Recently acquired PV5 Photos and Some Questions

[Paolo]

Can any of you CJ luminaries weigh in on this preamp? The seller, a CJ dealer, told me it had been recently serviced by Conrad Johnson, but I cannot be certain since I don't have documentation. I believe the unit has been modified at some point. The captive power cord has been replaced by an IEC. I thought all PV5s had captive power cords. Would CJ ever use Bob Hovland Super Caps?

I cannot evaluate how much of the "golden glow" this PV5 has. It does not sound syrupy or excessively warm to me. I am pairing it with an MV55 which I got from the same dealer. Both units came with a few less than stellar tubes and I'm sorting those out. For example I've ordered some NOS JAN GE JAN 5965 to replace the pair of 12AT7's which are now in V4 and V8. I'll be testing all the PV5 and MV55 tubes in a day or two. I'll have a much better sense of how these two components sound when I'm sure all the tubes are excellent and proper.

And to think I really figured I was all done with vintage tube gear. Now this!

Thanks very much.
Here are some photos of the PV5 including the board:

[AnotherJohnson]

Who is the dealer? I want to remember him.

Maybe Jeff will service things for friends that he would not service for the general public.

That looks like more than one service. But that would be normal for a nearly 40 year old unit.

If you like it, enjoy. It may delight you. Your ears, your system.

[AnotherJohnson]

This one

https://skyfiaudio.com/products/conrad- ... with-phono

looks more like what I remember of mine. Mine was built in 1986. I stopped having it serviced when CJ and I talked about long term availability of relays, switches, and pots. That was maybe around 15 years ago. It was back from a service, and a relay was still out of spec. CJ said that OEM relays were aging out on the shelf and that if I replaced the relay, it wouldn’t necessarily be better.

That was when I realized that it was time to move on. I still had a PV 8 with CJ Teflon caps, and a PV11.

After periods with Krell and others, Jack Tozzi of Spearit Sound eventually convinced me to try an ET3SE. And I’ve never regretted letting the old gear go.

One can waste more money fooling around with 20+ year old gear than it would cost to jump to the current decade and be done.

[AnotherJohnson]

FWIW, in 1986 there was no gushing over golden glow. The gushing was over the lack of harshness and the seemingly holographic image of the phono section.

This nostalgia for some golden glow is a product of the advancements as modern gear has been able to avoid harshness and produce a good image even from a line section without including the euphonious distortion that people characterize after the fact as a golden glow. People miss their euphonious distortion, but no one wants to admit they like distortion, so terms like caramel, sweetness, and syrup, are synonyms for golden glow. Truth is that second order harmonic distortion is like adding a bit of reverb or chorus from the next octave, and people like it.

I don’t know what that PV5 cost. Only you can decide if it was a fair price. But when you dabble in old gear, you have to be flexible. If it’s cosmetically good and also fully functional, that may be enough to make owning it worthwhile and rewarding.

[Paolo]

Greetings AJ,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. The longer I live, the less tolerance I have for harshness in general. When it comes to reproduced music in my home, I much prefer euphonic to what some might call accurate. My verdict on this PV5 is still out, but so far I'm pleased. I'll know more when I get the tubes sorted out. The unit is indeed fully functional and cosmetically attractive. Good listening to you, sir.

[Paolo]

Couple of Pix:

[admin]

So just looking at the pics and what you've said:

1) It's been serviced.

2) It's been modified. I don't believe the PV5 came with an IEC connector.

3) I would judge this unit on how it sounds to you, not it's service history. It's 4 decades old. It may give you 15 more years of flawless playback, or 15 days. When gear is this old, you just never know.

4) It should come at a very fair price as longevity is a big question and the cost of repair most likely will not be worth it.

It's a cool unit with a distinctive old school tube sound. I would say it's some of the best sounding gear from the early-mid 80's. I think the pairing to the MV-55 is a good idea. I have an MV-55 in my 2nd system and I'm enjoying the sound.

[Paolo]

Thanks, admin. The PV5 paired with the MV55 is sounding very good when connected either to Sonus Faber Monitors or, believe it or not, Maggie LRS+. In addition, I was very pleasantly surprised at how nicely the PV5 plays when connected to the amp section of my Luxman 550AXII.

My listening room is small, I do not play music at loud volumes, no metal, etc, and hardly expect to be fooled into thinking I'm hearing a symphony orchestra in my home. But sometimes it does feel as if I'm sitting in an intimate jazz club.

If either the PV5 or amp were to blow up tomorrow, I'd just move on.

[admin]

Great to hear. In that case, if the price is right, I think the PV5 is fine.

[AnotherJohnson]

I loved my PV 5. And it was not uncommon for magazine reviewers to use it as their reference preamp in that early time frame (1986-1988).

I bought mine when it was less than a year old for 50% of retail, and CJ gave me the remaining time on the original warranty. The fellow who owned it had bought it at Lyric HiFi on a trip to NYC. He became disenamored with it due to there being no remote control. It had cost him $1500. I gave him $750 for it.