Advice on CJ MV60

[smodtactical]

I have a LP70S for my speakers and love it but now i am looking for another amp. I could use on my speakers but mostly Ill be using a speaker tap cables and headphones with it. LP70S is very nice with headphones but im thinking i want an el34 amp.

My dealer has a MV60 el34 amp for $1500 usd. He also has a PV14L for around $1k USD.

Now I did hear a prima luna evo 300 and really liked it for headphones so do you think it makes sense i get the mv60?

Looking for a rich euphonic mid focused sound.

Another option is i can get another LP70S for about $2500 usd and use that with a preamp for headphones but Im leaning towards an el34 amp.

Thanks!

[admin]

Am I to understand that you are mostly listening to headphones? Why would you want to get a speaker amplifier for that? If you are looking for a headphone amp, I would be looking at CJ's HVA-1.

[smodtactical]

Its because in my experience many headphone amplifiers just don't sound as good as speaker amps with huge transformers and better quality parts.

[admin]

Fair enough... and this may be a preference issue. But personally if was a "can" listener and had my pic from the CJ line, it would definitely be the HVA-1. That's just me.

[Pat Rivet]

Hi All,
It has been a long time since my previous visit and looking for some advice concerning amplifiers. Despite some and many good of them, no decision has been made and I bought none amplifier. Because what I have now suits me - even there is not tubes- and difficult sometimes to have the budget.
By chance, as I decided to visit again the site tonight, there is this topic on the MV60. Good news! There is an SE version for sale with 6550 tubes instead of EL34 here in France (1800$/€) and I'm not sure it could drive my Magnepan MG1 C. I'm right or not?

All the best from France, Pat

[admin]

As an owner of Maggies I think the "you need X amount of power" is a little overblown. If you want to play rock music at 110 db in a huge room, yeah you are going to need a lot of power to run those maggies. But let's face it, a maggie would be a poor choice of a speaker if that was your intent from the start.

If you play music at modest levels, I think the MV60 would sound wonderful. I firmly believe that quality watts are way more important than quantity. If you can get a good deal on an MV60 and you are planning to play moderate levels in a reasonably sized room, I really would not hesitate. And I would rather take an MV60 over a middle ground SS amp with twice the wattage.

That's just my 2 cents on the matter.

[Big Dog RJ]

G'day Pat, that's a correct analysis by Admin.

Just to add a few more cents... I used a MV60SE with the following speakers:
Magnepan MGIIIA, MG3 3/r and MG3.6/r
Quad ESL 989, 2805, 2905 and 2912

The preamp was the ACT2 and later upgraded to the ACT2 S2. Source gear was: Cayin CD50T, Cary sacd player, Luxman sacd player, and McIntosh MCD301. I kept the MV60SE with this particular system and gear from around 2006 to 2011/12. Many other power amps came and went but I kept the MV60SE since it was thst good! Only after 2012 and onwards when the ART, and new LP series amps came out, I passed on the MV60SE.

Initially I used this amplifier with 6550C type Output tubes but changed over to KT120's. It improved areas in bass performance, sounded much fuller and had a fantastic sense of soundstage depth, especially on ribbons and stats.

The other two things that were absolutely wonderful, were one- the KT120's were just cruising along in the MV60SE, thanks to its added power. There was no showing any stress at all driving Maggie's or Quads. The other factor was, adding in the KT120's was a breeze, such that the tube cage of the MV60SE can easily accommodate the KT120's height.

Anyway, that's a personal preference that I have with KT120's. You may just prefer the 6550's, so it all depends on your particular preferences.

The MV60SE is the very first tube power amp that utilised the Transpectral transformers in the MV series line. These special wide bandwidth trannies were only used in CJ's Premier series amplifiers. So these trannies and associated power supplies have the capability of high current and highly stable voltages. This is the very combination that can handle and drive difficult loads, such as Maggie's and Quad ESL's. The 60w /ch RMS ratings are very conservative, the MV60SE performs more like a 100w/ch amp. You'll have no problems with Maggie's.

Cheers, RJ

[Pat Rivet]

Hi Admin and Big Dog RJ

Many Thanks for your words and feedback...
I will follow this trail...
All the best, Pat

[Pat Rivet]

By the way, Admin,

Small room, and the sound level of my PV12 never up 9 o'clock... So, the MV60 SE could gear without any problem!
Regards, Pat

[admin]

By the way, Admin,

Small room, and the sound level of my PV12 never up 9 o'clock... So, the MV60 SE could gear without any problem!
Regards, Pat

Agree, it should be a great match.