rsm wrote:HI Ray
Yes, a stiff drink could help! I hope this is not an indication of things (smelly and burning) to come. Only trouble is I am in South Africa. No agent here, so I am liable for shipping back to US if CJ and a local tech cannot diagnose the problem, To courier to US from here about $2000 with insurance! I have owned several CJ valve products in the past, one failed and had to be returned to the US for replacement. I have the ET5 now which has been fault-free but very noisy (quiescent) compared to the Prem 16 I had previously. CJ claims the ET5 has more inherent noise! Sounds good though.......We are hoping that CJ comes up with a quick solution to the failed ARTsa and that a schematic exists. Good luck to you too. Pls let me know what the verdict is on yours........ All the best
I've always "assumed" the increased noise in the CJ preamps was mostly due to the low feedback design and their generally higher gain.
In my case, using magnepan speakers helps a bit.
I couldn't detect any noise with my own ET5 with volume control set to "typical" (ET5 with JC-1s and Magnepan 3.7s)
with no input, running the volume control all the way up to around 90, there was very audible hum and noise. (and of course this varied with tubes)
I actually think the GAT is a bit noisier than the ET5, not sure why this would be... but in any case, not an issue for me.
I was worried about added hum/noise with the ART Monos, they are thank goodness very quiet electrically with just a bit of "mechanical" transformer type hum, but it's not an issue.
If I would have been faced with a massive shipping cost like that I'd have probably freaked out! good luck with it. 'looks like "my broken art" arrived at CJ on Friday. Hopefully they'll get it fixed up and shipped back to me next week...and that it didn't get damaged on the trip down, or the trip back. Next time (damn I hope their isn't one) I'll likely drive the thing to VA from here (NYC area)