtually the entire lot just to make ends meet...

Anyway, stayed strong held firm and engaged in low-end jobs just to make a decent wage. And the two most important things - beer and buffalo wings!
Got back into the major stream of the work force, started saving up... Fast forward to 2018, now have CJ back (plus monoblocks) plus the CLX's! Mustn't forget those hard times, it certainly keeps things in perspective and allows me to appreciate the finer things in life.

Cheers to CJ and their passion of high quality amplification! All the best, RJ

[MLAS]

Thanks for your kind words RJ.
I'm not much for the beer and buffalo wings, although Belgian beer is great over here, but I do get what you mean about priorities and I have to make both end ends meet nowadays due to a divorce....
As said before on this forum, I don't find the overall construction of the CJ products on par with the other American high-end companies, but it sounds better than the lot to me.

Hope you will keep in business now (your Anglo Saxons are used to hard days and are survivors IMO) and keep your beautiful CJ setup.

Greetings Robert

[Big Dog RJ]

G'day MLas,
Sorry to hear about your split... But I'm sure it probably happened for whatever reason...

Belgian beer, oh yeah that's a fine beer, including your chocolate! One of the finest I think, especially in ice cream. Oh no, I see a few more calories coming up...

CJ gear used to be more affordable in the past, now after the change over at the top, it's starting to get out of reach and you will find the majority of new products coming out at top end pricing. I agree with the build standard compared to the other highend brands but if CJ were to do that, I'm affraid pricing would go through the roof, and this won't be accessible by a far margin.

Their build quality is pretty much right up there and they're still made in the US. Parts and labor right throughout are all USA based, so nothing overseas as yet... The moment the elements are changed for better construction and higher quality parts, cost per component will sky rocket! Many would certainly have to look elsewhere if this was the case. The competition just below the classic series is huge! And can be very demanding.

As I've stated before, it's going to be interesting to see the new line up for 2019/2020, and that's if they decide to re-introduce an entry level series altogether. I have a feeling they might not, just stick with the classic series as the entry level and escalate further with all the Art series, certainly looks like they're heading that way...

Oh well, I guess we were able to acquire something good when the time was right!
Cheers mate, and have a good one, RJ